Lanta Žižić awaits the perfect envelope at Maccabi Tel Aviv: he knows the club and the city, and he has Nikola Vujicic to sponsor him • On the other hand, the saga of the struggle with Real Madrid has created a mountain of expectations around the Croatian chin, which never Was not a leading player

• Žižić

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There are many circle closings signed by Ante Zizic at Maccabi Tel Aviv. He started his career at Nikola Vujicic's academy in Split, at the age of 16 he was already training with the Yellows and was slated to sign a long-term contract along with Dragon Bender, but in the end only Bender signed and Žižić went on to other districts.

Another circle closing? His brother Andrea played for Maccabi Tel Aviv and won the Euroleague with them in 2014, three months after he arrived. In addition, he also trained with David Blatt and played with Scotty Wilbkin in the Turkish Drushpaka. In short, Ante Zizic really does not reach the unknown.

He knows the club, knows Tel Aviv, knows the main player, continues a family history and the professional manager Nikola Vujicic will sponsor him. It has the perfect shell. Another big plus is the Euroleague experience he has from the time he played for Drushpaka in 2016/17.

From plus to minus

Zizic is the biggest acquisition of Maccabi Summer and the only major acquisition of Maccabi Summer, and a mountain of expectations has already been created around its arrival. The hype built over weeks inspired by the struggle for his services against Real Madrid has created the feeling that one is waiting here for a superstar. Ante Žižić is a good player, not a superstar. Here comes the question of meeting the expectations of a player do not forget - he is only 23 years old.

And as for the expectations from him - the Croatian chin will probably be the first chin of Sapropolus. But it should be noted that he has never been a leading player and one such that things are built around him. By now in the Euroleague, and certainly in the NBA he was a complementary player.

And there are other disadvantages. Žižić arrives next to Eliyahu after playing 120 NBA games in three seasons. An average of 40 games per season only. Here will have to play almost double games a season. In addition, the chin has not played basketball for over half a year and further suffered physical problems along the way. Adaptation in Israel and in the club will be simple, but the professional adaptation and return to fitness will take quite some time.

The transition from the NBA to Europe is not easy, but in his case the previous European experience will soften it. Zizic and Othello Hunter will be Maccabi's leading chins. He will actually be Tariq Black's replacement. His big limitation is the fact that he is just a chin. No set of his features can play to a dominant high side. It is limited to position 5 because technically (and also because of speed) it cannot move away from the basket. He does not have the technique and shooting from the outside for that.

On the other hand, it is reportedly a player who works very hard, very tough, very physical, an excellent rebounder on both sides of the court and a very good player with his back to the basket.

Bottom line: very good reinforcement with the potential to grow and grow with the team for quite a few years, the point is to coordinate expectations.