"In the second quarter we completely lacked concentration": Popovic and Karvanen on the defeat to Irkut

Zenit-2 head coach Oliver Popovic shared his thoughts on the away game against Irkut (73:71).

— Congratulations to Irkutsk on the victory. We practically lost the game in the second quarter when we completely lacked concentration, especially on offense. We scored only six points. That was enough to lose today.

— Is this your first time in Irkutsk? How did you find the atmosphere in the stands?

— I haven't been here for 22-23 years. I think the last time was about that long ago. I'm happy to see a full arena, and the atmosphere is great. Irkutsk has always been like this, and it remains the same.

Zenit-2 forward Maxim Karvanen also summed up the match in Irkutsk. This game was his first for team after his return. In 33 minutes on the court, Karvanen recorded 16 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal.

— We started the first quarter fine, but in the second, we couldn’t score at all — only six points in the entire quarter. We allowed Irkut to make three-pointers. As far as I remember, this team takes about the same number of three-pointers as two-pointers. So that’s one of their main weapons. We let them use it, and they scored. That led to a "-10" gap, which remained almost until the end. We managed to catch up at the end and had a chance to take the final shot for the win, but luck wasn’t on our side.

— If there had been overtime, how do you think it would have played out?

— I hope in our favor. But there won’t be overtime anymore.