Luka Samanic: "We did a good job, on to the next one"
The first emotions of the Blue-White-Sky Blues' newcomer Luka Samanic after his debut game — exclusively for Zenit TV. In the match against MBA-MAI (83:69), the Croatian center became the most productive player on the court, scoring 19 points, grabbing 6 rebounds, making 3 blocks, and 1 steal.
— Luka, congrats on the win. Nice debut for you. Were you at least a little bit worried tonight?
— I mean I just wanted to win since I came here. I know guys lost a couple of games. So I think the most important was to win.
— Yeah, we had a three-game losing streak and this game was really important for us. And what was the key?
— Playing defense, playing together, talking and rebounding and then playing free in offense. I think we did a good job and yeah on to the next one.
— You had just a few practices before this game. Was it difficult to understand what coaches need from you?
— I mean, coaches did a great job explaining things. We went over, they sent me a full list of the plays that we have, and they were really helpful, and I think they made it as easy as possible.
— During the warm-up you had a talk with Pavel Savkov, who plays for MBA. Did you know that he is currently in Russia?
— Yeah, of course we played last year together and when he made a move to go to Russia I was the first person to know he texted me. And yeah, we really good friends.
— We didn't have a full house tonight, but have you already felt the energy of Petersburg supporters?
— Yeah, it was amazing. I'm happy we got a win for them and I hope next time even more people comes.
— Who helps you to adopt in the team?
— I mean everybody really but I think most Neno helped me a lot because we speak the same language and then the coaches made a great job. But also everybody else, the whole team is really nice and whatever I need I just ask and they made it really easy to adopt.
— Next game for us will be also at home on November 18. During this break do you plan to walk around St. Petersburg?
— Of course, yeah. Beautiful city, I didn't get to see much but the things I saw, amazing food, really nice people and I love it so far really.
