When he took over Panathinaikos last summer, Turkish coach Ergin Ataman promised to take the team to the final four.
The last time PAO was among the four best teams on the continent was in 2012, when the team was led by Željko Obradović, and the last European title was won the year before. Since then, the team has often been out of the playoff zone, and this season they made it to the quarterfinals for the first time in five years.
But the start of the quarterfinal series did not go as many in Athens had hoped. The "Greens", who finished the regular part of the season in second place, lost to Maccabi (91:87) in the first game, played last night. During the match, the Athenians had a 12-point advantage, but in the end, they faltered and allowed the rival to make a break on the wings of Lorenzo Braun and Bonzi Colson.
"I promised the people here that we will go to the final four. That's my promise and that's important. We're losing 1:0 and it's nothing special. I promised and I'll keep my promise. We're going to the final four. If we don't go, I won't be coach of Panathinaikos next season," Ataman, who signed a two-year contract with the former European champion, said after the game.
The second match is tomorrow (20:15), also in Athens.
"We didn't deserve to win. We missed 10 free throws, had a lot of turnovers..." said the Turkish expert.
Ataman criticized the referees, who twice fouled Baldwin on a three-point shot. Because of this, the coach of Panathinaikos already received a technical foul in the first quarter.
"Those were two ridiculous shots. With the first foul, it was not fair to award free throws, because the foul was not on the shot. Everything was against us, we lost the game and the home field advantage. We destroyed the work we did in the regular part season," Ataman concluded.
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