Sani Becirovic: "We need to become a team to overcome all our difficulties"

Zenit BC Sports Director Sani Becirovic was a guest at the open studio during the preseason Kondrashin and Belov Cup and answered the most interesting questions in front of the fans.

— St. Petersburg is a new home for you. Can you share some experience and some impressions about the city with us?

— Regarding the city, I have only positive comments because the city really impressed me. I didn't expect to find such beauty and especially to be so clean. It's amazing. And driving during the nights and seeing all the lights and buildings, it's really unique, so I'm happy to be here and hopefully I will get to know the city better and enjoy it more.

— Have you already felt the atmosphere of the team and how the first training sessions of our team went?

— I saw in Turkey that guys are ready. They immediately accepted the ideology of coach Sekulic and coach Zuza how we would like to play during the season. And the most important thing is that we are day by day getting to know each other and becoming a team because at the end of the day we need to become a team first in order to overcome all our difficulties. And I think we are on the right path.

— At the Kondrashin and Belov Cup we, as always, we see many kids. We know that basketball also appeared in your life from a very young age. Why did you choose this particular sport and not any other?

— That question is actually really easy because my father is a basketball coach and in 1989 he took me to see Drazen Petrovic. And when I saw Drazen Petrovic play I immediately fell in love with him and he was my idol. I wanted to copy him and become like him. And I think that now, kids, they for sure have many idols in European players that are playing in the NBA. So they can also, let's say, relate to this dream and maybe copy one of them to become a great basketball player one day.

— We have a main rival, CSKA Moscow. We know that your performance for CSKA is an important page of your career. Will you have any special feelings before the meeting with the ex-team?

— I mean like a player it was a great honor to play for CSKA. For sure we are talking about one of the greatest and biggest clubs in European basketball and my collaboration with Andrey Vatutin and Natalia Furaeva was always excellent and even to this day is really good, great. But as in life, as in sports, once you are partners and then you are opponents.

— We start the season with the tournament, which is dedicated to the legends of Soviet and world basketball Vladimir Kondrashin and Alexander Belov. In your opinion, such tournaments makes a really good impact for development of basketball here in St. Petersburg?

— Absolutely, I mean that we owe it to the legends to keep their name alive. They were huge for Russian basketball and the legacy with this name and organizing this kind of events definitely it's a must for a St. Petersburg and for Russian basketball history.

— And finally, could you say a few words to our fans before the start of the new season?

— First of all I hope and I wish that you will come to support us. It's on us to deserve and to earn your trust and support, because definitely we need to present the city of St. Petersburg and especially the jersey that our players are wearing. And we will really try with all our heart and energy to leave every game 100% on the floor. And most important thing is I wish that we all gonna be healthy in order to do so. So I wish best of luck and best of health to all of our players, our team and also to the fans.