Aleksander Sekulic: "The players executed the plan almost until the very end"

Zenit head coach Aleksander Sekulic summed up the home game against Uralmash, which ended with a 91:86 victory for the Blue-White-Sky Blues.

— I think we played against a good opponent in less than period of one month we played a third game against them. We beat them two times especially the last game was we were up I think 29 at the end. We anticipated that they're going to show some kind of a reaction and they're going to come here super motivated. And of course, they don't have a pressure like we do that every game for us is a must win. Of course, I have to say that they have good players, good basketball players, they play good basketball and especially Gerasimov opened the game amazingly. He didn't miss a shot from the three-point even though he's not let's say a great shooter or somebody who shoots the ball a lot. 

Even though I think we found our rhythm. We came back into the game, even though it was a slow start for us. The players executed the game plan until the almost end of the game. We were for no reason when we were 16 points up, two and a half minutes to the end. We became nervous and start playing not the way we want to play and we gave a bit of a chance to opponent to think that they can also come with the victory. We handle it and I have to stress out a big good team effort of our team because it's not easy to play against a team who is changing defenses so often in the game. They gamble a lot on defense, that's why the players need to be really focused and sharp for the game, for this kind of game, and I believe that they were most of the game like this. 

And again, I would like to say a big thank you for the fans who came to support us, even if it's a Monday night. Right now we are not in a great moment regarding the injuries. Trent is coming back from the injury, some of the guys are not ready yet, some of them small injuries. So really that's why we really need a support from the fans.

— Why didn't Trent make the starting line-up?

— We want to act wisely. We don't want to throw Trent into the fire right away. I don't like it when a player gets into the starting five immediately after an injury. We need to think not only about those who start the match, but also about those who finish it.