Denis Zakharov: "Today we were fully energized and followed our plan"

Zenit guard Denis Zakharov summed up the first game of the VTB United League semifinal series and answered journalists' questions during the post-match press conference. The game against Lokomotiv Kuban took place on the home court of the blue-whites and ended with a victory for the St. Petersburg team — 106:79.

— The first thing I want to say is thank you to the fans for coming and supporting us. Today we were fully energized, followed our plan, and, in the end, everything worked out well for us.

— Before the game, you said that Lokomotiv is a team that runs very fast, and that this is their trump card. Watching the game, it seemed like you managed to neutralize that.

— Every player who stepped on the court put in effort on defense first and foremost, trying to stop their fast breaks. They didn’t get many easy points, and we, on the other hand, managed to score some easy ones thanks to good defense and quick transitions.

— The series is best of seven. How important is it to look this confident in the first game? Would you call this a good start?

— Of course. We prepared for this, to protect our home-court advantage. As the coach said, from the first game we needed to show that this is our house, and I think we managed to do that.

— Do you think the second game will be tougher?

— Definitely. They’ll try to respond, but we won’t relax either. We’ll try to maintain the same pace, the same energy and rhythm.

— Do you follow how the St. Petersburg press covers Zenit’s games? Have you read anything unethical about the team lately?

— During the playoffs I try to step back from social media a bit, so I haven’t seen anything bad.

— Denis, maybe you noticed during the game: when one of the Zenit players came onto the court, an organ was playing. Personally, I’ve never seen that before. How would you comment on this innovation?

— It was unusual. Hard to say. It was my first time experiencing that too. But basketball is evolving. So I think media around basketball should evolve too. Like what we tried today. I think it’s better to ask the fans how they felt about it.

— Did you like it?

— I didn’t mind. But like I said, we were focused on the game.

— Don’t you think the melody was a bit sad?

— Well, sometimes it was. But if we keep playing this well to that melody, then let it play till the end.