Ataman after his ejection: 'I didn't feel comfortable with three Greek referees' / News - Basketnews.com

Ergin Ataman commented on the officiating of Turkey's friendly game against Greece for the Acropolis Tournament and home fans booing his country's national anthem.

Credit: Argiris Makris/Hellenic Basketball Credit Argiris Makris/Hellenic Basketball

In what was heralded as an atypical Acropolis Tournament final game, Greece took the most of their excellent fourth quarter (26-11) and downed Turkey (89-80) for the eighth straight time across all competitions.

In Giannis Antetokounmpo's absence, his brother Kostas stole the show on the court, producing 19 points and 13 rebounds, albeit going 0/4 from the charity stripe. The OAKA arena in Athens was (over)crowded with more than 19,000 fans. Some of them had come to watch Giannis in action before being informed that the Greek Freak would not dress due to some minor back problems.

Orhun Ene was the coach when Turkey went down to Greece twice last spring. But this time around, the combination was lethal. A packed arena, back-to-back EuroLeague winning coach Ergin Ataman guiding Turkey and three Greek referees officiating a contest that featured their country's national team.

Ataman protested heavily when the refs didn't count a basket for Turkey in the first half, when the ball touched the backboard before Kostas Antetokounmpo intervened. That cost the experienced coach his first technical foul.

Midway through the third quarter, with Greece up 56-54, Ataman exploded again, asking for a foul on Larkin in a layup attempt. The game officials sent him out, but the Turkish coach refused to leave his position near the bench.

Greece's play-caller Dimitriswent straight to his bench and tried to persuade Ataman with a friendly approach. The back-to-back EuroLeague champion eventually agreed to leave his post without going to the locker room.

Demir Hakan, Ataman's first assistant, took over the Turkish NT from that point on. However, it was the (Ata)man himself who appeared in the postgame press conference, something that wouldn't have taken place in an official game where those ejected are not allowed into the press room.

Since he did present himself to the media in attendance, cheerful and colorful as most of the times, Ataman didn't refrain from commenting on everything that took place before, during and after the game.

"I want to say something important. It was an amazing atmosphere for basketball, to see 20,000 people in a summer friendly game is impressive for me as a basketball coach," he initially said, before referring to the reprehensible gesture of some Greek fans who chose to boo the Turkish national anthem during the teams' presentation.

"As Turkey national team we came to play the game, but we wanted more respect for our national anthem. I'm a bit upset about that, I think we're friends and that's why we play friendly games," Ataman said.

"I still love Greece. I have always loved the country and I feel bad whenever I listen to thousands of people disrespect our anthem. It's not good."

Ataman thinks politicians and the media have a big share of responsibility in "creating this kind of nationalism. As a sportsman, I have great respect for Greek basketball and that is why we are here, for this tournament".

Regardless of what happened with his ejection, the general impression in this Acropolis Tournament, the overall 31st hosted by the Greek Basketball Federation, was that the referees didn't manage to control the game.

The tension between the two sides was obvious and palpable from the beginning, but a better management by the officials could have prevented certain incidents from happening. An altercation between Alperen Sengun and Leonidas Kaselakis, which took place in the second half, is another example.

Ataman said he'd like international tournaments to be officiated by referees with no affiliation and connection to the home team.

"People are excited to see high-level players. Why doesn't FIBA make such a tournament official and send their own referees, having everything under their control? Why do Greeks officiate in Greece, Turks in Turkey and Serbs in Serbia?" he asked.

"If we want to improve basketball, we have to change that. I didn't feel comfortable with three Greek referees. Everyone saw that basketball for national teams is very important. We also had 16,000 fans against Slovenia, while Slovenia-Serbia was also a sold out.

A solution must also be found for the games that take place during the season. Maybe the NBA players can't come, but all the good players should be able to play," he added.

In terms of the game, which Turkey had under control for more than 30 minutes, Ataman called it "very good and helpful". He went on to define his team's goal in the upcoming EuroBasket which is to get to the podium.

"We have an average age of 24 years. The Greek team is excellent, they also played without Giannis (Antetokounmpo) and (Ioannis) Papapetrou. They're one of the favorites for Eurobasket.

For us, the goal is to get a medal. I saw the Power Rankings and they had us sixth. I think that's fair, if you look at the other teams. It's a realistic situation. We want to move up from this sixth place and get a medal, with all due respect to teams like Greece, France, Slovenia and Serbia. I think it's going to be a beautiful Eurobasket," the 56-year-old tactician stressed.

Credit Greek BF

Asked about who will win the EuroBasket, Ataman refused to make predictions. As a man who is notoriously famous for boosting his team's morale with audacious quotes, which can sometimes sound presumptuous, Turkey's coach said he only makes such comments whenever he wants his boys to get some extra confidence.

"It's hard to say who will win it. We don't know what the matchups will be like either. But if you ask me about the EuroLeague, I'll tell you that we will win it again this year," he laughingly pointed out.

He then touched on another issue - Greek coaches in Turkey and Turkish coaches in Greece. Currently, Dimitris Itoudis is guiding Fenerbahce, Andreas Pistiolis is at (Ataman's beloved) Galatasaray, while Dimitris Priftis will be spearheading Tofas Bursa's efforts.

"Itoudis will have a very good team, Fenerbahce is a great team. He's a great coach, we saw his skills at CSKA. It will be nice to win a derby in Turkey. He's my friend.

Many Greek coaches work in Turkey, but Turkish coaches do not work in Greece, although they are very good. I don't know if it's political. However, I do not see any Turkish coach in a Greek team," Ataman lamented.

Credit AP, imago images/Eibner-Scanpix

On the occasion of Giannis Antetokounmpo's absence from the game, the experienced coach implicitly referred to Omer Yurtseven, whom Ataman had accused of neglecting his national team duties.

Some days ago, Ataman said that Giannis "came to his NT and had an amazing performance. The man is enjoying it. We cannot force anyone. The only way to get Omer back is for him to apologize to the Turkish people."

This time around, Ataman pointed out that his team wasn't confused by the absence of Giannis because "in friendly games, we don't scout the other teams."

"More important for us is to consolidate our own philosophy. It would have been nice had he played. But he will also have a big problem, because most people came to see him and did not see him," he jokingly added.

"He deserves great respect because he came to play for his national team. I hope many other players from the NBA will follow his example and play for their national teams," Ataman concluded his quite lengthy presser.

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