Georgy Zhbanov: "We’ll sleep well before UNICS"

Blue-whites' guard Georgy Zhbanov shared his emotions in an interview with Zenit TV after the team's away victory over PARMA (58:74). He spoke about how the difficult journey affected their pre-game condition and how the team's newcomers have already integrated into the training process.

— Georgy, congratulations on the victory. Do you think the flight and all the complicated logistics had an impact on the game?

— No, not at all. As you could see today, we played with even more energy. For us, it was more of a challenge rather than a tough circumstance. You have to play basketball with love and energy at all times, no matter what happens. So everything was great.

— You checked into the hotel at 7 a.m. on game day. That must have been unusual. Did you manage to get some sleep?

— No, honestly, I slept poorly. I woke up at 12 feeling sluggish. But I pulled myself together for the game. My parents came, which brought positive emotions. Nothing got in the way.

— Your parents were cheering for you from the stands. Did you get a chance to talk before or after the game?

— No, we didn’t manage to talk before the game. They just arrived by car from Yekaterinburg. We'll see each other at the hotel, hug, and catch up.

— Zenit’s head coach, Xavi Pascual, thanked PARMA and their head coach, Evgeny Pashutin, for their cooperation. That was quite a gentlemanly gesture, wasn't it?

— Of course. Huge thanks to Perm, their coaching staff, and the team for accommodating us. And to the fans, who always show up and pack Molot arena to the brim. We're all one big basketball family, and we should support each other. On the court, we’re ready to battle, but in certain situations, in small things, we need to have each other's backs. I believe that if PARMA were in the same situation, we would have responded the same way.

— We always talk about team chemistry. We have two new additions — Okaro and Alexey. How have they integrated? Do you feel the chemistry brewing?

— Oh, the chemistry is boiling! I’ve known Okaro since our time at UNICS, so it didn’t take long to connect. And Lekha (Alexey) is a great guy, a true professional, so it was easy to find common ground with him too. As you can see, he’s already improving our game, and according to him, he’s only at 30-40% of his potential. We’ll see what happens when he hits 60%.

— Will you finally get some sleep before the UNICS game?

— We’ll sleep well before UNICS. Maybe catch a movie, play some dominoes, have some wine… (laughs)