The assistant coach of Efes about chanting of Zvezda fans aimed at the head of the European champions, Ergin Ataman
After victories of Red Star Meridianbet against Efesassistant coach of the Turkish team Jakup Sekizkok addressed the journalists at the conference, given that he is the first coach of the European champions Ergin Ataman excluded due to two technical errors. The assistant of the Turkish expert spoke about the fact that the fans of Zvezda constantly shouted insulting words to the Ataman (“F**k you Ataman”), while during that time the Efes head coach entered into a polemic with the referees, ran after them, argued, followed them on the way to the locker room… After the match, Sekizkok started the press conference by talking about it.
“First of all, I’m sorry that the fans inappropriately shouted at coach Ataman the whole game. It’s not adequate for basketball and it’s not a basketball environment. As for the game, Red Star fought very hard the whole game, they played a solid, physical defense. We managed to find an offensive rhythm until the last quarter, we were leading by one point, and from that moment we lost energy, rhythm in the attack and it affected our defense. That’s how they achieved an easy victory at the end of the fourth quarter. Without both playmakers ( Micić and Larkin, cf. novin) it was difficult for us to play, but as I said, we were in the game for 32, 33 minutes and we are satisfied with the fight of our players. Since this is the double week of the Euroleague, tomorrow we will train and be ready for Friday,” said the Turkish coach.
With the defeat against Zvezda, Efes fell to the tenth place in the table with a score of 13-13 and is now a victory away from Maccabi (14-13), the first team above the line for placement in the Top 8. The next match will be played on Friday at home, precisely against Maccabi. On the other hand, Zvezda is now 12-15 and awaits a visit to Panathinaikos (8-19) on Friday.