“First of all I want to say hello to all of you. I hope in the future we will work together, have good communication. As a coach I will share my ideas, my comments, my philosophy, which will make your job a little bit easier.

“We took a very important step in building a new team last week – with signing Kenan Bairamovic and resigning Artur Drozdov, who will be the key players for us for the next season. Keeping Manu Markoishvili, Slava Kravtsov and Ryan Stack. The next step will be signing a good point guard, shooting guard and a center. I hope we’ll have a good chemistry – a mixture of young players and some experienced players who can lead us to championships.

“One of the goals we have for the next season is winning the [Superleague] title and doing well in the ULEB Cup and finishing it in the Top 8. Another goal is to integrate Ukrainian players into the new team and to promote them as much as possible. So I hope I’m gonna be strong enough to fulfill your expectations and to bring a title here in Kiev”.

What style of basketball do you prefer? (Question to Sasa)

“I prefer the same style as when we played you guys here two years ago – aggressive basketball both offensively and on the defensive end. I hope that the players we get will help us play fast and strong, find easy ways to the basket – fastbreaks, etc, which will make the game spectacular for you”.

They say your former team used to only have one day off in four months. Is it true? (Question to Sasa)

“I can ask you a crucial question also. What is important – to win a title or talk about the number of practices?  For me it’s important to be able to recognize what I have on the team, which helps me make a schedule. A young an inexperienced team needs more practices than a team that is educated on a certain level”.

Which young Ukrainian players will have a chance to be on the roster next season? (question to Denys Zhuravliov)

“I think Maxim Pustozvonov has great chances to be on the roster. He had a great finish to last season and earned the right. Of course, I don’t think he will be playing huge minutes, but he can easily count on having 5 – 10 minutes”.

What did you have to say to Artur Drozdov to keep him in Kyiv. (Question to Sasa)

“I was just being honest. I said I will expect a lot from him as from a leader. I don’t know how this satisfied him, but he’s with us and that’s what matters”.

What did you know about the Ukrainian Superleague? Was it easy to accept the offer to come here and do you think this is a step forward for you in your career? (Question to Sasa)

“Definitely I think this is the next step in my career. I think I came into a well-organize club. Before I came here I was told there are only two teams in the league. But that’s not my philosophy, any team may lose to any team, so we’ll treat every team like it’s Azovmash”.