Ataman shares the reasons behind Micic and Larkin's poor performance / News - Basketnews.com

Vasilije Micic hasn't practiced with the team for the last 5 weeks, while Shane Larkin was admitted to the hospital due to suspected appendicitis, head coach Ergin Ataman revealed. He shared that he asked them both to play despite their conditions.

Credit: EuroLeague Basketball via GettyImages Credit EuroLeague Basketball via GettyImages

Anadolu Efes Istanbul decisively lost against Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv at home Friday evening. Even though Vasilije Micic and Shane Larkin came back, their performance was underwhelming.

Player of the Game EFF 22 Josh Nebo Points 10 Accuracy 3-4 Rebounds 11 Assists 2

After the match, head coach Ergin Ataman told that the Israeli team deserved the win and commented on Micic and Larkin's situations.

"Micic hasn't been practicing with the team for 5 weeks. In fact, he shouldn't have played in the game today but I asked him to last night because the match was very important," Ataman told. "Unfortunately, he is not ready at all."

"Larkin was admitted to the hospital on Monday with suspected appendicitis. After 2 days of hospitalization, the operation was abandoned at the last moment. He was discharged on Thursday," the specialist shared. "Psychologically, he was not in a position to play either but we asked him to play and he played."

An unfortunate situation happened with Rodrigue Beaubois. Having previously injured his left ankle, the guard injured his right ankle during the match and had to end it prematurely.

"Beaubois suffered a very serious ankle injury in the last 4-5 minutes of the Crvena Zvezda game. However, he also stated that he wanted to play due to the importance of the match. The injury recurred in the first half, [and] I think it became more serious," Ataman commented.

"Micic has been working by himself for 5 weeks but he has a problem with his knees. We expect him to play every week but he cannot reach that consistency. The biggest surprise for us was Larkin's appendicitis earlier in the week. As such, an abnormal load was placed on Elijah Bryant and Will Clyburn," the coach concluded.

With 13 wins and 13 losses, Efes are currently in 10th place in the EuroLeague standings.

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