Andrew Albicy feels happy at Zenit Saint Petersburg and believes he still has a lot to offer to the team on the court.
In an exclusive interview with TalkBasket.net, the French guard talked about his current team, his performance, the first win of Zenit in the EuroLeague, the World Cup and more. Here is what Albicy said:
On how he feels about Zenit’s first-ever EuroLeague victory: “Great. First win in history of the club. It let us start to compete against everybody, it gives us confidence and we are in a good way.”
On whether the team needs an adjustment period, with 11 newcomers coming in during the summer: “We need to find some chemistry, we have been together for one month only, so we have to stick together and work harder. Hopefully, this win will help us a lot.”
On his relationship with his teammates and coach Joan Plaza: “There has been a good chemistry. So far things have been great. I like the city, the fans, the organisation.
Now, I want to work hard and come back to my condition. But, I am good at Zenit and this is important.”
On the difference between playing in the EuroCup (Andorra) and the EuroLeague: “The team is better. Zenit is a very good team, but playing against the top EuroLeague clubs (e.g Barcelona, Real Madrid) makes the competition even harder. Every game is very important for the teams and especially for us every game is a Final.
It is a completely different situation for me. It is like a new goal, new mission, to show I can compete against everybody.”
On his experience in the Basketball World Cup: “For sure, it helped me a lot. I was one of the leaders of the team, so it helped me a lot in my effort to show I can play against the best in the world. It gave me confidence for the season.”
On France finishing third in the tournament: “We had many people not believing in us, they thought we could not finish that high. Every time we were angry and we showed we are one of the bets teams.
For sure, we are a bit disappointed, because we wanted to win the gold, but we made a mistake (the semi-final against Argentina).
We know we can be better. We certainly added experience and that will help us a lot.”
On his future plans and whether playing for a top EuroLeague club or in the NBA is a target: “For sure, the target is to play for the best teams (in the EuroLeague and the NBA). I don’t think about it right now, because I am happy at Zenit and I should focus on me and my season.
Right now, I know I can play better and that’s the target. I know what I can do, so we will see what happens in the future.”
