Georgy Zhbanov: “We’ll look for answers back in St. Petersburg”

Zenit forward Georgy Zhbanov summed up Game 5 of the semifinal series in Kazan, where the Blue-White-Sky Blues fell to UNICS (66:83). Zenit still leads the series 3–2.

— Kazan deserved the win tonight. They were more aggressive in the second half, and we couldn’t respond to it. We’ll look for answers back in St. Petersburg.

— What did UNICS change compared to the previous games?

— They didn’t really change much. Perasović isn’t exactly known for being overly creative. They just started playing tougher, and we didn’t answer that. We’ll break it down on film, but I don’t think there was anything especially new.

— Can we say you didn’t expect that level of aggression?

— We expected it, but probably only in words.

— So maybe the psychological aspect played a role too — like the team already thought it was in the Finals?

— Yeah, I think that played a role too.