Roman Knyazev: "The players' congratulations added motivation for the upcoming season"
The new head coach of Zenit’s youth team, Roman Knyazev, shared his thoughts on his appointment and evaluated the work of the entire system of the blue-whites basketball Academy. In a conversation with the press service, the coach also spoke about the new knowledge he gained during the off-season and while working with Russia's U16 national team.
— This upcoming season will be your eighth within Zenit's structure. Can you believe it?
— If I've been working here for this long, it means everything is satisfactory, and we are achieving certain successes in various areas.
— With Zenit U 19, you've reached the CYBL finals three times and won twice. What's your secret?
— The secret is that we don't reveal our secrets (laughs). In reality, we all worked hard — players, the coaching staff, academy management, and the club. We had all the conditions necessary to achieve results. Everything was done for that purpose. I think the main reason for these positive results is that a huge number of people put in maximum effort.
— How did you react to the offer to head the Zenit youth team?
— I'm quite calm about all situations now because it's better not to expect anything prematurely to avoid disappointment or unnecessary fear. It means that at this stage, I'm most useful here, and we will continue to work. I reacted calmly — there were no strong emotions, either negative or positive. What pleased me more were the congratulations from the players, who positively received the news of my appointment, which added extra motivation to work with them this season. It means they feel comfortable with me, they're improving, and thus I am even more motivated to put in the effort.
— Some of the players on the youth team have been with you for years, winning both gold and silver medals in the CYBL. Does this indicate that the club's youth development system is yielding results?
— Not just because of that, but the results of our teams in the past seasons show that the club system is working in the right direction. If you look back at the past seven years and see the results, it’s clear that we've made a huge leap forward. Plus, with the players — we didn't have as many being called up to the national team on a regular basis before. If you recall, back in the 2000 CYBL, we only had one player, Kostya Shevchuk, in the national team. But now, in every generation, starting as early as 2009, we already have four candidates for the national team. And, of course, this is a sign that we're moving in the right direction. You can see that the players are developing, and we’ve become more competitive with Moscow teams. It used to be quite difficult to bring in high-quality players, and everyone preferred the then stronger and more established clubs. But we've raised our standards high enough that now we have no shortage of applicants—we receive a lot of calls, and we have to choose whom we can work with further. This is a positive moment and adds optimism. Again, the players are developing, the coaches are developing, and there is demand for our coaches as well.
— This summer has been very productive for you. Have you learned anything new? Will you be applying any new methods in working with the youth team?
— Indeed, this summer was intense from a basketball perspective. I was able to assemble a rather interesting and qualified coaching staff for the Russian U16 national team. We also exchanged opinions and shared our experiences, and I learned a lot of new things. I attended seminars and trained under one of our well-known Russian coaches. There are many ideas and much information. Let's hope the players will be able to understand and apply it on the court.
— Can you share the team’s pre-season preparation plans?
— To work hard and not spare ourselves, first and foremost. It's nice that most of the players already know me. And I know them well enough by now, I know what keys to use with them, what they can do on the court, and what needs to be developed. It’s quite pleasant to be in this atmosphere because we don't have to start from scratch. We continue what we did two years ago or last season. This is much more comfortable for them and for me. We will work, of course, and this week we will try to have the first practice games. There will also be a tournament in September.
