Georgy Zhbanov: "We’ll try to keep them from finding their shot from the very first minutes"

Zenit guard Georgy Zhbanov shared his thoughts ahead of the home game against MBA-MAI. The match will take place on January 28 in St. Petersburg at the CSC Arena, with a 20:00 local time kickoff. Tickets are available at tickets.bc-zenit.com.

— This won’t be the first time facing MBA this season. What makes this team unique?

— MBA plays free-flowing basketball, relying heavily on three-point shooting. They have a lot of young players who are eager to make a name for themselves and try to do so in every game. Additionally, they have a couple of veterans like Minchenko and Voronov, who are just as effective as the younger players in getting the job done. That’s what defines them.

— What are their strengths?

— Probably their ability to find their rhythm with shooting. That wild basketball style — basically run-and-gun — can make it tough. We’ll try to shut that down in the first minutes and keep them from finding their shot.

— Sergey Karasev scored 27 points. Now he’s going to play against his father. Are you expecting even more from him?

— Well, I do not know. Maybe they have some kind of correspondence going on in the family chat about this. You can't hurt Dad too much either. I think 25 will be enough.