Georgy Zhbanov: "Nizhny Novgorod absolutely deserves to be in fifth place"

The blue-whites guard Georgy Zhbanov shared his expectations for the upcoming away game against Pari Nizhny Novgorod. The game of the 16th round of the VTB United League will take place on November 29 at the KRK "Nagornyy". The match will begin at 19:00 St. Petersburg time.

— First and foremost, the team from Nizhny Novgorod will always hold a special place in my heart, as it was my first professional club in basketball. As for their performance, their playing style hasn’t changed much, since Sergey Kozin is a student of Zoran Lukic and essentially plays the same system.

— The team is currently in fifth place in the standings. Do they truly look like the fifth-strongest team based on their performance?

— At the moment, yes. The numbers speak for themselves. Aside from the top four teams, they are the only ones with a positive win-loss record. So, yes, they absolutely deserve to be in fifth place.

— What makes Pari Nizhny Novgorod a strong team? What kind of basketball do they play — offensive or defensive?

— They are strong because they always play team basketball — they attack and defend as a unit. All five players are always involved in every play. That’s probably their distinguishing feature — they play more cohesively as a team than most other clubs.

— How did you spend this break? Was it productive?

— Of course, I trained twice a day. In the morning, I worked out in the gym, and in the evening, I played basketball. I also focused on recovery and underwent various treatments.