Andrey Martiuk: "We let the opponent score easy shots"

Zenit center Andrey Martiuk took part in the press conference after the home win over Pari Nizhny Novgorod (102:80).

— Andrey, it seems that some milestone has already passed since your move to Zenit. How would you evaluate your first games with the team? Do you already have some overall assessment?

— I’d say that with each passing day things are getting better and better. There’s more understanding, better ball movement, passing... You start to understand the players, who does what, and day by day it gets better and better.

— How did Samanic’s arrival affect you? Has it become easier for you in games and harder in practices?

— In games it’s 100% become easier, because now we have a strong substitution option. And practices are great as well — we play as sparring partners, there’s always something to learn, the bar is set high. So I think his arrival is a big plus.

— At one point, Pari NN cut the gap to 4 points. Your lead kept fluctuating: +4, +12, +7, +10... What was the reason for that?

— Honestly, I don’t remember that moment. But most likely we allowed the opponent to make some easy shots. Because of that, they hit everything, got into rhythm. As the coach said, we let slip what we had built — not because we weren’t focused at all, but because we lost concentration a bit.