Ergin Ataman slams Greek League schedule: 'It's ridiculous' / News - Basketnews.com

After the loss against Aris, Panathinaikos head coach Ergin Ataman was furious that the game was scheduled at 5 pm on Monday.

Credit: BETAPHOTO/SIPA - Scanpix Credit BETAPHOTO/SIPA - Scanpix

Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens suffered their first loss in the Greek League, and head coach Ergin Ataman was unsurprisingly furious.

Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens / Schedule

Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens EA7 Emporio Armani Milan79-62 Zalgiris Kaunas Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens80-68 Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens Fenerbahce Beko IstanbulFri19:15

However, the Turkish tactician was more angry about the scheduling than about his own players.

Panathinaikos lost a home game against Aris Midea Thessaloniki 70-73, with the tip-off set at 17:15 local time. That was something that pissed Ataman the most.

"Now, I have a question for you guys," Ataman addressed the media. "Can you name any professional league in Europe in which you play the game at 5 pm on Monday? This is ridiculous."

"We are coming off the double week and play at 5 o'clock. How can you manage [it], and how can players focus on a league game? You make 25-30 million euros investment in basketball, and you play at 5 o'clock on a workday. You can't have a home-court advantage, and you don't have time to prepare for the game.

Of course, everything was terrible. My players were terrible, my coaching was terrible, the referees were terrible, and we lost the game. Congratulations to everybody who decided to put this game at 5 o'clock on Monday," Ataman concluded his rant.

Ataman was told that Aris will also have an important EuroCup game this Wednesday. However, it didn't seem that Ataman was convinced.

"The whole season, we play double-round weeks in the EuroLeague. So, what is this? Why is it mentioned that Aris have a game on Wednesday? All year we play double-week. Someone tell me the reason why we played this game today at 5 o'clock on a workday," Ataman concluded.

Ataman's press conference (starts at 15:53):

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