Dejan Radonjić: "So many mistakes offensively, defensively"

Zenit head coach Dejan Radonjić summed up the results of the WINLINE Basket Cup group stage game against Uralmash Yekaterinburg (67:81) and answered journalists’ questions during the postmatch press conference.

— Сongrats to our opponent for the win and for good game. We didn't play well this game. From the beginning it was clear that our focus was not good. Some several minutes in second half to play good on both ends it was not enough to be in the game. So many mistakes offensively, defensively. Of course that we need to analyze this game and to talk about it.

— Why did it seem that Uralmash looked fresher?

— Look, we can analyze and we can talk about so many things, but as I said in the beginning, you know, we didn't play well this game. This is, first of all, okay, same time, they played a very good game. So we need to discuss about that. You can see this percentage, you know, it's almost 70% for two points and 10 more rebounds. So we have a front of us some days to talk about that and to practice and to be ready for the next game to play much much better than today of course.

— The next game will be against Uralmash, but before that, the VTB United League All-Star Game will take place in Moscow, featuring Andrey Vorontsevich, Georgy Zhbanov, Trent Frazier, and Andrey Martiuk. How do you prepare the players for the game in Yekaterinburg, which will be held three days after the League event?

— Okay, this is what it is. You know, congrats to them on the All-Star selection and going there, of course. But it is what it is. We need to find a way to handle this schedule because tomorrow and the day after we have another plan. So we need to see, we need to work, and try to prepare the team for the next game. For sure, every day will be very important, every practice will be important, every meeting will be important. And of course, it’s important to send a message to the players that we cannot play like this again.

— In recent games, Sergey Karasev has barely seen any playing time. What is the reason for that?

— The reason for that is what I saw on the practice, first of all, and that's why I decided to play with players that we have right now available.

— Whenever the opponent started playing very physically, our team was unable to cut the deficit. Why was that?

— Okay, well… it was, of course, a problem for us that we didn’t play a physical game against them from the very beginning, which was very important to stay in the game, you know. We made too many mistakes and weren’t aggressive enough from the start. Some parts of the game were totally different, but as I said at the beginning, it’s not enough to play like that and win. Against Uralmash — or any team — you have to be ready to play good on both ends more minutes.