Ergin Ataman on Galatasaray and Osimhen: 'Only for the Turkish championship?

Head coach Ergin Ataman, who won the silver medal at EuroBasket 2025 with our National Men's Volleyball Team, made some very interesting statements to S Sport.

EMPHASIS ON THE OLYMPICSErgin Ataman: "We gained experience with this squad, by developing this squad. We missed the final, but we won't miss it in the next tournament. In a championship, I don't know if it will be the World Championship or the European Championship. The Olympics is a bit difficult, because the USA is coming there with a full squad. But our goal will be to participate in the Olympics. The Turkish basketball national team has never participated in the Olympics until today."

"I think that this squad will definitely win a gold medal in the coming period. I am a bit bitter that I missed the championship that came within our grasp, but being the second in Europe is a very important pride." said the experienced head coach.

'THEY HAVE PERSONALITY PROBLEMS'Dennis Schröder, who played for Germany in the final against the 12 Giant Men, said: "Ataman, get out of here! Best Coach? My ass!", Ataman said:

"Schröder is a good player but I can't say anything about his personality problems. For me, more important than being a good player is leadership, a human and humble approach. Schröder doesn't need to apologize to me. Everyone has their own opinion, it doesn't matter to me. But when I transfer a player to my team, I first look at his personality and decency.They also won a game they thought they had lost, in such situations players get extra excited. Schröder had a personality problem in that video in that excitement. It doesn't matter, I give it to his youth. Let him think about the coaches in the NBA, he's a player who plays for a different team every year. That already shows Schröder's situation."

TURKISH FOOTBALL EXIT "They have destroyed the basketball media in Turkish sports public opinion," Ataman said, adding that soccer has become almost the only agenda item in the country:

"Football has an economy in Turkey. There are millions of dollars spent. There is no success in Europe. You look at my team Galatasaray, here is Osimhen, 80 million euros... But is all this to be the champion of Turkey? The criterion for me is to be successful in Europe. To reach the semi-finals of a European cup. You don't necessarily have to be champion"

"The vicious rivalry in football, the rivalry over the referee... The referee is what is constantly talked about. I watched the Fenerbahçe-Beşiktaş match on TV. It's a great atmosphere but they don't send journalists there to ask those questions. The problem is there."

Ergin Ataman expressed his discontent with the lack of media coverage of basketball, arguing that the successes achieved in a prestigious organization such as the EuroLeague are overshadowed and that the public's interest is focused only on football, which hinders the overall development of Turkish sports.