“I hope that over time, like our players, we will win the championship year after year.” Interview with Sergei Karasev

Our conversation took place during the evening dedicated to the closing of the 2022/23 basketball season. In this season “Zenith” won Super Cup, lost in Russian Cup final “Paris NN” and in the VTB United League playoffs, first lost in a dramatic semi-final UNICS then in the series for third place – CSKA .

maybe exactly Karaseva not enough for Zenit to win those relegation games they missed through injury.

— Emotions after the playoffs have calmed down a bit?

– It was possible to move away a bit. Mainly head.

The season has been difficult for everyone. But Zenit fought to the end and did everything to win. In the series of semi-finals with UNICS, we were one step, or rather ten seconds away, from replaying the final. But the god of basketball this year judged in his own way. In the end, it happened like this.

But nothing – now is the time to recover, heal injuries, come back and next season try to achieve the goal that was this year. That is to say, to become champions again.

– It turned out that in the series of semi-finals you lost to the future champion.

It’s a small consolation for us. In the decisive match with UNICS, everyone understood that happiness was there, very close, but they could not take it in hand.

But that’s why everyone loves sports. Last year we fought in the final series against CSKA, losing 1-3 along the way. And in this – very disappointing lost to Kazan. Basketball swing. At the same time, it means that we have failed somewhere in something. All together as a team and each individually. Next year should be better.

– After the fourth game of the series for bronze with CSKA, Javier Pascual said that you yourself asked to be released to the field, despite the injury not fully healed. Couldn’t sit down?

– I watched games that I couldn’t attend, and I really wanted to help the guys. I understood the damage was nasty, but decided it wouldn’t be any worse anyway. Therefore, I went out and tried to help through I can’t.

The coach said: let me go out for at least ten minutes to maintain the rotation. After all, I’m not the only one to have accumulated sores during the season. In general, he couldn’t stay away, just sit and watch everything that was going on. In front of himself in the first place was uncomfortable.

– How do you rate the fact that last year’s finalists CSKA and Zenit fought for bronze this time?

— The VTB United League has really gotten stronger. UNICS and Lokomotiv-Kuban have shown this. All their matches were very interesting. But in general, basketball itself benefits from all of this in the first place.

It is clear that we want to stay on top, to repeat the success of last year. But for the league, a change of champion is not bad. Plus, everyone says it’s harder to stay at the top than to climb it. I repeat – next season we will do everything we can to come back. Although, if we passed UNICS, the chances of repeat success would be very high.

– What positive note for you at the end of the season?

“It was a great experience with ups and downs. Also, we won the Super Bowl at the start of the season. Too bad we didn’t manage to win the Russian Cup – we lost in the final against Pari NN. But they were in the final and fought until the end.

So in any case, the year has been useful. And yet, it is a pity that they did not achieve the main objective.

– This season, you have crossed the 200 match mark for Zenit.

– I hope there will be both 250 and 300. I am at home and I really like everything here.

– After this match, the ball was not taken away as a souvenir?

– I have a huge poster at home, which the fans showed after this game. Now I took him to the dacha – he will stay there all summer.

– Are you staying at the Zenith?

– My contract is for next season. My head, my heart and all my thoughts are entirely with Zenit and Peter. The most important thing in the summer is to cure all sores, fully recover and prepare 100% for the new basketball year.

– That is to say that part of the vacation will have to be devoted to medical affairs?

– Without a doubt. But basically it happens every year. First, I rest a bit, then I start preparing for the season myself. But this time with doctors in the summer, you may need to communicate more. And then it will be clearer how best to recover and prepare.

— It’s no secret that you follow football and support Zenit. Congratulate them on the championship?

“I was very happy for the guys and the coaches. By the way, they also come to our games – Anatoly Tymoshchuk, Lesha Sutormin. He approached them and personally congratulated them.

The second star on the emblem is a great honor for our city. By the way, I see in St. Petersburg a lot of banners on this topic and the same stars. It’s very cool. I hope that over time, like our players, we will take the championship year after year.

Live broadcasts of VTB United League matches were broadcast by and other holding channels, as well as sportbox.ru and matchtv.ru websites.