Trent Frazier: "We made them shoot tougher shots"

Zenit captain Trent Frazier, in an interview with the club's media team, analyzed the second game of the VTB United League quarterfinals, which ended in a confident victory over Uralmash (92:64).

— Trent, it's a really important win for Zenit to get back on track, first of all from the mental side, right?

— Yes, for sure. They have home advantage now. I think it's very important that we stay mentally focused. We need to go over there with the mindset of trying to gain that home court advantage back. We know the type of environment there's going to be. We know they're going to come out and play hard. We just got to stay together like we did tonight. I thought we did a good job defensively, playing hard, staying together, having fun. That's what it's about, man. It's playoffs. I think that's what we excelled at tonight. We did a good job just playing really hard tonight, sharing the ball. We did a really good job that second half.

— What has changed in comparison with game one?

— We made them shoot tougher shots. I thought everyone did a good job just pressing up on guards. Defensively, we did a good job just playing with high energy, high intensity. We forced them into a lot of tough shots tonight. That's what we needed to do because they have really good scores.

Like I said, I thought we did a good job just being really physical and just bit on the wall on defense tonight.

— Last time we had problems with ball movement and also couldn't cope with Uralmash aggressive style of the game. Today we managed to do it. What was key?

— I think we used our speed a lot tonight. I thought the guards did a really good job of pushing the team, pushing the ball, pushing the tempo in transition. I think that's what we need to do more. 

I thought we put them on their heels all night tonight by getting stops on defense and pushing the ball. In transition, we have really fast guards, me, Xavier. Once we get that ball, we got out of there in transition tonight. I thought we did a good job just getting guys open, setting the offense up and running the offense really well.

Just sharing the ball. I think that's what we did a good job tonight, ball movement and pushing the tempo.

— Next two games for us will be in the Urals. What do we need to do to book our ticket for the semis?

— It's a way. We got to go on the road with all our effort. That's what it takes to win on the road. Obviously we need to be sharp, but to win on the road is very tough. We need to go there with the mindset of being mentally tough, physical, and trying to replicate what we did out there tonight and bring that on the road.