Zenit head coach Vasily Karasev shared his thoughts on the game against Astana and looked back on the first part of the 2016-17 season.
– Astana has a very good team right now and the gap between us was only one point. They have six decent foreign players and their own guys. This win–by a big margin, no less–was especially important after the losses to UNICS and Lokomotiv. Today we managed to play the type of basketball we want to play: aggressive defense, quick transition. In the first half, we missed some shots at that speed, but our play paid off in the second half and we had a fairly easy time pulling away.
– Why did the team switch captains?
– When you lose those types of games, you need to make some changes and fire up the team. Timma was already captain at the end of last season, but that’s not the most important thing. He knows English and Russian and can connect the Russian and foreign players. Management made the decision.
– How would you evaluate Timma’s play today?
– He played extremely well. He did everything we asked. Obviously, you can’t score 30 points every game, but he showed leadership qualities, worked hard on defense, although it hurt that he got three quick fouls. I don’t want to single anyone out today. Everyone was consistent, no one tried to do too much and everyone played hard on defense. That’s the most important thing to me.
– What happened when Mbakwe and Timma got into an argument? How do you feel about that type of emotional outburst?
– I’m happy that we managed to get some emotion out of the guys. It’s not good when everyone looks dead no matter the result. What’s especially nice is that they both poured that emotion into the game and unleashed it on the opponent, instead of looking for excuses. We’re not going to focus on it. When I was a player, we didn’t go a game without guys arguing in the locker room and sometimes it almost ended in a fight. One of our goals was getting those emotions out of the players. It’s another thing, though, if it impacts the game. You shouldn’t have guys shoving on the bench. Everything needs to be decided in the locker room; on the court you need to work.
– Zenit grabbed the momentum when Pushkov, White and Landry were on the court. What shape is Pushkov in right now?
– This was Anton’s first game after being out a month and he had a hard time getting going, although by the end we saw the Pushkov we’re used to. His first appearance didn’t go so well, though. That’s been an issue for us and it would be silly to think that someone who hasn’t played for a month, even if he’s completely healthy, would be able to make an immediate impact. You need to re-integrate him into the offense and he needs to feel the game rhythm for himself, which requires more than one game.
– What kind of thoughts do you have on the season thus far?
– Our goal is to beat teams like CSKA, Loko, UNICS and Khimki. Our injuries and busy calendar aren’t an excuse in those games. We should have won the home games against Lokomotiv and UNICS and the losses leave a bad taste. But everything is still ahead and if we keep working like we are, then we have every chance to win on the road. It’s nice that advanced from a tough Eurocup group in 1st place, considering the circumstances. It would be great to have both, but that doesn’t always happen.
– How will the team spend the break until January 4. How much do you like this type of pause as a coach?
– In our situation, it’s needed. Karasev and Pushkov aren’t completely healthy, like half the team. We’ll let everyone rest and the foreign players will get to celebrate Christmas. Every player has goals over the holidays and everyone needs to return in good shape. We’ll have 5-6 days before our first game of the year, which will give us time to get some good work in. Because of all our injuries, we haven’t been able to get in a rhythm at practice and that’s had an impact on our game.
– Why wasn’t Evgeny Kovalenko at the game today?
– The coaching staff is getting sick too. He’s got the flu, a fever, and couldn’t come.
– Is it upsetting that you couldn’t score 100 points on basketball’s birthday?
– Not at all. Our emphasis was getting back into the game and playing our brand of basketball before the Christmas holidays. We wanted the guys to leave excited for the rest of the season. They’ll recover, rest, work and move forward with double the energy.
Source: BC Zenit website
