Anadolu Efes’ head coach Ergin Ataman expressed his views after the game, with a 97-91 victory in the 3rd match of the Turkish Insurance Basketball Super League Semi-finals, where Fenerbahçe Beko was hosted.
Here are Ergin Ataman’s words:
“It was a great fight. I congratulate both teams. All games in the play-offs are played with the same excitement and the same struggle. It is not enough to just play basketball, it is necessary to fight very well and do extra work. Amath M’Baye did not play well throughout the match, We managed to win the game with the two points he scored after his offensive rebound at the end. We will play another game on Friday evening, and it will pass in the same way. At the end of the match, our fans stepped in. I congratulate them as well. This series will go like this, it’s clear. Keep fighting, no quitting. There are those who did not believe in us, but we believed. We believed until the end, I hope we will succeed. At the end of the match, there was no tension caused by us. They always say ‘Ergin Ataman is tense.’ Let’s see what he will get. I was fined 24 thousand TL after the 1st game. We will see now. No problem. Of course, they are not nice. Anadolu Efes fans came to the fore in Europe with their fair play behavior and support for the team in the EuroLeague. Now, on Friday evening, our fans will fill this place even more, and their support for the team will continue. In the last part of the match, we used some of Fenerbahçe Beko’s weaknesses well. Wilbekin had a great evening with them today. We had a hard time stopping it in the first period. Then he got tired and we went over his defensive weaknesses. We used Micic, Clyburn. Elijah also did a great job. We managed to turn the series by getting over the tiredness of Fenerbahçe Beko. We did not do an easy job, we were seven points behind with six minutes to go. Morally, Fenerbahçe was more advantageous, but we managed to turn the match from there. This shows that we will not leave the series. The next match will be in the same competition. Fenerbahce Beko is a very good team, we respect them. We also need to play better. Let’s see, we’ll see, keep fighting.”