Andrey Vorontsevich: "The main thing is that we won. We had double, even triple motivation"
— What helped you secure the victory in today’s game?
— First of all, our mindset. We understood that if we lost today, we wouldn’t make it to the Final Four, which will be held in Saint Petersburg, and of course we didn’t want the tournament to take place at home without Zenit. So we had double, even triple motivation.
We understood that playing in Kazan is always difficult. The guys gave everything today and played as a team. Yes, we could have made fewer mistakes — we had 15 turnovers, and that’s something we still need to work on. In the previous game we had 20, so there is progress. But the main thing is that thanks to our mindset, everyone performed well, played actively, and handled the switches.
I noticed that Xavier Moon scored 27 points — that’s excellent. We tried to get him into switches and attack through him, and he scored his points. But overall, it doesn’t really matter who scored how many — the main thing is that we won.
When we had a 15-point lead, we wanted to increase it to 21, but we understood that the opponent is not the kind of team that gives up easily. I know from experience: with crowds like in Kazan, it’s always difficult to play. When they support you — it gives you wings; when they are against you — it creates serious pressure. So today was tough.
We understand that not all UNICS players have recovered — without Shved, Lee, and Pierre it’s difficult for them. They are missing two main point guards, and that affects the team. Kulagin tries to carry the load, but one player alone isn’t enough. But that’s not our problem — we’re just happy about the win.
— Andrey, you mentioned that with a win by more than 20 points Zenit would have advanced from first place. Did you set that goal at the end of the game?
— We tried, of course. But first of all, we played for the win. After gaining a 15-point advantage, we wanted to speed things up and increase the margin, but UNICS is a team that is not easy to beat by 21 points.
— Did you feel pressure today?
— Yes, of course. It’s not an easy psychological situation. We understood that if we showed weakness in Kazan, UNICS could "roll over us", as has happened before. Especially at home, they play much more confidently. With fans like these, you really feel like you’re playing with wings.
— Zenit went through many changes during the season. Is the team now showing the kind of basketball you want to see in the playoffs?
— We have changes, and we still have room to grow. But I think we are improving from practice to practice, from game to game. New players joined, and we are trying to help them — I believe they’ve already gone through adaptation. Now it’s important to focus more on team play and results.
— You said UNICS is strong at home, but in March you won there twice. What made that possible?
— Aggressive defense and fighting for rebounds. Also, we didn’t allow Reynolds to get into rhythm. The coaching staff does a lot of work on scouting. UNICS is a bigger team physically, but in my opinion, we are faster. Thanks to our speed and aggressive defense, we gained the advantage.
— Ismaël Bako played in Kazan today after a long time. Did you talk to him about it?
— Yes, during practice I told him that here he has no right to miss (smiles). It’s important to build confidence in your teammates. I always try to support the guys and tell them they are the best. When you feel support from coaches and teammates, you become more confident.
