Ergin Ataman explains viral moment with Dimitris Giannakopoulos

Speaking to the media on Wednesday ahead of Game 2, Ataman explained the moment with Giannakopoulos, saying it was simply emotions coming through, caused by the close finish to the game.

“Emotions, because if we had won the game like we played in the first half, maybe there wouldn’t be that emotion,” Ataman said.

“But you know, there was a little bit of drama in the last possessions. In the last timeout, we called the timeout and said to use the ball for Kendrick Nunn, and he handled it very well. He got fouled, and when he got fouled, we talked about making the first free throw and missing the second one. There were only 1.9 seconds left, so everything was 99% correct in that situation, but everything went the opposite way,” he noted.

“So it’s like this, every time you think something will happen, the opposite happens. He missed the first free throw, and of course he had to make the second one. We knew they had a timeout and two seconds left. In basketball, every situation like this is dangerous.”

“And of course, when we won this very critical game, we shared our emotions, as always, our emotions with Mr. Giannakopoulos. We shared our emotions from yesterday.”

“I hope that these emotions will be in the EuroLeague final,” he concluded.

Panathinaikos will now look to take a commanding 2-0 lead tomorrow, with the game scheduled for 20:45 CET in Valencia.

We Didn’t Expect PAO Series To Start Like This!