Ante Žižić: “My mentality is to win every single game!”

Wednesday, 12. October 2016 at 12:37

Ante Žižić shocked the entire basketball  community, not only in our region, but in the entire World, with an exceptional performance in the fourth round of the ABA League on the road against MZT Skopje Aerodrom, where he counted to 56, when he was collecting his index rating at this game.  

Ante Zizic (Photo: Cibona/Zeljko Baksaj & Gordan Lausic)

Ante Žižić shocked the entire basketball  community, not only in our region, but in the entire World, with an exceptional performance in the fourth round of the ABA League on the road against MZT Skopje Aerodrom, where he counted to 56, when he was collecting his index rating at this game.

We spoke with the player, that earned himself the rising star award last season in the ABA League and that is currently the leading player of the league, when we are talking about statistics, with average valuation of 35 gathered so far, about this game, as well as his progress and his standpoints about basketball and ABA League in general.

Read more in the lines below.

Who was the first person to call you after the game and congratulate you on the victory?

"Everyone congratulated me, but the first to do it were the members of my family and my closest friends."

Was this the best game you played in your career so far?

"Yes, this was my best game, even though I nearly reached an index rating this high last season in the Croatian National Championship."

You spent almost the entire match on court, you were exhausted just like all of the players, but you still found enough strength for aggressive dunk at the end of overtime, which decided the winner. What was on your mind when you scored that one?

"My standpoint is that I want to win every game, no matter if it is final or just a game in the backyard with friends. The win is the one that matters! I was born with this mentality and you cannot influence this. Since basketball is an unpredictable sport, and we have seen this in many cases when a team is losing in the final seconds, for me the game is not over until the final siren is on, regardless of the margin in points at that moment."

Already last season you have proven yourself in the ABA League as a promising youngster and you received the ABA League Rising Star award. Later you have been selected at the 2016 NBA Draft, but you came back to dominate in ABA League. What, how and where did you do in order to furtherly improve as a player?

"Since I have ended the season as an injured player this was unfortunately the only reason for which I could not participate first at the Olympic Qualifying Tournament and afterwards at the Olympic Basketball Tournament. I had approximately 2 months of break between the end of the season and the beginning of our club’s training camp.

During this period I have recovered from the injury and when I was 100% ready to begin practicing, I started working on things that I lack in my basketball game and especially worked on my physical condition and my body. My brother Andrija deserves the most credits. He worked with me on physical and basketball part of my game and we practiced in our hometown of Omiš."

Do you have a role model or a player that you like especially?

"I don’t have a special role model. However, I like to watch more experienced players to play and I try to absorb their plays and other little things that can make me a better player."

With Cibona you have successfully began new season – with only one defeat in the opening four rounds and it happened on the road against Partizan NIS. Where do you see your team at the end of the season?

"Cibona composed a quality team for this season. It is a combination of young players with the older and experienced ones, we have reached excellent team chemistry and are functioning well on court. With a 3-1 record we have entered the season very well. We only lost to Partizan NIS on the road and this is one of the toughest away games to play. However, it was anybody’s game until the end. We can be satisfied with the way we have entered the season. I hope that we can reach the Playoffs, since I believe that we have a necessary quality in order to do it."

Who are the favourites to reach the Playoffs this season in your opinion and who is the favourite to win the trophy in the end?

"I believe that Crvena zvezda mts is the realistic frontrunner to win the trophy. They have more qualities than the other teams. Not just because they are an Euroleague team, but because they are showing their strength on court."

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Ante Žižić: “Moj stav je da želim pobijediti svaku utakmicu!”

Ante Žižić je šokirao čitavu košarkašku javnost, ne samo u regiji, nego svuda na svijetu s nevjerojatnom partijom u četvrtom kolu ABA lige na gostovanju kod MZT Skopje Aerodroma, gdje je brojio do 56 kad je u pitanju broj indeksnih poena koje je skupio na toj utakmici.

