Photo by Savino Paolella
The coach of Panathinaikos and Turkey, Ergin Ataman, relaunched his well-known statements on the comparison between Euroleague e NBA, returning to the topic of NBA champions who called themselves “world champions”.
“I’ve seen that many social media, in the United States and Europe, have echoed my words about the difference between the Euroleague and the NBA. I confirm it: give me Alperen sengun From the Houston Rockets to Panathinaikos and we will 100% beat the Rockets”, Ataman said.
EuroBasket and the duel with Sengun
In addition to his club commitments, Ataman is focused on leading Turkey to EuroBasket 2025After a complicated start, his team beat the Czech Republic, moving up to 2-0 in Group A.
The absolute protagonist of the match was Sengun, author of a double double with 23 points, 12 rebounds, 9 assists, 2 blocks and 1 steal. The performance pushed the team to Diego Ocampo at 0-2 in the group.
“We had a plan. Sometimes we executed it well, other times he beat us because he’s really smart. I love players who look for the pass first. For me, that’s real basketball.”, commented Ocampo on the Turkish center of the Houston Rockets.
Leader numbers
In the first two matches of the tournament in Riga, Sengun is travelling with averages of 19,5 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists, 1,5 blocks and 1 steal per game, confirming itself as Turkey’s beacon.