Johnny Juzang: "We go into every game with the same focus"

An interview with the Blue-White-Sky Blues guard Johnny Juzang — exclusively for Zenit-TV. Today, April 30, the St. Petersburg team defeated Uralmash away (65:82) in the third match of the VTB United League 2025/26 quarterfinals.

— Congrats on the win. Zenit has taken a 2-1 lead in the series for the first time. How important was it to get this one?

— Yes, this was a big one. They had the home court advantage and just a pivotal game. It's like a game five in a series of seven, game three in a series of five. So great team win. Pulled it out on the road in front of a great environment, great crowd. So important win.

— The team had a great start and built a quick lead, but Uralmash got back into the game with three-pointers — many of them open. Was it a communication breakdown or were you just a step late defensively?

— I mean, they can shoot the ball well. So they made some threes down the stretch of the game. But they got shooting, I'd say, pretty much across the board. So they got threats. So it's a game of runs. They're going to hit something. But yeah, they definitely got hot, man. They brought the game closer. But just got to stick with it, stay together. They'll keep following the game plan. And I think that helped us tonight pull out the win.

— You scored a lot in the paint today and created opportunities through ball movement. Was that a key focus going into the game?

— Yes, just continuing to figure each other out, figure the other team out. I think we just coming in playing to win. So just taking what the game gives us. Early in the game, they're helping off of Andre. And boom, we just find him. And he finished everything strong. So he'd been killing it, man. Just taking what the game gives us, reading the game, trying to keep the same goal in mind, I think is important as a team.

— At what point did you feel like you weren’t going to let this one slip away?

— I mean, I felt like we stayed pretty composed through the game. I didn't think there was a point that we were really like, oh, you know, are we going to slip away? I think we stayed pretty much together through the game and came in with confidence. And everybody kept the same confidence and composure. The gray star helps, and you respect the opponent. But I don't think we ever felt that, oh, we're going to lose control of it, or we're going to lose. I felt like we stayed together tonight and been improving on that.

— The next game could be decisive. What’s the team’s mindset heading into it?

— Yes, we go into every game with the same focus. Next game is another big game. They're here in front of the home crowd. But we're playing an opponent who has beat us three times in a row. I think it'd be silly to let any type of guard down or think that, oh, we got to leap. No, every game. We know that they're coming. They're going to bring some energy. The crowd going to bring some energy. So we just got to take the win tonight. But a lot should tell you being locked in.

Also Zenit fans we've seen you out here supporting going hard y'all made the trip, we appreciate you, glad we got the win and hope to see y'all at the next one.