Georgy Zhbanov: "We came to Krasnoyarsk to take revenge for the previous loss"

Blue-White-Sky Blues forward team Georgy Zhbanov spoke with Zenit TV about the away game against Enisey Krasnoyarsk, which ended with our team’s victory, 71:74.

— Congratulations on the win. A few words about the game while the emotions are still fresh.

— We came to Krasnoyarsk to take revenge for the previous loss. A completely different team arrived here — a different coach and different players — so the game turned out totally different from the first one we played here in Krasnoyarsk. Everything was going well, we controlled the game, except perhaps for my emotions — I let them get the better of me, and thanks to that Enisey managed to cut the deficit and push us into a tight ending. But overall everything was fine, we had the game under control.

— How do you feel after a five-hour flight and such a tough game?

— I feel great. We did everything right. After arriving we went to bed according to Moscow time and woke up according to Moscow time as well, so we tried to minimize the loss of energy from the trip, and I think it worked out pretty well.

— Today you were defending against Matt Coleman. Do you think you managed to contain him?

— I’m not sure, how many points did he score? It seemed like he scored quite well today. Besides, I wasn’t guarding him the entire game. Coleman is an excellent player with very good ball-handling. It’s not easy to take the ball from him while he’s dribbling, and he’s a very quick guy. I don’t know — I hope I did my job, but it’s not for me to judge. Let the coaches and fans decide. I just do my job, and you can judge the result.

— At the beginning of the third quarter you beat Coleman and scored on a fast break after a pass from Trent. The commentator said that at that moment you were faster than Usain Bolt. Do you agree?

— I think it might have just looked that way on video (laughs). No one has really run faster than Usain Bolt yet. So let’s just call it a good sprint. It’s very flattering to hear that, but I won’t say I agree or disagree. It’s just nice to hear, though I don’t think that’s actually the case.

— Ismaël Bako played his first game for Zenit today. Did you already congratulate him on his debut?

— It was a bit of a mixed debut, because Ismaël missed a lot of time due to injury, and this was his first game back. He only had one full practice with us. It’s not easy to join a new team after just one training session, so today it didn’t turn out exactly the way everyone might have hoped or expected. We need to give him time, and we have that time. I think he’ll improve from game to game.

— What are you planning to do on the flight back to Saint Petersburg?

— The same things as on the way here: watch TV series and movies, lie down, talk, sleep. I don’t know — whatever the mood calls for.