Croatia will be well represented next weekend at the Final Four in Indianapolis!
Croatian twin brothers Zvonimir Ivišić and Tomislav Ivišić have reunited at Illinois and are now two wins away from a national championship. The Fighting Illini will face Connecticut in the national semifinal Saturday, April 4th at 6:09 PM (ET). Born in Vitez, Bosnia & Herzegovina and raised in Vodice, Croatia; just outside of Šibenik, they began their pro careers at 14, developing into versatile big men with the ability to stretch the floor. Both brothers tower over their competition at 7’1″ and 7’2″. Zvonimir claims he is taller by an inch.
Zvonimir “Big Z” is known as the more expressive and flashy twin, while Tomislav anchors the defense with physicality and consistency. Their reunion in Champaign follows Zvonimir’s high-profile eligibility path through Kentucky and Arkansas, ultimately bringing the brothers back together at Illinois. Off the court, their tight bond shows through their humor and constant basketball conversations. Together, they bring a rare mix of size, skill, and chemistry to Illinois.
This season Tomislav has earned more playing time between the two, playing 25 minutes per game and averaging 10 points/5 rebounds. Zvonimir is averaging 17 minutes off the bench with 6 points/5 rebounds per game. But Tomislav had a huge game in the Elite 8 Thursday night in a 71-59 win over Iowa scoring 13 points from 6/11 shooting.
Head coach Brad Underwood has quietly built one of the most international rosters in college basketball. On top of the Ivišić twins, Illinois has another Croatian from Trogir, Toni Bilić. They also have Andrej Stojaković and Mihailo Petrović from Serbia. Andrej is the son of former NBA shooter Peja Stojaković. Illinois also has David Mirković on their roster from Montenegro.
If you haven’t been following the Ivušić twins this year…it’s time! They are fun to watch and have plenty of Croatian personality to go around in their post-game interviews. Tune in Saturday, April 4th as we have the Croatian flag on standby for March Madness!
Sorry Ontario (Canada) boys
Mr. T is furious at your new law capping prices on re-sale World Cup tickets
So he decided to t-bag Canada and you can’t watch the Brazil vs. Croatia friendly tomorrow lol
Salary EUR m p.a.
Broz 25
Josko 15
Kova 11
Majer 7 [he’s Wolfsburg top earner lol]
At least Majer’s collecting a bag (till June 2028)
Germany 2 – 1 Ghana in Stuttgart. Ghana unimpressive but showed some resilience i guess and only lost to a late goal.
It warms the heart to see Balkan brothers working together. You think those guys in that locker room are rehashing any of that tired ustase cetnik thompson progaganda that the 200 families of tudjman fed to the masses ?
Definitely not. They are brothers out there and it sets a template for friendliness and brotherhood throughout the Balkans in the future and the people not falling into the trap of the elites
Peja’s kid is not Serbian. Like his father, he’s fully Greek. Peja is completely cucked by his wife.
The Ivisic brothers blast Thompson (as they should) and the Crnogorac joins in on the fun.
Lost some respect for Igor not taking a severance and giving it up
He negotiated the contract – u work the contract to its maximum for your own benefit
U don’t show weakness and give the other side the easy way out (not to pay him) – this doesn’t give him any future goodwill with other clubs it does the opposite
U never know what happens in life and what future holds (see Michael Schumacher) – u take what’s in front of u
Now it’s understandable they caught him when he’s vulnerable -but those close to him should have made sure he takes the bag
Always take the bag
@Vlad
I see in SN that Sutalo says he’s starting vs. Brazil with DCC
You called it
I would still expect Vuskovic to come on in the 2nd half – maybe it’s Dalic wanting to ease Luka in vs. Brazil i.e. in the 2nd half Vini and co will be “tired” (or at least not as fresh) and/or the 2nd string Brazilians will be on – so it’s an easier task for Luka than having to face Vini running at him full speed from minute one
Dalic can’t ignore a 60m valued Luka who Barca, Madrid, Liverpool and Chelsea all want to buy – he just can’t – I mean he can – but I don’t see it happening
Let’s see – Sutalo said he had a headache the day the team went on a tour in Orlando and missed the tour with the team – hopefully it’s a one off – but can you imagine Luka I (or Luka II) saying they missed a team event bc of a headache ? These players need serious PR management – you can’t say stuff like that
Umm.. what sport even is this 😂
Lol I was wondering the same thing, what sport is this even haha
Ante you should make sure to mention that in your titles or at least at the very beginning of your articles
Apparently it’s some weird basketball shit? What is the final 4? Huh? Is this one of those weird American things where people cream their pants over a draft or something? Honestly none the wiser as to what this even is.
Been following them all year (U of Illinois is my Alma mater). They are fun. Lots of character. After the win on Saturday to qualify for the final 4, both draped themselves in Cro flags afterward. Was cool.
Now that Dario saric is gone to Europe we have ZERO players that were born in Croatia playing in the NBA.
Zubac and matkovic our current NBA representatives were both born in BIH …a sad state of affairs from the dream team days of the 80’s when we had half a dozen in the big show.
No such thing as BiH 😉
All are one and one are all
80s???
“half a dozen”???
Drazen joined in 1989 and Croatia never had more than 3 players in the NBA at the one time
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Croatian_NBA_players
Yes indeed. Twins looked good.
Stojakovic’s kid is a real good player.
Looks exactly like him lol.
Otac je iz Pozege
They don’t look close at all – very business like/formal (hell even Casemiro gave Modric the biggest hug ever when they met in DisneyWorld)
***.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1s75w3o/highlight_andrej_stojakovi%C4%87_and_his_father_peja/