Ismaël Bako: "I felt very welcomed at Zenit"
— Ismael, you joined the team during the season. What will this year with Zenit personally be remembered for?
— I always think about the good things because, first of all, I'm very blessed in the position that I'm in, with a career like going to a lot of countries. And especially over here I felt very welcomed, especially with the fans. I immediately felt at home. There were a big challenge and a lot of ups and downs, but I think overall I'm very happy that I had the experience to be here this season.
— The VTB United League was not a new competition for you. But now, representing Saint Petersburg, how would you describe the atmosphere at Zenit’s home games?
— Already when I was with UNICS, I had a big impression of Zenit, like when it comes to the fans, about the infrastructure — everything is very premium. And when I came here, all the things I was thinking about were confirmed. Everything was very smooth: a lot of people in the staff, coaching staff — it was very professional and very homely. So yeah, only good things to say about this club.
— In your opinion, what was the team missing in the playoffs?
— It's kind of painful because we all wanted to achieve much more, and we know that with the quality of the team that we have, we for sure could have won the championship. So to really sit down and think about what went wrong individually, there were things that need to be improved. So the only thing that I can think of is experience for the future, to not repeat it again.
— What motivates you the most heading into next season?
— What motivates me for next season is making amends for the downs that happened this season, and also knowing that what happened this year — like from outside things and inside things — can be improved. So the motivation for next season is just to play as I always do and just keep improving.
— It was your third season in Russia. What are your favorite Russian words?
— Well, the words that I always use are: «Здравствуйте», «спасибо», «пока-пока» (Hello, Thank you, Bye bye — Zenit note), when I order my delivery. So these are the three things that I always keep in mind.
