Trent Frazier: "It's an honor to be the captain"

Zenit captain Trent Frazier told about his new role on the team after the home win over Avtodor (105:79).

— Trent, we can call you captain now. What do you feel being a new status in team now?

— It feels cool. It's an honor obviously being here for three four years now. I think it's a great challenge for me to be vocal, be more positive, supportive to the team. Like I said, I feel every time I go out there, I play my hardest, I give my best and I show, you know, what it is to be a guy to play for Zenit. And like I said, my teammates support me. Obviously, Sergey Karasev, veteran, he's going to continue to help me as I take this role and learn every day. So it's an honor and it's very special.

— Is it your first time being a captain while you are playing basketball?

— I'm not sure. Professionally, yes. I think that's a huge responsibility. Obviously, for the team to follow me, I need to make sure I'm doing the right things, on and off the court, showing what it means to be a leader. Like I said, with Karasev on the team, he can help me while I learn and take it day by day.

— Who will be your co-captain?

— Old guy, grandpa, Andrey Vorontsevich.

— I suppose you became more mature while you were playing in Saint Petersburg already for three years. What things have you learned while you were wearing Zenit jersey?

— Just what it means, you know, what it means to put this jersey on every night, what the history of Zenit. Like I say, every guy that came through these locker rooms and played on that court, you know, they give their all. They fought every minute and you guys won a lot of trophies. So, that's what I want to do, obviously. That's my next step. It's bringing a championship trophy back to St. Petersburg.

— You nailed an awesome three-point buzzer at the end of the first half and how would you call this special celebration that you made with Zhora together?

— I think it just kind of happened randomly it was in a moment. Zhora found me with like two seconds and it was kind of cool to enjoy that moment at the buzzer with Zhora.

— One of the main topics discussed in the media this past week is how much the team atmosphere has changed after the coaching change.

— I don't like speaking on that type of stuff. I think every coach that came through this this club that I've been here, they gave their all, they've done a hell of a job trying to get us on the right track and doing the best they can do. I think that's the next challenge for us, obviously with new coaching changes to continue to move forward and continue to grow and stay together as a team. I feel, you know, we just got to stay together and become more tighter, more supportive and start to do whatever it takes to win and that's our next step right now.

— We're between fourth and the fifth place in the standings and what do we need to do to improve the situation?

— Like I said we faced some challenges, I think our next step right now is to fight. We know it's gonna be tough like I said coaches changes, we've had a rough drought with injuries players here and there so I think all we can do right now is stick together, fight through the battles, fight through the challenges and be controlling, and give our all.

Thank you, Zenit fans. You guys were very loud tonight. We're very appreciative and thank you guys so much for showing so much support tonight. We know we've faced a lot of challenges, but it doesn't go unnoticed that you guys come out every night and show our support, whether we're here or on the road. So let's continue to move forward together and make a big step here in these next few months, and go for the trophy. For Petersburg!