Ismaël Bako: “It's more about who will give the first punch”
— Ismaël, you have been with Zenit for over a month now. What are your impressions after your debut games, and how has the training process been going?
— I feel that even though I'm here for a short time, it feels like I've known them for a long time also because I've played a lot of times against a lot of players. So the chemistry is good and every day we're improving also in practice, so I'm really happy and I know that there is much more potential to explore.
— Ahead of the game against Lokomotiv Kuban, a strong opponent — what could be crucial in tomorrow’s matchup?
— I think who wants to win the game the most and to fight from the first second of the game. Everyone is really good and everyone can score a lot of points. So it's more about who will give the first punch, who will be the most aggressive.
— It will be your first home game for Zenit. Are you feeling nervous?
— No, I'm not feeling nervous. I'm feeling excited to see all the fans. I saw that it will be a sold-out game. So I just want to show the fans that we will go for the title. And. I'm here to do my part of the job.
— As you said we are expecting a full house tomorrow. What would you like to say to the Saint Petersburg fans?
— I really appreciate that we have a full gym and I want it to happen more and more so now it's for us to prove that we deserve to have a full gym because they want to show good basketball.
