Aleksander Sekulic: "It was a strange game for us"

Zenit head coach Aleksander Sekulic commented on the away loss to UNICS (88:75) during the post-game press conference.

— It was a strange game for us. In terms of how we started the game. We let opponent do whatever they wanted to do. Without any reaction as we were still in the hotel sleeping. But we turned things around, started to play tougher, stronger. We controlled the game, took the lead, but in the second half we just gave up on this physicality that UNICS was putting. Especially in defense. We missed a couple of easy layups, couple open shots and lost confidence in defense. The biggest problem is that we made too many turnovers, it was a matter of two or three minutes, we made another break and we couldn’t come back.

— In the beginning of the season Zenit had many injuries. After that you signed new players, injured players came back. Do you think that you start to find your rhythm and probably after one or two months it will be a different team and you will reach your full potential?

— It’s true, we were struggling a lot. We had big problems. But we found the way out of this. In the beginning of the season there is no much time to practice, bring new players and make everything work so quickly. There is still a lot of things we need to fix. We know where are the problems.

— Neno scored just one out of eleven. Is it because of the pressure and his past in UNICS?

— UNICS did a good job on him. His performance today was not the way we wanted or the way he can perform. Maybe pressure is a part of this. But it’s not only him, also other players we have. I know that he will play better.

— What can you say about Samanic's performance? Was it his best game for Zenit?

— I don’t think it was his best game. We lost the game. Stats don’t say everything. I know that he can play better. It was a strange game for us. I don’t believe that he in this moment is in his prime. But he showed that that he has talent, quality and we can build on that.