S igračem, koji je prošle sezone osvojio nagradu za zvijezdu u usponu u ABA ligi, a koji je trenutno statistički vodeći igrač ABA lige sa prosjekom od 35 indeksnih poena po utakmici (8,25 više od sljedećeg), smo razgovarali o tom susretu, kao i o njegovom napretku i pogledu na košarku te ABA ligu.

Pročitajte više u donjim redovima.

Ko vas je prvi zvao posle utakmice da vam čestita pobedu i index 56?

"Od reda svi su mi čestitali, a prvi su to napravili članovi moje obitelji i najbliži prijateji."

Da li je ovo bila vaša najbolja utakmica u karijeri?

"To je bila moja najbolja utakmica iako sam prošle sezone u prvenstvu Hrvatske bio jako blizu sličnog indeksa."

Igrali ste skoro celu utakmicu, bili premoreni kao i svi igrači, al ste ipak našli snage za snažno zakucavanje na kraju drugog produžetka koje je odlučilo pobednika. Šta vam je prošlo kroz glavu kada ste ubacili tu loptu u koš?

"Moj stav je da želim pobijediti svaku utakmicu, igrao finale ili na igralištu s prijateljima, bitna mi je pobjeda! Takav stav mi je urođen i na to se ne može uticati. Pošto je košarka nepredvidljiv sport, a to smo vidjeli u dosta primjera kada ekipa gubi u zadnjim sekundama, stoga za mene nije gotovo dok sudac ne svira kraj bez obzira kolika razlika u poenima bila."

Već prošle sezone ste se dokazali u ABA ligi kao mladi igrač koji je puno obećavao, pa ste tada primili priznanje za zvezdu u usponu. Kasnije ste bili izabrani na NBA draftu, ali ste ostali da dominirate u ABA ligi. Šta, kako i gde ste radili tokom leta da bi još više igrački napredovali?

"Pošto sam sezonu završio ozlijeđen te je to nažalost bio glavni i jedini razlog zbog kojeg nisam mogao nastupati prvo u kvalifikacijama pa onda na olimpijskim igrama imao sam otprilike 2 mjeseca pauze između završetka sezone i početka priprema.

U tom vremenu sanirao sam ozljedu a kada sam bio 100% spreman da počnem s trenizima, krenuo sam u rad na košarkaškim nedostatcima te posebice pažnju posvetio fizičkoj spremi odnosno radu na tijelu. Najzaslužniji za moj napredak je brat Andrija koji je svakodnevno radio sa mnom i na fizičkom i na košarkaškom dijelu, a trenirali smo u našem rodnom gradu Omišu!"

Da li imate nekog uzora ili igrača čija igra vam se posebno sviđa?

"Nemam određenog uzora! Ali volim gledati iskusnije igrače i pokušavam upijati njihove poteze i ostale sitnice koje me mogu učiniti boljim igračem."

Cibona je veoma uspešno započela novu sezonu – sa samo jednim porazom, i to na teškom gostovanju, u prva četiri kola. Gde vi vidite vašu momčad na kraju sezone?

"Cibona je sastavila kvalitetnu momčad za ovo sezonu. To je spoj mladih igrača s onim starijim (iskusnijim) igračima, postigli smo odličnu timsku kemiju i dobro funkcioniramo na terenu. S omjerom 3-1 odlično smo ušli u sezonu, praktički izgubili smo samo od Partizana NIS u gostima što je jedno od težih gostovanja s tim da je do samog kraja rezultat bio neizvjestan. Sve u svemu svi možemo biti sretni i zadovoljni ulaskom u sezonu! Osobno se nadam da ćemo ući u doigravanje jer smatram da imamo kvalitetu za njega."

Ko su po vama favoriti za ulazak u doigravanje ove sezone i ko za osvajanje šampionskog trofeja?

"Po meni realan favorit osvajanja ABA lige je ekipa Crvene zvezde mts jer ona ima kvalitetu vise od ostalih ekipa. Ne samim time što igraju Evroligu, nego svoju moć pokazuju i na terenu."

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