The extraordinary work of Ergin
Ataman on the bench Anadolu
Efes has been recognized this Monday with the announcement that it has won the award Alexander
Gomelskiy Coach of the Year for the 2020-21 season as voted by his teammates, the EuroLeague head coaches.
Ataman made history this season by bringing Efes to his first Euroleague title, completing a streak that began when he took over a team in last place midway through the 2017-18 season. The Efes finished the regular season in third place with a 22-12 record before shedding the previous two champions – the 2018 winner, the Real
Madrid, in the playoffs, and the 2019 winner, the CSKA
from
Moscow, in the semifinals – to reach the championship match, where they beat FC Barcelona. The Efes became the first team in more than two decades to lift the trophy of the Euroleague with no previous competition winners on the roster.
The award for the best coach of the year is chosen by the selectors of the Euroleague on the condition that no coach votes himself. Behind of Ataman, who received 12 of the 18 possible votes for first place, were Andrea Trinchieri from FC Bayern Munich, Ettore Messina from AX Armani Exchange Milan and Sarunas Jasikevicius of FC Barcelona.
Although voting for the award is based solely on the 2020-21 season, Ataman He laid the foundations for his team’s triumph for three seasons. After leading to Efes to the championship game in 2019, it had Efes atop the standings with a 24-4 record when the 2019-20 season was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This season, injuries made the Efes stumbled out with an 8-9 record in the middle of the regular season. However, Ataman managed to win his team 11 of the next 12 games, and gained the advantage of playing at home to face the Real
Madrid in the Euroleague playoffs.