The National Men’s Team, which will face Hungary away tomorrow in Group B of the 2025 European Basketball Championship Qualifiers, has played 77 matches under the management of experienced head coach Ergin Ataman.
The experienced head coach, who spent his second term in the crescent-star team, saw 38 wins and 39 losses in these matches, 37 of which were official.
Ergin Ataman played in 45 matches in his first term in the national team, between 22 March 2014 and 31 August 2016.
The experienced head coach has been in charge of the star and crescent team in 32 competitions so far in his second term, which started on April 16, 2022.
HE GAVE HIS FIRST EXAM AGAINST BELGIUM
Ergin Ataman played his first match in his national team career against Belgium on 2 August 2014.
The National Team lost 74-70 to Belgium in a special match played within the scope of the preparations for the 2014 World Cup.
HAD HIS FIRST WIN AGAINST PUERTO RICO
Ergin Ataman experienced the first victory of his national team career against Puerto Rico.
The national team under the management of Ataman defeated Puerto Rico 77-66 in the Belgrade Cup in Serbia on 16 August 2014.
QUARTER FINAL IN THE WORLD CUP
Ataman, who played his first official match as the head of the National Team in the 2014 FIBA World Cup, started with a victory.
The national team, under the management of Ergin Ataman, defeated New Zealand 76-73 in their first match in Group C.
Playing in the quarter-finals of the 2014 FIBA World Cup, the National Men’s Basketball Team lost to Lithuania 73-61 and bid farewell to the organization.
OFFICIAL MATCHES DURING THE ATAMAN PERIOD
The National Team played 37 official matches during Ergin Ataman’s term.
The national team won 20 of the matches in question and lost to its opponents in 17 of them.
The crescent-star team, which achieved its biggest victory in official matches under the management of Ataman with 34 points (86-52) against Belgium in the 2023 World Cup Qualifiers, suffered its biggest defeat with 27 points (77-104) against Spain in the 2015 European Championship.
THE 6TH HEAD COACH WITH THE MOST MATCHES IN THE NATIONAL TEAM
Ergin Ataman is the 6th head coach who has played the most matches in charge of the National Basketball Team.
While the crescent-star team played the most matches (173) under the management of Montenegrin head coach Bogdan Tanjevic, Mehmet Baturalp (146) ranked second, Aydın Siyavuş (130) ranked third, Samim Göreç (107) ranked fourth, and Aydın Örs (81) ranked fifth.
Ergin Ataman took the sixth place in this ranking with 77 competitions.
HIS CAREER IS FULL OF SUCCESS
Ergin Ataman, one of the most successful coaches in Turkish sports, has achieved many firsts in his career.
The experienced head coach, who coaches the Greek team Panathinaikos as well as the National Basketball Team, has achieved significant success in Türkiye and Europe.
Ataman, who won the championship with Anadolu Efes, Beşiktaş and Galatasaray in the Turkish league, became the first and only coach to compete in the league with 3 different teams.
Ergin Ataman, the first Turkish coach to coach a team in professional leagues in Europe, also made history as the first coach to win the championship with two of the “big three” (Beşiktaş and Galatasaray) in the Basketball Super League.
Ataman, who won the cup in the THY Europa League with Anadolu Efes in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons, was also recorded as the first and only Turkish coach to win the championship in this organization.
Ataman, who coached Italy’s Montepaschi Siena team in the 2001-02 season and won the Saporta Cup in his first season, took his place in history as the first and only Turkish coach to lift this cup.
The experienced coach, who won both the THY Europa League and the national league championship with Panathinakios last season, became the first Turkish head coach to lift the Europa League cup with a European team and became the first Turkish coach to win the championship in the Greek League.
Ergin Ataman again achieved significant success by winning the FIBA EuroChallange Cup with Beşiktaş in 2012 and the ULEB European Cup with Galatasaray in 2016.
