"We endured the end on sheer mental and physical strength": Popovic and Samukhin talk about the victory in Magnitogorsk

Zenit-2 head coach Oliver Popovic shared his emotions after the win against Metallurg (87:90) and highlighted the moments that caused difficulties for his team in the recent game.

— Did you expect today’s game to be so tense and tough?

— Since the New year, we haven’t been playing in the same form we were before. Moreover, our lineup is completely different now than it was before the New year. We’re playing without Zemskiy, who is a very important player. After four losses, I didn’t expect such a game, but listen, Magnitogorsk is a decent, good team. They lost their last match by a huge margin, so I didn’t expect them to play at such a level. Today, they were much better, especially considering that we had four consecutive losses before this. We were nervous, feeling a lot of pressure. Overall, our approach to the game was fine. There were mistakes — that’s normal. Apart from Akhmedov and Aksenov, we have a very young team, so mistakes are to be expected.

— The end of the game was complicated by fouls. You lost several players due to foul trouble. How much did this force you to make adjustments during the game?

— It definitely complicated things. We finished the game with players who usually don’t play in those situations. We had a chance to score in the fourth quarter, Aksenov decided to shoot — missed, but then scored in overtime. Both decisions were correct, in fact. We were luckier than Metallurg today. They also had a chance to win, but we were luckier and made those shots when they were needed the most.

Zenit-2 center Vladislav Samukhin also commented on the outcome of the game against the Magnitogorsk team, highlighting the key factor in today’s victory.

— How tense was the game, and what was the main factor in your victory?

— I’ll say right away that the main factor in our victory was Daniil Aksenov. He hit everything he could at the end. The game was very tough because we were pretty much neck and neck throughout the match. The battle was intense: sometimes we were ahead, sometimes the opponent. The atmosphere was tense throughout the game, and the arena was very loud, showing clear support for their team. We’re really happy that we managed to win this match.

— Did you expect the game in Magnitogorsk to be this difficult, especially considering that the hosts suffered a heavy loss in their last match?

— We expected it to be a tense battle anyway, because we have problems with our lineup, and our recent games haven’t been going well. So, we expected it wouldn’t be easy, especially since the team had lost so many games. They were going to fight hard for this one.

— In the fourth quarter, you lost several players due to fouls. How much did this affect the flow of the game? Did fatigue set in toward the end?

— Of course, fatigue added up because we only had 10 players in the rotation. With two of them out, we ended up playing with just one five-man unit, and everyone was really tired. We endured it purely on mental and physical strength.