Georgy Zhbanov: "The game was pure enjoyment"

Zenit guard Georgy Zhbanov shared his emotions after the team's away victory over CSKA (66:79) in the 29th round of the VTB United League regular season. The player talked about the instructions he received from the head coach while preparing for the match and noted that the early start time was, in some ways, beneficial for the team.

— First of all, congratulations to Zenit — our management, players, and everyone involved with the club. Such an important victory for us. The game was pure enjoyment. It was great — packed stands, suspense until the very end. We enjoyed playing, and winning made it even better.

— Would you say that you mentally won from the very beginning? Because it was clear — you were genuinely enjoying the game and having fun. Some might even say your style of play had a bit of flair to it.

— I don’t know how CSKA was mentally prepared, but I think just as much as we were. We were really looking forward to this match — it’s one of the most exciting games of the season. We approached it like a final. I won’t make any loud statements, but I’ll just say that today we were the better team, and that’s why we won.

— What were the coach’s instructions? What allowed you to win today? What did you focus on during the analysis?

— I was responsible for Abramovic. The coach said: "Take Avramovic". I took him. That’s it — zero points, victory (laughs).

— At what moment did you feel confident that Zenit would take this match?

— You can’t relax until the very last seconds. So probably in the last 30 seconds, it became clear that, yes, most likely, we would win. But as past experience shows, last season CSKA pulled off an almost impossible comeback against Nizhny. You can never relax against a team like that. But I won’t lie — there was confidence that we would win.

— At one point, the score was 56:56. Why did you let CSKA get back into the game?

— Why did CSKA get back into the game? Because it’s CSKA. They never give up and fight until the end. That’s why they caught up with us, and I think we created a great spectacle for the fans. It was exciting for everyone to watch. But we didn’t let go of what we had built.

— How was it playing at 12:30 in the afternoon? That’s not a usual game time for you, is it?

— It was my first time playing this early, but our training sessions are always at 12:30. So for us, it’s actually an optimal time to play. I think, in some way, it helped us. It’s all good — you can play basketball at any time.