Dejan Radonjić: "The most important thing is to be ready for the playoff"

Zenit head coach Dejan Radonjić spoke to the club’s media team about the key objectives for the remainder of the season, his coaching principles, and his long-standing acquaintance with Blue-White-Sky Blues’s farm squad head coach Oliver Popović. This and much more are covered in an in-depth interview on Zenit TV.

— How long did it take you to decide before accepting Zenit’s offer?

— We talked, I think, for a few days, but it was honestly an easy decision for me.

— Last year, the club celebrated its 11th anniversary. What comes to mind first when you hear the name Zenit BC?

— First of all, it is for me a pleasure to be here and, of course, I know a lot about the club. I had some games before against Zenit and I know how big the club is and how big the organisation is here. Of course, for me, it is a challenge to do something good over here with Zenit.

— What are the main challenges you need to address when taking over a team in the middle of the season?

— Okay, this is not my first time to take a team in the middle of the season, so we can discuss the circumstances over here. I did two practices with the team (Interview recorded on January 31, 2026, before the game against Samara — Zenit note). What I saw when I checked the games and talked to the people from the club, it is important to, first of all, play much better than what we did. In my opinion, we lost nine games. So far, it is too much for Zenit, so we have to be ready to do everything on the court to play much, much better. Then we will see. We have some games in front of us. Then, after some time, I can talk a little bit more about that.

Of course, the most important thing is for all of us to be ready for the playoff.

— You’re known as a defensive-minded coach. You’ve surely watched Zenit’s recent games — do you already have a clear idea of what needs to be fixed immediately?

— First of all, I think so. In modern basketball, it is important to be quite good on both ends. To win games, to be a champion, to be good, you have to play good defence, but at the same time, you have to be good enough offensively. What I saw over here, we have room for improvement defensively, and at the same time offensively. Offensively, I saw some games, it was good, but of course, I think we can be good enough.

But defensively, it is maybe more room for improvement than offensively. So, we need to work, we need to be ready for some kind of process, and like I said, to be good enough on both ends. Not only defensively, but defensively and offensively.

— What does "discipline" mean for you in modern basketball — is it more about defense, decision-making, or mentality?

— I think so, everything is important. If you talk about that, mentality, of course, is important, but if you talk about discipline, we can discuss about discipline outside the court, about how we will use all our rules, and how we are going to go as a team. So, it is not only one topic, it is so many things that are very important to build a good team.

— With the playoffs approaching quickly, how do you plan to use this limited time wisely? Is it about completely resetting the system, or making targeted adjustments?

— But first of all, for me, it was important to analyse everything that I saw, what we talked, what I received from the people, from the club, from the coaches, and then to make some kind of a plan. In this circumstance, it is most important to have a good plan in the beginning, and after some while, of course, it will be again important to make a plan, not only a daily plan, more than that, but in the beginning, of course, I don't think it is good to change everything, for sure. This is not my approach.

I have to see how they will react after some things that I did on the practice, and then tomorrow is the first game, after some games, we need again to talk, we need to analyse and to see what could be most important to continue or to change to be good enough for the good result this season.

— Based on your experience, how long does it usually take to establish proper discipline and structure after joining a new team?

— You know, it is like, you cannot predict, like, you know, OK, there will be some days enough for some weeks or more than that. We have to be ready to understand this process and to go step by step.

This is most important, and to see how things will go and then to, like I said, you know, to do everything that will be important for us to be much better than today and to be good enough for something that we need to do this season.

— Is the remainder of the regular season mainly preparation for the playoffs, or will you approach every game with a must-win mindset?

— For me, right now, it is most important to be good enough every day. Every practice is important, every day is important, and, of course, to be ready to play better games. So, this kind of process, so at the end of this kind of period, and like I said, most important is to be ready for the playoffs, but we have to think about a lot of things every day, so this is my approach right now.

— We noticed that on your first practice you had a warm talk with Zenit-2 head coach Oliver Popović. You are both from former Yugoslavia, you are also of the same age. Where did you come across?

— I know him for so many years, we play between each other, as players, of course. I am from Montenegro. My home place is Podgorica, and I spent some years, not some, seven years and seven months as a coach there, in Budućnost, and then after that, I spent almost seven years in Red Star.

But when I was a player, I played in ex-Yugoslavia, so I know him for so many, so many years.

— Do you remember the last time you saw him?

— I didn't see him, I cannot say, I don't know exactly, but for a long time, for sure.

— And you immediately recognised him?

— Of course. Look, I don't know, our first game between each other was when I was 16 years old. Yes, so… Ah, OK. Yes, of course.

— Have you changed as a coach over the years, or are your core principles still the same?

— It's, you know, 20 years as a coach, you know, everything is, I can say, OK, not everything, but a lot of things are different right now than if I compare with my beginning of the career, so you have to be ready to adapt, of course. If I compare my beginning and today's practice, it's totally different, for example. And approach also is different, so you have to, some philosophy is the same, but a lot of things are different, I can say.

You have to be ready to adapt, always, every day, and to learn, of course.

— Zenit fans have been through a lot this season — injuries, coaching changes, ups and downs against direct competitors. What message would you like to send to everyone who supports the club?

— First of all, message, I think so we will send a message tomorrow on the game, you know, and next games, to send a message to them to support us, what we need, of course, and I hope so we will be much better, play much better, and this will be the best possible message to them to support us, and we need support, especially in these circumstances.