AS Monaco star Mike James weighed in on the controversy following Olympiacos’ Game 1 win over Panathinaikos in the Greek Finals. After Olympiacos responded to refereeing complaints on social media, James said he dislikes how much attention Greek basketball figures give to public opinions and post-game debates.
AS Monaco star Mike James shared his thoughts on the ongoing discussions surrounding officiating in the Greek League Finals after Olympiacos Piraeus defeated Panathinaikos Aktor Athens 82-76 in Game 1.
MIN:
29.94
PTS:
16.41 (55.96%)
REB:
3.49
AS:
6.41
ST:
0.87
BL:
0.1
TO:
2.51
GM:
39
The matchup sparked plenty of debate about refereeing decisions, with Panathinaikos head coach Ergin Ataman openly criticizing the officiating during his post-game press conference. Olympiacos later responded on X by posting a video and screenshot of a foul committed on Evan Fournier, defending one of the game’s controversial calls.
James joined the discussion by replying to Olympiacos’ post, expressing his frustration with how much attention is given to outside opinions after games.
“That’s the one thing i don’t like about Greek basketball. I feel like the teams, coaches, owners, players get into what people saying too much and try to prove they case too much,” he wrote. “Maybe prove is the wrong verbiage but who cares, after the game it’s over move on.”
James later expanded on his point, arguing that officiating mistakes should be viewed the same way as mistakes made by players, coaches, and staff members throughout a game.
“I get it, refs are bad sometimes. But shit so are players, coaches, staff. Everybody have bad days. I know this crazy coming from me but just saying.”
Earlier, Ataman delivered a strong message regarding the free-throw disparity between the two teams.
“So the game result, what is the game result? 82-76. No, the game result is 29-5,” he said in a post-game press conference. “29 free throws, Olympiacos had 5 free throws that were crucial in the last two minutes. And only 5 free throws, we have had. But for you also, for the media, Greek media, Serbian media, continue to write the same, like every week. Ataman is the worst coach in Europe, and you have the best referees in the continent. Congratulations. That’s all.”
Olympiacos took a 1-0 lead in the series behind a strong performance from Evan Fournier, who finished with 20 points and 5 assists.
Sasha Vezenkov added 16 points, while Nikola Milutinov controlled the paint with a double-double of 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Panathinaikos was led by Cedi Osman, who scored 23 points. Kendrick Nunn contributed 20 points, while Konstantinos Mitoglou chipped in with 14.
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