Georgy Zhbanov: "A tough game, a tough win"

An interview with Zenit forward Georgy Zhbanov after the home victory over Lokomotiv Kuban (82:80). In the first game of the VTB United League bronze medal series, the player recorded 22 points, 2 assists, and 1 rebound.

— Vladislav Emchenko and Andrey Vorontsevich noted in their interviews that Zenit still has something to fight for. Today the team confirmed that. How would you assess today's result?

— I congratulate Zenit Basketball Club and all the fans on the victory. A tough game, a tough win. We didn't want to win that way. We were up by 17 points heading into the final quarter and almost ended up losing. We can't play like that — we need to analyze the fourth quarter, understand what we're doing wrong, and avoid these mistakes in the next game.

— Today Zenit did well scoring on fast breaks. What other positives could you point out?

— Yes, Loko themselves are known for their fast game and transition points, but there's another side to that coin — they don't get back in time, and we took advantage of that and scored on fast breaks. What are we strong at? As you rightly said earlier, we still have something to fight for — we're not giving up, and third place is very important to us. So we'll battle for the bronze.

— Dmitry Uzinskiy today went 4/4 from the field, had one assist, one steal, and one block. Looks like he found his rhythm today?

— I congratulate Dima on such a great game and such impressive stats. Every player is important. We had a tough seven-game series against UNICS, so now the load will be distributed among all twelve players, and it's important that everyone who steps on the court contributes to the victory.

— Loko cut the deficit from 17 to 2 points. How did you allow that to happen?

— Like I said — I don't know how it happened: too many turnovers, 7 turnovers in the fourth quarter, and that's not Zenit's level. We'll analyze where we went wrong and we'll fix it.

— Zhora, we have to ask: in the semifinal series against UNICS, you scored your 1000th point for Zenit, played your 150th game for the team, and also received the Defensive Player of the Year award. Which one gave you the most pleasure?

— I would trade all of that to be playing in the finals right now, so we need to forget about it and start the bronze medal series with a clean slate. Which one did I enjoy the most? Honestly, the Defensive Player of the Year award. I worked hard to get it, and finally I've received some recognition — it felt really good. But again, I would give it all up to be playing in the finals.

— The next game is just two days away. Are you expecting full stands?

— Of course — as always, we invite our beloved fans. Our next match is the day after tomorrow — we'll be waiting for everyone. The stands weren't full today; hopefully we'll fix that too and go for the bronze together.