"This is the level we’re striving for": Levi Randolph and Andrey Martiuk on the loss to Maccabi Tel Aviv

Zenit forward Levi Randolph shared his thoughts after the friendly game against Maccabi Tel Aviv (77:102). In this match, he became the team’s top scorer with 19 points, 3 assists and 1 rebound.

— The game ended with a 25-point difference, but considering that this is the EuroLeague level, how does it feel?

— No, I feel like you know, we got a lot of room to improve. That's the level we want to be at. You know, we strive to be on the EuroLeague level. So, it's preseason. We continue to work. We have a whole new team. Continue to build, you never want to be able to lose at all period but we just got to continue work, continue to get better. We see where the level needs to be. So, coaches here today, we continue to work and continue to get better.

— What are your expectations for the game against Uralmash?

— We'll watch film, we'll see what we need to do to work to get better and see the mistakes we need to correct. We know they're a competitive team, we know they have a lot of weapons. So, just look forward to getting out there and playing hard and hopefully come out with a victory tomorrow.

Zenit center Andrey Martiuk also shared his thoughts after the game against the Israeli side.

— Andrey, you already played your first game in the Serbian capital. Yesterday the team arrived late, and today the game started early. Did this combination of factors affect the result and the quality of play?

— The late arrival, I think, had a bit of an effect, because at first we had good energy. Yes, many things didn’t work out in terms of building chemistry and developing plays, since the head coach has only just joined us. Of course, there’s some lack of understanding both in defense and offense, but with intense practices, that can be fixed fairly quickly. Right now, Maccabi is a very high-level opponent that immediately shows us where we need to improve our game.

— If we break down the game, it seems that the big men scored a lot of points: you and Alex Poythress. What does that indicate? That the battle inside prevailed over the overall game?

— They were just finding us really well under the basket because of switches — that’s Maccabi’s type of defense. So we had the chance to dominate in the paint, and we managed to do that during the game.

— What kind of game do you expect against Uralmash?

— For now, this game has only just finished. We need to cool down a bit, so to speak. And then in a couple of hours, we’ll start thinking and preparing for the next match.