Andre Roberson: "We fought through a little bit of adversity and stuck together as a team"
Zenit forward Andre Roberson shared his thoughts after a home win over BETCITY PARMA (74:64) in Round 31 of the VTB United League.
— It was a great team win. Coach told us early we had to go out there and try to set the tone, especially coming off the last game. I didn't think we got up to the greatest start, but we fought through a little bit of adversity, stuck together as a team and came out with a victory.
— Congratulations on the victory. Parma is a very difficult opponent for almost every team in the league. What was the most difficult thing in the game against them and how did you manage to break through it in the third quarter?
— They're a great team and they have great players on their team. We knew they were going to come out, especially after our last time we played there at their home. They were going to come out and fight a little bit harder. Coach put a great game plan together to get to this point. We finally went out there and put our best foot forward in the third and fourth quarter and got a little bit of separation and just stuck with it the whole way. Credit to the guys and credit to the coach's game plan.
— The first quarter was very difficult. Zenit had 9 turnovers, but the score difference was only 2 points. Can you consider it a kind of luck that PARMA didn't go any further?
— Yeah, I mean, the coach was on us early in the game about coming out here and being ready. We kind of slipped up a little bit. We were sloppy on our offense, but we went out there and executed on our defense and competed. Sometimes that's what it takes. When shots aren't falling or we're turning the ball over, we've got to rely on the other end of the basketball court to go out there and stop them. So it's a little bit of both of us executing our game plan and then missing a little bit of shots, but making it tough for them.
— In the fourth quarter, the score was 54:50 and every turnover can matter. How did you manage to be cool in that situation and not lose focus?
— Great question. Ultimately just rely on head coach and our point guard some kind of set the tone and kind of keep us calm. Then offense, we did a good job in the second half executing it. Set good screens and get it while open running in the offense, high fashion. Credit to the guys and credit to the coach.
