Ante Zizic is officially a newcomer of Maccabi Tel Aviv as announced by the Israelian Powerhouse.
Ante Zizic returns in Europe after three season in NBA with Cleveland Cavaliers.
— Maccabi Tel Aviv BC (@MaccabitlvBC) August 25, 2020
— Maccabi Tel Aviv BC (@MaccabitlvBC) August 25, 2020
Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv is proud to announce the signing of Ante Zizic (23, 2.08m) for the next two years. The Croatian center has many connections to the yellow-and-blue basketball club. First, he is the younger brother of Andrea Zizic, who won the Euroleague with the Yellows in 2014 after arriving during the season. In addition, in that same year he visited Israel together with Dragan Bender in the days when the Maccabi academy was established, when the latter signed with Maccabi, grew up in the club, rose to the seniors and was selected fourth in the NBA draft.
Ante Zizic, born in Split – where the sports director of Maccabi Nikola Vujcic was born and raised, was selected in the 23rd pick of the 2016 NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics. He is a mobile center, with varied movements and explosive power, a player who can also play in the power forward position.
“I am proud and happy to join the Maccabi family, it is a family I know since I was 16 years old, and to wear the yellow jersey that my big brother wore”, Ante Zizic told maccabi.co.il. “I want to thank the owners, Nikola and coach Giannis for beleiving in me. I can’t wait to meet the fans. See you soon in Tel Aviv”.
“Ante is a player with qualities that will give us a lot of power in the paint and I am very happy that we signed him”, coach Giannis Sfairopoulos said of Zizic. “He will help Maccabi with his skills and professionalism to succeed and meet our goals. I am very happy to coach him because I also coached his big brother Andrea at Olympiacos. I have no doubt that it will help us that he has previously collaborated with Scottie Wilbekin”.
“I’m glad he had a past at Maccabi, that he was already in Tel Aviv, trained here a bit and felt what this great club is”, added the Greek coach, who last season led the Yellows back to the Euroleague playoffs and winning the local championship. “It is important that now Maccabi has managed to sign him and attach him to the family. We will fight together for Maccabi’s goals”.
In the 2016/17 season, after being selected in the draft, Zizic remained in Europe for another year. He started the season at Cibona Zagreb, where in 13 games in the Adriatic he scored 20 points and averaged 9.2 rebounds per game.
After two months in the Croatian capital, he moved to David Blatt’s Darussafaka, who played in the Euroleague that season. The young center then collaborated with a player that Maccabi fans may know as Scottie Wilbekin and played an average of 21 minutes, in which he scored 9 points and grabbed 6.7 rebounds.
In a dramatic game held on January 5, 2017, in which Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated Darussafaka 93:92 at home, the young Croatian scored 14 points and took 9 rebounds. That same season Darussafaka advanced to the Euroleague 1/4 final series, which ended in a 1:3 loss to the mighty Real Madrid.
Last season, Ante Zizic played in the NBA for Cleveland and averaged 4.4 points and 3 rebounds in 10 minutes on average per game. His best game was in a loss to Minnesota last January, providing 15 points and picking up 12 rebounds. In the 2018/19 season, also with the Cavaliers uniform, he participated in 59 games, scored 7.8 points and dropped 5.4 rebounds.
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