Aleksander Sekulic: "In the second half, we lost concentration"

Zenit head coach Alexander Sekulich summed up the home match against UNICS, which ended with the Blue-White-Sky Blues losing 72:91.

— We have tough moments right now. Sometimes we can not even have 10 players in the practice due to these injuries, sickness and everything. Nevertheless, we didn't go into the game to give up. We went to fight and play against a very good opponent. Which we were, let's say, somehow successful in the first half, even though we were making a lot of mistakes. But in the second half, after five minutes of third quarter, we just lost concentration, maybe due to fatigue, maybe some other factors, I don't know. 

Also, I think first half we were trying to be aggressive to attack them on offensive. We were getting to the line, but in the second half somehow we didn't manage to get to the free throw line. I don't know why. The opponent team did a great job. They made 16 fouls in the first half, and only 6 in the second. I think they did a good job here. 

The main reason, I think, was the turnovers in the second half. The guys on the court really play hard, work hard, especially Vorontsevich. He's doing his best, but we just need to get healthy to be competitive against the best teams.

— Question about the young players. It’s clear that roster problems force you to put them in, but even from the stands, it’s obvious that they’re not very confident and afraid to take responsibility. Why is that, and how can it be fixed?

— It's very difficult for some guys to step up, especially if it's your first time in this role in this kind of team, which is a team who's seeking to win every game. They feel probably pressure, so what we have to do, we just need to give them confidence, we need to believe in them, and hopefully they will play better.