Andrey Vorontsevich: "Right now, it’s important to stay strong and not hang our heads"

Blue-whites forward Andrey Vorontsevich commented on the results of the fifth match of the VTB United League final series against CSKA (84:89).

— Congratulations to CSKA on the win. Of course, there’s a bitter aftertaste from the loss. Emotionally, this is a tough moment because we were leading and it felt like we could finish the game with a victory. About seven and a half minutes before the end of the fourth quarter, we committed several turnovers and lost control at the end. In the final moments — around the last one or two minutes — we missed a rebound from Avramovic, and when we were down by three points, we made some poor decisions and lost our rhythm. So, right now, it’s important to stay strong and, above all, not hang our heads. We need to find the strength and motivation within ourselves. I believe every player understands that. Now it's time to analyze our mistakes, and the day after tomorrow we’ll be in Moscow. What can I say — a loss is a loss. Of course, we always want to win, and it really felt like victory was in our hands. But we understand that we can’t afford to relax.

— Andrey, Zenit had a strong start to the fourth quarter, leading by 13 points, but then ran into trouble on offense. What happened?

— It’s the finals. Naturally, CSKA was playing tough defense. We missed some of our shots, and at the same time, everyone probably wanted to step up. Maybe that extra motivation turned into nervous energy. I felt like we didn’t need to rush our attacks, and each possession should have led to a shot at the 20-second mark. Honestly, it’s hard to analyze everything right away — we need to review it carefully.

— After the previous game, it must have been emotionally tough to prepare for this one. How was the team emotionally today?

— Speaking for myself, playing at home, with a crowd like this, is always a boost. Once again, I want to say a huge thank you to our fans. From what I understand, it was another sold-out. Everyone was cheering, stomping, whistling — we truly felt the support, and we’re incredibly grateful for it. What more motivation do you need? We’re playing at home — and at home, even the walls help. So for me, playing on our home court is the ultimate motivation.