NBA
#23 Boston Celtics: Ante Zizic
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
With the 23rd pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, the Boston Celtics selected Ante Zizic from the Adriatic League.
In 21 games played this last season, Zizic averaged 13.4 points and eight rebounds in roughly 26 minutes of action per game. Zizic’s points came on a very efficient 63.9 percent mark from the field. Zizic has significant professional experience for a player his age and has matched up well against players much older and experienced. He is a good rebounder and has good size to play center, standing almost 7’0 tall with a 7’2.5 wingspan.
Zizic is a good athlete and competes at a high level. He runs the floor with a lot of effort and frequently crashes the board. While Zizic is not the most skilled offensive player, he is solid around the rim and has shown the potential to hit the midrange jumper. However, Zizic is not the best passer and hasn’t shown much reason to believe that will be a weapon in his arsenal in the near future.
On defense, Zizic exerts the same sort of effort and feisty competitiveness. He works hard to shut down his opponents and works hard to protect the rim as well. However, Zizic will need to continue working on his strength and mobility in order to compete against the top centers in the NBA. He has the potential to do so and to even step out onto the perimeter a little defensively. In Zizic, the Celtics are getting a good-sized center who could be a difference-maker down the road.
