Sergey Kushchenko: "Zenit's marketing work is of the highest level"
President of the VTB United League Sergey Kushchenko attended the third semifinal game between Zenit and UNICS, which took place on May 17 in St. Petersburg and ended with a victory for the Blue-White-Sky Blues (103:74). League's top manager shared his impressions of the series, Zenit's explosive start in Game 3, and the organization of the match day, which this time was dedicated to a medieval clash between lions and dragons.
— First of all, I want to thank Zenit for organizing the match on Sunday at 1:00 PM in St. Petersburg, a city with so many different entertainment options. Beautiful weather, a full arena! The club's marketing work is of the highest level.
The game itself, the series, is very exciting. It started in Kazan, and the dramatic ending — overtime: Zenit loses, then takes the next game. In my opinion, both semifinal pairings have started playing basketball with very intense and heavy contact. Even today's game shows that neither team is abandoning that approach. There's a lot of ball pressure, a lot of switching, very high speed both on offense and defense. Zenit is excelling at this — an incredible three-point percentage: at one point at the end of the second quarter, it was already 70%. So it must be said that the VTB United League semifinal pairings have shown us the kind of basketball that we miss during the regular season.
— You mentioned the full stands at the CSC Arena. Can we say that it was the home crowd's support from the very start that drove Zenit forward?
— You know, I always love noticing details. The preparation for this game, the organization of the matches, that video, the unusual dance, the unique concept. I think that all these details — believe me, based on my many years of experience organizing such matches, both club-level and league-level — always get into the players' heads. No matter what they say, yes or no, it always sets the mood for them. Zenit came out more charged, with more energy. And apparently, the goal was to build a significant lead in the first half, which they accomplished.
— So who is stronger: the lions or the dragons?
— Let's wait until the end of the series (laughs).
