Georgy Zhbanov: "The guys are energized right now"

The Blue-White-Sky Blues forward spoke to Zenit TV about today’s matchup against CSKA, which ended in a 93:90 win for the Moscow side. In the game Zhbanov was one of Zenit’s top scorers, finishing with 17 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 steals.

— It feels like for the second game in a row Zenit has come out with a completely different mindset. How does that feel inside the team?

— We went through a kind of shock therapy — yes, the coaching change and all that. The guys are energized right now. I hope we keep it going and find our own path to victories.

— You logged 30 minutes on the court. How are you feeling physically?

— Honestly, everything’s great. I love playing basketball. When I play, I live. So in terms of minutes played, I feel fantastic.

— The first half was very high-scoring — over 110 points combined. How comfortable is it to play such open basketball?

— It was falling for both teams. For the fans, I think it was awesome.

— For most of the game you were chasing the opponent and trailed by as many as 18 points. What helped you stay in the game?

— I don’t know, probably we didn’t want to let down the new head coach, Rostislav Vergun — to make sure his debut went well, to be able to douse the coach with water again. We gave it everything, but the scoreboard is what it is. I’ll take responsibility for this loss myself, for that risky pass. I don’t know, I decided to take a chance. If I could go back, I probably wouldn’t change anything.

— After halftime the pace dropped noticeably, and both teams focused more on defense. Was that something the coaching staff under Rostislav Vergun emphasized?

— Not really. Probably both us and CSKA were playing with a shorter rotation, and the energy was gradually fading. At that point, a cool head and basketball IQ came to the forefront, so the tempo went down.

— You won the rebounding battle, but CSKA shot better from beyond the arc. How did you try to compensate for that during the game?

— CSKA are elite shooters — they did their job. Yes, people usually say that whoever wins the boards wins the game, but with that shooting percentage from the opponent, it’s obviously tough to count on much. And in the end, it was just minus three. There were good moments, there were bad ones. We’ll fix the bad ones.

— In your opinion, what was the turning point of today’s game?

— A turning point? There really wasn’t one. The game went the way it went. For the fans — once again — I think it was a great game.

— The team is wrapping up a long road trip. A five-game homestand is coming up next. How does that feel?

— I really miss my wife and my dog. I can’t wait to get home and into the arms of the woman I love. Ten days is way too long to be apart.