Andrey Vorontsevich: "The start of the game relaxed us a bit"
Zenit forward Andrey Vorontsevich shared his thoughts on the match against Besiktas (83:80). In a conversation with the club's press service, the player spoke about the nuances of the first game at the SuperCup and the team's preparation for tomorrow's match against UNICS.
— Andrey, congratulations on the victory. It seemed that you made one of the key contributions at the beginning of the fourth quarter: two defensive rebounds, then an assist. Can you tell us more about that?
— First of all, it was a team victory. Congratulations to everyone! Thank you to all who came to support us, those who watched us on TV and online. A win is a win. Of course, we had a great start, and it seemed like the game would be easy, but we were prepared for our opponent. We knew that Besiktas is a very aggressive team with strong defense and offense. They have forwards who can shoot, centers who fly and dunk, and fast guards with excellent drives and shooting, which they demonstrated today. I think they made over 50% of their three-pointers.
On our side, everyone tried to contribute. In my opinion, the start of the game relaxed us a bit, as the coach pointed out — we needed to increase our concentration. But we still won, and that's the most important thing. We move forward, and now we need to work on our mistakes because it's still a preseason tournament. We need to enter the season after the Super Cup with a clear understanding of our strengths and weaknesses, iron out the rough spots, and make fewer mistakes.
— UNICS is next, and we've already played them. Now they will likely be even stronger, especially since they had a day of rest.
— Yes, of course. This tournament is very important for UNICS, and after their loss in Saint Petersburg, they will definitely be looking for revenge. It's no secret — they will give it their all. Kazan beat Besiktas by 30 points, which shows they're in great shape. When we played them in Saint Petersburg, their leader Akoon-Purcell wasn’t playing. Now he's back, so it won't be easy, and we have to understand that we need to come out fighting from the first minute and try not to let up.
