"We made the right shots when it was needed": Popovic and Zemskiy on reaching the Super League semifinals

Zenit-2 head coach Oliver Popovic commented on the victory over Novosibirsk (66:60) in the fifth game of the Fonbet Super League quarterfinals and answered journalists' questions during the post-match press conference.

— Coach, congratulations on a hard-fought win in a tough series. Share your thoughts on the game and the quarterfinal series overall.

— It seemed like the most exciting matchup was us and Novosibirsk. Today's Game 5 wasn't particularly pretty, to be honest — from either side. But it was the decisive match to determine who moves on to the semifinals, so I expected a game like this. Still, credit to the guys. We were trailing for three full quarters — and even more than that. But in the fourth, we managed to play with force, especially on defense. We made the right shots when it was needed.

Novosibirsk is a seasoned team. That’s the difference between an experienced team and a young one like ours. But we managed to close it out with Elkhan Akhmedov and Daniil Aksenov — the two most experienced players on our squad. They did a great job at the end. I'm happy, and I congratulate the guys and the fans, who were our sixth player today. Now we move forward. One day to rest, and already on April 16, we play against Revda.

— What are your expectations for the series against Temp-SUMZ? They’ve had rest — we haven’t. Could that be a decisive factor in the upcoming games?

— Maybe. But that’s life. We rest tomorrow and then start preparing for the opponent. I’m not yet sure who exactly will travel with us, because the main team has a game tomorrow. It’s possible that Ryzhov and Zemskiy will join us for both road games. I hope that happens. We’ll fight. We’re not going there with a white flag — that’s for sure. Temp-SUMZ is a strong, solid team. They’ve shown in the regular season that they’re physically very tough. We’ll see what condition we’re in for the semifinals.

— In the first half, your team had a poor shooting percentage both beyond the arc and from mid-range. How do you get the players back into the right mindset during halftime?

— Like I said, this is the difference between an experienced and a young team. It seemed like we were playing under pressure. I tried to make sure the guys felt no pressure before the game — to just enjoy it and play basketball. But the shots weren’t falling, either inside or from three. Still, the deficit was just 7 points — not a disaster. All our games with Novosibirsk were close: either plus 6-7 or minus 6-7. We caught up and played them evenly. Every game, except the first, was tight. At halftime, I told them: "Just play basketball, have enjoy. No pressure". And in the end, our two most experienced players stepped up. Egor Ryzhov helped us a lot today — especially on defense and in key moments where we needed to make really tough shots.

— Zenit-2 won the previous two games in this series largely due to strong three-point shooting. When it wasn’t falling today, did you shift the focus to defense?

— Yes, and we tried to get Ryzhov more involved down low. Like I said, three or four times he scored really important points. And when we really needed shots from beyond the arc, Aksenov hit them. Before that, he hadn’t made any — they just weren’t falling. That happens sometimes. But overall, we defended well. They scored only 60 points — against an experienced and strong team like that, that’s not much.

Zenit-2 forward Pavel Zemskiy also shared his thoughts on the quarterfinal series victory. In today’s game, the forward posted 16 points, 10 rebounds, 2 blocks and 1 steal.

— A tough five-game series against Novosibirsk is over, and Zenit-2 has reached the semifinals. Share your thoughts on today’s game and the series overall.

— I think today was an amazing game — both for the fans and for us. A big win. We slipped a bit in the third quarter, but the team held strong. Through focus and strong defense, we managed to win. The whole series was incredible — we just played more games and enjoyed the process. Gained more experience. Why not? A great match, and we fought to the end in every moment.

— What do you think was the key turning point in the game — when the momentum shifted in your favor?

— I think it was about six minutes before the end of the fourth quarter. We were down by seven, made a couple of good shots, got a few stops on defense, and the team started to feel confident. From there, we picked up momentum and wore them down till the final buzzer.

— Up next is the semifinal series against Temp-SUMZ. They had a fairly easy 3:0 win in the quarterfinals and are well rested. Could our long series be a disadvantage going into the semifinals?

— I don’t think so. We’re a young team — we don’t need much rest. We’re ready to give 100% every time.

— In the first half, your shooting percentage from beyond the arc and mid-range wasn’t great. How did you manage to turn it around? Was it mostly a mental thing?

— I just regrouped in the locker room, hit the reset button. You had to let go of everything — it’s the last game, after all. You’ve got to pull your thoughts together, go out with maximum focus, and give it everything you’ve got — 1000 percent.

— Would you say that Pavel Zemskiy was today’s X-factor? After your threes, the team started rolling, and Novosibirsk couldn’t catch up.

— I think the whole team was the X-factor. Yes, I did everything I could to help the team gain confidence and build momentum, so we could get those easy points in the final stretch and break the opponent’s resistance. So yeah — me and the team — we were all X-factors in today’s match.