CSKA Forward Nikita Kurbanov told that the team had taken a serious step forward, beating “Zenith” in the regular championship match of the VTB United League.
CSKA On Sunday, he defeated Zenit in the United League home match with a score of 83:77. Kurbanov, 38, became the first player to play 400 matches in the tournament.
— The match was even, with a slight advantage for CSKA. But in the end, Zenit even briefly took the lead. How would you comment on all this?
– Yes, the match took place with our slight advantage. But everything seems under control, but we know that Zenit can instantly come back and punish. Today there was no moment where we clearly turned the tide of the match and reached the end with confidence. Zenit is a great team, they have top players. It was very difficult to expect this match to be easy. We are very happy with this victory. We are making progress, but there is still much to do.
— When Zenit finally took the lead, what did you think?
— The idea that one must maintain full concentration. Because, I repeat, as soon as Zenit punishes you instantly. So you have to play with more concentration on defense, because any player is dangerous from the perimeter. It was very important to defend as a team, to protect ourselves. It was necessary to use insurance to make it difficult for them to attack. I think we have partially overcome this problem today. We have a lot of matches ahead of each other, but we took a step forward today.
— Do such victories in the final seconds speak about the character of the team?
– They charge, of course. Because opponents such as Zenit, UNICS, Lokomotiv are fundamental rivals. It is even an informal rivalry within the championship. And that falls into a sort of separate classification. It’s good to beat a strong opponent,” Kurbanov told .
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Source : MatchTV
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