The Lokomotiv Kuban center spoke about how the team is preparing for the game against UNICS.
- We are in the middle of the mini-series of games with clubs where you've played. What do you remember of playing for UNICS?
- The culture over there is to play hard, practice hard, defend. It was a tough year, but we ended up pulling it out and winning the championship. So that's one of my special moments that I cherish and love. It was just a good year for us.
- And what do you remember of being at Avtodor?
- You know, my first year overseas I played in Athens, Greece. It was great, wonderful, everybody knows about Athens, a beautiful city. Then in my second year I ended up in Saratov. It was a total 180 spin from Athens. So it took some time for me to adjust, but just like any city that I find myself in, I find good moments out of that. Avtodor, we had a really good team. I came a couple months late, but we had a pretty good team. We didn't make the playoffs in the VTB, but we did have a good season at Champions League. So I cherish the moments and it was just building my experience. I love Avtodor for that.
- Let's talk about UNICS again. What should be done first and foremost to beat them?
- We have to stop their threat in the paint. They have a lot of guys that can score in the paint. They're going to post us a lot. They're going to play a bully ball. So we have to stop that first. We have to stop their paint touches and them scoring out of the post. And we have to limit their rebounding because they're going to try to beat us on the glass too. And I think if we do that, then we're going to have a good chance to win.
- Can the full arena help in such games?
- That always helps. But first off, we have to take care of ourselves and work ourselves on the court. And while doing that, while us playing hard and playing together, that brings the crowd into it. So that definitely can help. But it starts with us first. We have to have a good start against this team to snowball us into the fourth and to finish the game. So hopefully we have a good start.
- What is the main thing that you work on during preparation for the UNICS?
- We did a lot of switching defense because we know UNICS is going to switch with us a lot. 70% of their defense is switching. Maybe a little bit more, I don't know about that percent. But I'm going to say like 70% of their defense is switching. And we worked on a lot of post plays and just a couple of other defenses to try to switch it up to throw something different at them. I won't say, but a couple of other things to throw at them to knock them off balance.
- What were your emotions when you knew about your nomination at the All-Star game?
- You're just not telling me. I'm not too big on social media. I mean, I love social media and stuff, but I'm not too big on if they post something. I might see it, I might not. I guess I missed that because you're telling me for the first time. So I guess I can give myself a pat on the back and just appreciate that type of attention.
- How many All-Star games did you take part in?
- I want to say three. In the French league, in Paris, it was really cool. The VTB All-Star game was cool also. And I think the first one I was at was Greece. So I've not been in a lot, but I did show my face in a couple of All-Star games and I appreciate it and keep building my resume.
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