‘Didn’t see that coming.’ That’s all Kentucky needs, another 7-footer who can play.
News alert: Authorities have determined that the wail you heard Saturday night emanated from the extremely annoyed collection of SEC basketball coaches — if not the entire college coaching fraternity — who had just heard the Z-tails of Kentucky’s 105-96 victory over Georgia.
“That’s all John Calipari needs,” went their group cry, “another 7-footer who can play!”
The initial question concerning the international man of mystery named Zvonimir Ivisic — better known as “Big Z” — was when (or if) the 7-foot-2 Croatian would be eligible to play college basketball.
The second question was: Can he play?
Oh yeah, he can play.
Big Z proved that and more in his dazzling debut on Saturday. Having learned earlier in the day he had finally been given NCAA clearance for takeoff, Big Z stepped on the Rupp floor four minutes into the game and promptly delivered a no-look, behind-the-back pass to an open Antonio Reeves, who celebrated the arrival of his newest teammate by knocking down a 3-pointer as Rupp Arena exploded.
Moments later, Big Z himself drained a 3-pointer that detonated another Rupp explosion.
“A few times it got about as loud as it gets in college basketball,” Georgia coach Mike White said afterward.
By game’s end, Ivisic had scored 13 points, made three of four 3-point attempts, grabbed five rebounds, blocked three shots, goal-tended another, picked up a flagrant-1 foul, and got a Class A technical foul for performing a chin-up on the rim after a dunk. All this in a Z-ensational 16 minutes.
So did we get the whole Big Z experience?
“I don’t know,” Ivisic said afterward with a shy smile. “We’ll see.”
“We knew he was very talented and skilled player,” White said afterward, “but to anticipate him coming in and firing from deep immediately with the confidence level that he did was something we did not see coming.”
To be honest, only his teammates saw Saturday coming. In practice, they’d witnessed the creative passes, the uncanny accuracy from the perimeter for a man his size, the feel for the game.
“He’s unbelievably versatile,” said senior teammate Tre Mitchell, who led the Cats with 23 points. “He’s not somebody that’s limited to one thing. He just naturally flows into what we do because we have a bunch of dudes who are able to just play the game. He’s going to go out and have a lot of freedom and that freedom is what you saw tonight.”
What does this mean moving forward? The basic anticipation was Ivisic would give Calipari his third 7-footer on the roster. If one 7-footer tires, Cal can put in a second 7-footer. If the second 7-footer tires, Cal can put in a third 7-footer. Foul trouble? Who cares about foul trouble when you have one 7-footer on the floor and two more 7-footers on the bench. And all three can play.
Ah, but Saturday featured a few segments in which Calipari had more than one 7-footer on the floor at the same time. There was Aaron Bradshaw and Ugonna Onyenso or Bradshaw and Big Z or Onyenso and Big Z. And so on. In one moment, with Onyenso and Ivisic on the floor, Onyenso blocked a shot under the basket. Ivisic responded by giving Ugo a celebratory open-hand “love tap” on the chest. Ugo smiled.
It was a simple gesture, but it said a lot. Given that he’s been with the Cats since October — and appears to be such a likable kid — it should not have been a surprise that Ivisic fit in so easily, but in a way it was a surprise. It was part of what made Saturday such a memorable experience.
Even with Ivisic’s obvious offensive skill, where he could matter most for this team is on the defensive end. Calipari said he thought Big Z got pushed around. Still, given Ivisic’s length, rim-protection ability and basketball instincts, surely his presence will grow on that end of the floor.
Said Calipari, “He’s got a ways to go.”
Now that’s something opposing coaches really did not want to hear.
This story was originally published January 21, 2024 at 11:16 AM.
