HMFFL wrote:7'2" ZVONIMIR IVISIC on Kentucky is playing his first College game and he looks like a lottery pick.
It's love at first sight.
He's everything I never knew I always wanted.
The AthleticKentucky’s Zvonimir Ivisic thrills in dominant debut
The technical term for Kentucky’s roster now: embarrassment of riches.
John Calipari already had the most potent offense in America, and now the Wildcats add a 7-foot-2 center who protects the rim, passes with aplomb and splashes 3-pointers? Oh, come on.
Throw tempered expectations out the window after this. In a surreal scene, Ivisic checked in with 16 minutes to go in the first half against Georgia and had a block, assist, steal and another assist in his first two and a half minutes of college basketball. But he was just getting started.
Ivisic became an instant Croatian sensation when he checked back in with 8:20 to go in the half and swished a 3, blocked another shot, snared a rebound, splashed a long 2-pointer, then another 3, then another. Four straight jumpers, nothing but net. He scored 11 points in less than three minutes. Ivisic blew the game open for Kentucky — the Cats were plus-20 in his eight first-half minutes — and the crowd nearly blew the roof off the building.
All told, Ivisic finished with 13 points, five boards, three blocks, two steals and two assists in 16 minutes Saturday night. He just missed one spinning slam dunk attempt that would’ve brought the house down and did connect on a two-hand jam that gave UK 100 points with still five minutes to play.
Ivisic, despite solid stats and highlights from his European playing career, was a relative mystery. He also didn’t even participate in the shootaround Saturday morning, didn’t work on any of the Georgia game plan with his teammates, because word that the NCAA cleared Ivisic didn’t arrive until early afternoon.
