Trent Frazier: "We were really together tonight"

A long interview with Zenit captain Trent Frazier following the home game against UNICS (86:69). The victory over the Kazan team secured third place for the Blue-White-Sky Blues in the regular season of the VTB United League.

— Trent, congrats on the win. We secured the third spot in the VTB League standings of the regular season. Are you satisfied with the result?

— Yes, I think coming off a three-game losing streak, I think as a team it was very important for us to come out here today and just have fun, bring more energy, be more positive, be more together. And I thought that's what secured the win tonight, not how good we played. It started, you know, in the locker room, to the court, just our brotherhood.

We were really together tonight. We shared the ball, you know, we helped each other a lot. We brought a lot of energy, a lot of fight. And that showed, you know, that helped us secure 20 plus points all game. And when we play like that, I think we're really unbeatable. I think it's important for us to finish this last regular season home game with a win. We know it's going to be tough. But we're going to celebrate this one tonight, especially, you know, with the three past games. We felt like we let the fans down a little bit. And we thought tonight was, you know, we wanted to come out here and give the fans, you know, a great game, a great fight and win.

— Before March, UNICS had a big lead in our head-to-head games — 3-0, and now that score is tied — 3-3. Did we find a key to the opponent?

— For sure, I mean, I think it's just how physical they are, you have to match their energy. We know that, you know, the game is never over with them, how physical they are, we have to match that. And I thought tonight we out-toughed them. We played really, really physical.

And like I said, we played together. That's what it's about. When we play together and we're helping each other, each player is doing their role and their assignment and having their next teammate back. We're a really good basketball team. And tonight we did that. We had a lot of fun together and it showed.

— We made a big advantage in the first half and we finally kept it in the second. And what allowed us to do it?

— Yeah, like you said, I mean, we know how important third quarters are. We know that we weren't, we haven't been really great with third quarters. Our focus was just momentum. We know the beginning of the third quarter, we didn't make any shots, but you know, defensively we stayed dialed in, we stayed physical and we kept playing hard and that's what kept our lead.

And that's what it's about. We just have to continue to get better at that each and every time. Like I said, starting practice, we just got to come out in that third quarter, that second half and bring energy, you know, it's tough, but you have to create your own energy, as. I say, and figure out a way to get through that.

— After three weeks, Zhora Zhbanov returned on the court. Did the team miss his energy?

— Oh, for sure. We know how important Zhora is for our team. He brings a different physicality to our team, I like to call him a bully, he's a bully on court because he's so physical he brings a different tenacity to opponents he frustrates their guards.

It was great having Zhora out tonight his energy was missed we know how important he is to the team and when he's out there on the court and when he's when he gets back healthy with us we know how great he's going to be and helping this team win a lot of games.

— So next game will be against CSKA and it will be the last game of the regular season. What lesson have you learned out of the last semifinal?

— Each game, every game is different. I think you have to go into each game as you know as a restart but we do owe them. We can't let them come beat us 4-0, 5-0. We need to figure out a way to go over that bump as a team and I thought tonight started that, so I think we just need to refresh here in these next few days, reset our body, reset our minds and be ready to go. But I think we're going to be ready for sure next week to get a win.

— And we need a full house for sure, right?

— For sure. We need a full, sold-out arena. We need all our fans for our last regular season game going into playoffs. Let's build some momentum together. Let's have fun. Let's be loud and let’s beat CSKA!