Ergin Ataman spoke to the media shortly before Panathinaikos BC AKTOR departed from Paris to Madrid, where the team will face Real Madrid (13/11, 21:45) for Round 11 of the EuroLeague regular season.

“We continue our road trips. In six away games we have three wins, which is a good ratio. The game against Paris Basketball was very important because it’s extremely difficult to beat them, especially on their home court, since they play amazing offensive basketball in transition. It’s very hard to stop them — and I can’t say we stopped them perfectly — but we were smart offensively and controlled the game well. Even in the last quarter, when we somewhat lost control, we showed character and came back as a team. I think we deserved the win because of the effort we made, and we managed to get it. Yesterday, we had contributions from many players, and I hope we continue like this in Madrid.”

Regarding Kenneth Faried’s performance, he noted: “He’s an experienced player, very positive. My first impression was that he has a fighter’s and positive mentality. There’s no doubt about his ability. He’s had a great NBA career. He played against me back in 2014 when he was on Team USA with teammates like Steph Curry. He has the ability and he enjoys being part of this team. Players like him love the EuroLeague atmosphere, so we hope he keeps it up. He gave us important contributions in areas we were lacking after the injuries of Mathias, Holmes, and Yurtseven.”

Commenting on T.J. Shorts, Ataman emphasized: “It’s no surprise to me. Players are not robots — they have emotions. Shorts had a great past with Paris Basketball, and yesterday in the last five minutes he showed character and proved to be a key offensive factor to get the team going. He’s a winner, and I hope he continues this way in Athens as well. This game gave him confidence. He’s not yet at 100%, we’ve had some chemistry issues, but as we play more games — with a true center and with players like Holmes and Yurtseven returning — he’ll only get better.”

Finally, regarding Panathinaikos BC AKTOR’s backcourt, the coach stated: “First of all, I’d like to say that Sloukas gave us tremendous contribution in the first half. We kept the game under control from the moment he stepped on the floor, with his assists and scoring. In my system, things are more fluid with Sloukas. I believe yesterday Shorts in the final stretch and Grant played better than in previous games, even though he’s still not at the level of the past two seasons. The 27 assists are significant — especially for Nunn, who didn’t over-dribble, and that was the key for him to score in this game.”

Samodurov: “We’ll go strong for two in a row”

From the players’ side, ahead of the matchup with Real Madrid, Alexandros Samodurov stated:

“It’s going to be a tough game — we know that — but we’re well prepared. We need to stay focused for 40 minutes and play great defense if we want to win. Every victory is important for the team. It gives us confidence and even more motivation for the next game. We’ll go in strong to make it two in a row. Our new big man (Faried) helped us a lot, gave us great support, and I hope he keeps doing so.”