İstanbul
Ataman made a statement at the press conference held after the star and crescent team defeated Hungary 92-66 in the 3rd match of the 2025 European Basketball Championship Qualifiers Group B.
Congratulating the national players, the experienced head coach said, “We played excellent basketball with only a three-day preparation period. We made some defensive mistakes in the first half and gave our opponent too many points under the basket. However, we showed good basketball in attack. In the second half, we increased our aggressiveness in defense and scored very well under the basket.” This enabled everyone to support each other. We shared the ball very well on offense, we always made the right choices and played with good shot selections. I think we played excellent basketball this evening and achieved an important result. “We did.” he said.
Ataman said about Şehmus Hazer, one of the players who played the leading role in the victory, scoring 25 points: “He has played excellently for his team so far this season. I am sure that he became a very important player tonight. I am very happy that he returned to his game after not playing basketball for two years. He is good now.” “He plays and is very important for both the young generation and the Turkish National Team.” he said.
“Our only concentration is to get a ticket to the European Championship”
Stating that he is here to get a medal in the European Championship, Ergin Ataman said:
“Our only concentration right now is to get a ticket to the European Championship. We have a very good generation. I believe we have a very quality squad. I am here to get a medal at the 2025 European Championship.”
“The national jersey is completely different, it is above everything else”
Upon being reminded that his club team, Panathinaikos, was playing in the THY Europa League at the same time, Ataman said:
“Your team is currently playing a very important Europa League match. I don’t know the score yet. I would like to thank Panathinaikos Club for allowing me. Our agreement was that I would coach both teams. Panathinaikos is the only club that sends a foreign player like Cedi Osman to the national team and has a match at the same time. Once again, I would like to thank our president and our club. Cedi made a very important contribution today. This is the national team, everyone should support it. I would like to thank all our players who participated here. The national jersey is above all else. These children represented us in the best way possible. However, we have a very important match on Monday. “We kept this spirit alive throughout Turkey, both with these children and with the 10 thousand fans who came here.”
“The best player plays in the national team”
Upon being reminded that Emre Melih Tunca and Sarper David Mutaf played with the National Team for the first time, Ataman concluded his words as follows:
“They are both having a good season. We have added players to our squad who play well in their own teams and are promising for the future. Melih, especially Ümit, had a very good tournament with the National Team. He also makes important contributions to the club team. Although it is his first season in the Turkish League, David In my opinion, Mutaf is one of the flash Turkish players. I think he is very smart and will make serious contributions to us in terms of attack. Those who are good will play in the national team. Our doors are open to any good player who wants to play in the national team. “They deserved it. It is an honor to wear the national team jersey. They represented this jersey in the best way this evening.”
Kenan: “We played good basketball”
National basketball player Kenan Sipahi touched upon the importance of the difference they achieved against Hungary.
Congratulating his teammates, Kenan said, “We played good basketball. We were a little hesitant at the beginning of the match and made mistakes both in attack and defence. In the second half, we found a solution to the 3 big men who forced us. We opened the gap with the points after good defense. Şehmus Hazer and Cedi Osman played very well.” “The difference we achieved is very important for the rest of the group,” he said.
Okorn: “We couldn’t stand it physically”
Hungary Head Coach Gasper Okorn said that they could not physically respond to Turkey’s aggressive play in the second half.
Congratulating the crescent-star team for their victory, Okorn said, “Turkey was much better in the second half. In my opinion, we played well in the first half. However, in the second half, we could not control the offensive rebounds anymore. Turkey’s aggressiveness continued in the same way. They did not give up. As for us “We couldn’t hold on physically, so we made mistake after mistake and the results quickly turned against us. The critical player was Şehmus Hazer, who scored 25 points and that was definitely a big difference.” He commented:
Hungarian player Gyorgy Goloman stated that they started the match well and said, “I think we started the match with a tough fight. We kept ourselves in the game, but we fell apart a little in the second half. Fortunately, we will see them again on Monday.” he said.
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