Alexander Medvedev on Ivanovic's demands at Zenit

Alexander Medvedev has kept his post as chairman of Zenit's board of directors after a reorganisation of the club's basketball operation, and used the update to deal with the question that had followed Dusko Ivanovic into the new season:

"It turned out that the rumours about Dusko Ivanovic's harshness were greatly exaggerated. A big win doesn't come any easier than catching a fish. The team is working hard — yes, it is tough. But who has it easy these days? So the aim is simple: to reach peak form by the start of the championship," Medvedev said.

He would have liked another trophy first. Zenit went into the pre-season Kondrashin and Belov Cup but ran into what he called a terrific MBA side, which beat Zenit and then beat UNICS in the final — a result Sergei Voznyuk, MBA's coach, played down at the time rather than treat as proof his team belongs among the league's top six. Medvedev said Zenit's own priority in that tournament was simply to build combinations and get players up to match fitness, not to chase the cup itself.

Next up is the Super Cup, which Medvedev described as a serious test with foreign opposition in a strong group, followed by the Winline Media Basket Cup, where he said Zenit will play only to win. Both are staging posts on the way to the VTB United League championship, which he named as the real target of the pre-season programme.

On recruitment, Zenit still hold two open positions for import players but Medvedev ruled out filling them in haste. "We want them, first of all, to want and even dream of playing for Zenit, and to be ready to play under the demands that Dusko Ivanovic sets. Unfortunately it isn't easy right now to find players like the ones we had in Zenit's championship-winning team. All the same, Zenit's authority and reputation are high enough to attract top basketball players even in these difficult conditions. But there is no need to rush," he said.