Beşiktaş Cola Turka Men’s Basketball Team’s new Head Coach Ergin Ataman unveiled his plans for the future of his new team:

“In the long run, we want to create a team which will earn respect both at home and abroad. Our ultimate goal is to win all titles we compete for. In the short run, however, we have a difficult task ahead of us because we are currently way behind the league leader, and it is not easy to close that gap in such a short time. All we can do is to win all our games and then wait for the others to lose. But since the championship will be decided at end of playoffs, if we can post some wins against Efes Pilsen, Galatasaray Cafe Crown, Fenerbahçe Ülker and Banvit, the teams we lost to in the first half of the season, we can secure ourselves a better playoff spot. We will fight for a spot between the 3rd and 5th. 
As I said it before, we regard the next season as the one with greater opportunity. This season’s results will determine next season’s roster. We will keep the productive players in the team and part ways with the others. Then we will sign some new players to build a team that can compete for Turkish and European titles. Let me tell you this, winning a title in Europe is not a far-fetched dream for Turkish clubs today. If you can play your cards right, you will be amazed what you can achieve out there.   
When I was here three years ago, I promised to bring in the Turkish Cup but failed to do so due to some unexpected little details. I have not forgotten my word. But let’s face it, success requires money, and teams like Fenerbahçe Ülker, Efes Pilsen, Banvit, Galatasaray Cafe Crown and Pınar Karşıyaka are run on huge budgets with exceptionally well-managed organizations that go years back. Beşiktaş Cola Turka is in the same league, and despite the tough competition, it will battle for the top spot just like them. But today, I can not promise anyone that we will be champions at the end of next season. We have the same chances of winning the title. However, I can promise you that we will not give up the race until the season’s final buzzer.
It is not easy to take over a team during mid-season. The coach before me apparently paid more attention to offense than defense. However for me, offense starts from good defense. It is not possible to change a team’s playing style overnight, but we are working on it. From now on, the pace on our offense will be more controlled, as we will stick to high-percentage shots. This will enable us to reduce our turnovers and help our defense. Players such as Mustafa Abi are tenacious defenders which we can use more often.      
When our center Fedor Likholitov returns from his injury, it will be a big boost for us because he is another good defender with exceptional blocking skills. I had always admired him when he was playing in Europe. The veteran Hüseyin Beşok we brought in for Likholitov’s replacement is another player who is going to contribute us a lot in that position, not to mention his enormous experience.
I am coach who likes to play with experienced players. I believe these types of players can pull a team out of difficult situations and adjust to new tactics more easily than the others. It is nice to see that we have quite of them in our roster.
If you want take a shot at the title, in addition to your foreign stars, your Turkish players must also assume greater responsibility and be more productive. In fact, Turkish players are the backbone of any team in this country. Without sufficient contributions from them, you can not win anything. Some foreign stars are naturally more expensive than other foreign players. That’s where the Turkish players come into the picture and makes up the balance between the two sides. The more these Turkish players are experienced, the better it is for the team.  I also expect our Turkish players Cüneyt Erden, Mustafa Abi, Hüseyin Beşok and Cevher Özer to be leaders in our team. Without their help we can not achieve any kind of unity in the team.”
Mr Ataman ended the press conference by answering questions about Allen Iverson who is currently in United States for his injury: “Every coach dreams to have player like Iverson playing for him. I can not wait to see him back on our lineup. His presence at Beşiktaş has already contributed a lot to the Turkish basketball. I am sure he will deliver more once his injury is over.  It is a great pleasure to work with such a classy player. Iverson is definitely the most decorated NBA player I ever had a chance to work with. It is nice to have such great stars playing in Turkey because they draw more attention to basketball. In addition to all these, his numbers on the court are also highly impressive. What else does a coach want?  I wish him a speedy recovery.”