Luka Šamanič: "Now we can focus on UNICS"
Zenit's center Luka Šamanič, in an interview with the Blue-White-Sky Blues' media team, summed up the results of the 2025/26 VTB United League quarterfinals. In the fourth game against Uralmash, the team from Saint Petersburg secured an away victory with a score of 61:78, wrapping up the series 3-1.
— Congratulations on the win. What did this quarterfinal take more of — energy or emotions?
— It was a tough game for us. We won three times in a row, and to beat anybody three times is tough, especially away, at their home. Them having advantage, and they're a good team. I think we're just happy to finish this, and now we can focus on UNICS.
— It wasn’t a high-scoring game — a lot of contact, a lot of defensive work. Was that the key to the win?
— Play physical, match their physicality, rebound and we were just talking about running and pushing in the transition. And I think that worked for us and I think that was the key.
— The team shared the ball well in the first half, but in the second there were stretches of more individual play. Did the opponent force that?
— No, I think just reading the game and if we have a good matchup that we want, for example a guard with a big or vice versa, we just attack it.
— The third quarter almost became a turning point. What did the head coach say before the fourth?
— Just to stay focused, not to play crazy, take our time, I mean we're in a good position we had 2-1 and just to finish the game the way we want to.
— Up next is the semifinal against UNICS. What’s the team’s mindset heading into that series?
— I mean, we beat them three times in a row now, so we know it's going to be super tough. They're going to make adjustments and they have great players. And we're starting away again, so it's going to be first two games are going to be super important for us. I can't speak because coach is going to give us a game plan, but it's going to be a super physical game. A game is going to be war when we go there, so that's what we can expect.
