CSKA forward Gafurov appreciated the opportunity to go through the VTB United League season without defeat

Forward of CSKA and the Russian national team Filipp Gafurov spoke about the army team’s victory over Samara (94:76) in the VTB United League regular season match and assessed their opponents in the tournament.

For the army team, the victory over the Samara team was the ninth in a row at the start of the new season; Samara won four victories and suffered five defeats in the season.

— Every opponent wants to play against CSKA and win. Samara is not a weak opponent. The game was tough. I would say that in our league as a whole there are no weak opponents. We set ourselves up for victory in every match.

We showed aggressive defense and won on our home court – that’s the main thing. Is there a goal to go through the season without defeat? It doesn’t matter how we are going now, what matters is what will happen at the end: whether we lift the cup at the end of the season or not. We work every day, play to the fullest in every game, so that in the future, when the important games, the playoffs, come, we will be ready to win every match.

Are there any problems with motivation due to the absence of the Euroleague? There are no problems with motivation, but, of course, there is some desire for us to return to this tournament. But at the moment we have what we have. We’re not upset. All thoughts are about winning the VTB United League,” Legalbet quotes Gafurov.

Watch live broadcasts of VTB United League matches on the TV channels of the Match group, as well as on the websites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.