Reporting from Belgrade
Ergin Ataman expects Anadolu Efes to rely on its defense in the start of the semi-final vs Olympiacos on Thursday.
The head coach of the reigning champions admitted that finding tempo offensively in a Final Four is very difficult.
“Their key player is Kostas Sloukas, of course. He creates a lot off the pick and roll. Thomas Walkup is their defensive player, they have Tyler Dorsey who is dangerous on the penetrations.
For sure, Sasha Vezenkov opens the court and Moustapha Fall is strong inside. Kostas Papanikolaou brings his experience, he rebounds, cuts…they have a really good balance.
The whole season they played the same system, same rotation. They use many defensive situations, with Fall contesting shots inside. They use switching man-to-man and side defense.
It is a very well-coached and organized team. It will be a tough game and for us will be important to improve the game tempo and find baskets in the open court. In the Final Four, it is hard to immediately start with tempo.
In the beginning, our defense will be important, but our game is to push the tempo, to run. And as minutes go by, we will try to do that,” Ergin Ataman told media, including Hedgeout.net, before Efes’ final practice.
Ergin Ataman and the defending champions aim to go all the way and claim the trophy in order to join an elite club of teams that became back-to-back champions.
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