Ergin Ataman and Nikos Rogkavopoulos spoke before the departure of Panathinaikos BC AKTOR for Sarajevo, where it will face Dubai Basketball (24/03, 20:30) in the context of the 33rd round of the EuroLeague regular season.

In his statement, the coach said: “We have to look at reality. It is positive that we will not need to travel to Dubai. Of course, I would prefer everything to be fine in the world, there to be no war and all people to be safe, so that we could go and play in Dubai. Now, the situation is like this. We will play the game. Dubai Basketball is a strong team and now has a full roster, because during the season it had many injury problems.

For example, in the first-round game at Telekom Center Athens we had won by a very big margin, but Bacon and Musa had not played. Now they have a full roster and they have won their latest important games. It will be a difficult game. For us it is very important, like all the games that remain until the end of the regular season. They are important in order for us to move up to the Playoff positions and take the best possible place.

It is a very good team offensively, especially with Bacon, Musa and Kabengele. They have good shooters like Bertans, while Wright is a very good point guard, one of the best this year in the EuroLeague. Certainly, defense will be very important, because Dubai Basketball has great offensive potential. We will go with 12 players. For me there are no absences because we will have a full roster. If we were 11, I would talk about absences. We are 12 and 100% ready to face this important game.”

From his side, Nikos Rogkavopoulos noted: “We are playing a very difficult game against a team with plenty of talent at every position. If we do not enter the game from the beginning seriously and with 100% concentration on both sides of the court, we will have a lot of difficulty and it is a do-or-die game for us. It is a team that is also chasing a place in the top ten. If we lose, we are in danger and we do not have time. Six games remain, we have to win as many as possible in order to claim our place in the Playoffs.

We have to stop the one-on-one game of Dubai Basketball. They have a player at every position who can play 1vs1, create gaps and then produce open shots. They have very good shooters and they are a team with a very up-tempo game. If we do not limit these things, we will have a serious problem. I feel good. I am looking forward to the game and I want to help the team as much as I can.”