Alex Poythress: "It doesn't matter whoever we will play in playoffs"

The blue-whites center Alex Poythress commented on the victory over PARMA (105:90) in the penultimate round of the VTB United League. About the victory in the regular season, 1500 points for the team and the next trip to Kazakhstan — in an interview for Zenit TV.

— Alex, congrats on the win. What happened with the team today? Lack of concentration or lack of motivation?

— I mean, no, it wasn't lack of motivation or concentration. I think every game has its ups and downs. We're not going to be able to win the game in the first quarter. We've got to play all four quarters. And we continued all through the game. Then we made a big push in the third and the fourth, we came out victorious.

— How important was to win in front of the home crowd tonight?

— It was very important. The fans have supported us all year, they did a good job. So, we wanted to close it out and let's go into the last game with a good energy.

— You surpassed the 1500 points for Zenit. What does it mean for you?

— It means a lot. I just want to thank my coaches, my teammates, the fans, like without them it wouldn't have been possible. I'm just fortunate to be in this position that I am, to keep on playing basketball.

— What did you say to Vince who had his 100th game tonight for Zenit?

— Congrats, longevity is a big thing in this profession. Whether you play 100 games, 1500 points — it's a lot. As long as we keep going and keep striving, we'll do good jobs.

— Today the team had 60% of three-pointers during the game. Was it a key in the second half?

— Yeah, for us when our shooters get open shots, we expect them to hit shots. Everybody on this team has a role. Shooters shoot, bigs finish under the basket and our scorers score. We did that and came out on top.

— Zenit won the regular championship. Was it your goal?

— It was one of our goals, it wasn't the ultimate goal. The ultimate goal is to win the playoffs, come out first on that. We put us in the first position, so the hard work that we did all season it pays off, so now we got good energy going into the playoffs.

— Now you have to travel to Astana in Kazakhstan. Say a few words about the upcoming trip.

— Astana is a good team. We still got to take the game serious, be focused and have good energy going into the playoffs.

— Who do you want to play against in the in the quarterfinal?

— To me it doesn't matter whoever we play. We got to lace them up and play against them. We gotta go through everybody to win championship.

— Can you say a few words for the fans?

— Thank you all for supporting us all year and we go keep going push it.