Turkey coach Ergin Ataman spoke ahead of the EuroBasket Final against Germany on Sunday, September 14, expressing confidence in his team, addressing a controversial social media incident, and sharing why he doesn’t feel the usual pressure before such a major game.
On Turkey’s strengths heading into the match, Ataman highlighted the team’s preparation and collective approach.
“Our biggest advantage is that we played so far very important games against big teams. Serbia, Latvia, Greece. We play with the same strategy in every game that we’ll use tomorrow also. We won’t do anything special. Our advantage is that we play like a team, we do everything like a team.”
He stressed that Turkey’s consistency and teamwork give them an edge, rather than relying on surprise tactics. When discussing Germany, the reigning world champions, Ataman showed respect for their experience and talent.
“We have a lot of respect to the German team. They showed their capacity in the World Cup, winning it. They’ve very good players. They’ve played together many years. They are unbeaten. I believe my team is better right now, in this moment and we’re ready to win the game.”
Despite Germany’s record, he expressed confidence that Turkey is prepared to outperform them on the day. Regarding officiating, Ataman emphasized fairness and focus.
“We expect the officiating to be focused, concentrated and not make a big mistake. This is basketball and, like the players, the referees sometimes make mistakes. I hope my players will make fewer mistakes and referees will make fewer mistakes. I don’t care who will be the referees but they must know that these are the two best teams in the tournament. The team that deserves and plays better should win the cup without any effect from the officiating.”
On handling stress and pressure before the final, Ataman downplayed the tension.
“Five minutes ago they told me that everybody has big stress and pressure, especially in our guys in Federation. I told them that I had this stress maybe before my first EuroLeague Final. After that I didn’t have any stress. This is a basketball game. I try to coach my team in the best way. I also believe my players won’t have big stress.”
He recalled joking with Cedi Osman on the way to the press conference, drawing on their experience from high-pressure club finals in Athens between Panathinaikos and Olympiacos, and said that the intensity of those games had prepared them well for this moment.
Ataman also spoke about the broader significance of this EuroBasket for Turkish basketball.
“It’s very important for Turkish basketball. Turkish clubs have done incredible jobs in the EuroLeague but unfortunately the national team didn’t have any success after 2001 and 2010. Tomorrow it’ll be different. We lost in these two finals. But tomorrow… I don’t like to lose in the final, I like to win. If I’m in the final, I’ll win.”
He framed the upcoming game as an opportunity to restore national pride and achieve historic success.
Reflecting on his personal growth as a coach, Ataman said: “All people everyday can learn something. It’s the same for me. Everyday with every group I can learn something. Maybe, you can say it’s ego, maybe it’s the reality: The last years I’m the best coach in Europe. I don’t care which team I’m coaching. I’m doing the same job in the clubs I’ve been working. Everytime we’ve won, I won European cups. The only difference for me is that in my club I need to talk in English and now I talk my language. My English aren’t perfect so now my players understand me more easily.”
On a recent controversial social media post by the Turkish Basketball Federation that was quickly deleted after Greek protests, Ataman said: “This is social media and social media is very dangerous. Why? Because sometimes it’s in the control of some guys who don’t have experience. I heard about this two hours ago, our president told me about this. They made this post last night around two o’clock. Nobody knew about that.
“After the federation found out, they immediately released the person who made the post, deleted the post, and apologized. I completely agree that it’s not a correct post. Unfortunately this sometimes happens in social media. I don’t think there is a big problem. Yesterday it was very fair also off the court with Greek fans and Turkish fans. OK, maybe sometimes there are some political problems between the countries but the two federations have good relations. The players also.”
He continued, explaining the context of the post and the response.
“It was one person who made this late at night maybe with some emotions. They sent him to Turkey. I have many friends in Greece and I know they are upset because they lost. After we won this historic game, I didn’t show excessive happiness and didn’t show my two fists out of respect for my friends in Greece. But I’m ready to do this tomorrow when I will win the cup.”
Ergin Ataman: I don’t like to lose in the Final, if I’m in the Final I’ll win#Eurobaskethttps://t.co/Q0EU8NQmbz
— Eurohoops (@Eurohoopsnet) September 13, 2025
