By Peter Toth
This is Zagreb, home of Drazen Petrovic’s famous Cibona where we get access to the place where the young players from outside the Croatian capital, are living together. The place is huge, everything is adjusted to an over-average size, so the center of the U16 team, Ivica Zubac (1997), who has just emerged from his room, does not look any special. It strikes me only when we get closer, how huge the 17 year old boy, I wanted to see, is. His height of 213 centimeter with a more than 110 kilogram weight and a size 55 shoe obviously puts him in Shaq’s dimensions at such a young age. We have seen him playing at U16 championship in Kiev and many times in Croatia, and when he gets the opportunity to get onto the court, he is always like a wall under the basket, unbeatable, strong and hard. No matter if it is attack or defense, he is there to act with force and power. No marvel that he is widely called "Zublaka", the blocking machine, as there is hardly anyone who can shoot or just pass unpunished beside his massive presence on the court. His long arms and exceptionally huge hands help him a lot not only in shooting but also in blocking and rebounding at which he is at the top of the national statistics. And what’s even more is that he is not alone, the family has already given another Zubac to Croatian basketball. Antonio, his 14 year old brother, plays also for Cibona and he has the same promising dimensions as his brother. Being hardly 14 he has already passed 2m and weighting massively over 100kg in his size 53 sneakers will obviously catch up soon with his older brother. The twin towers are from Cutlak, a town in Herzegovina, and come from a basketball family. Ivan, his father was playing in Italy and has yet two more children, Mario, being 11 and 160cm, already plays basketball, just like little sister Marijandela.
“I have always been much taller than anyone around me”, says Ivica with a broad smile, adding that “I had a size 39 shoe at the age of six before starting primary school, so basketball was never a question. I have not even tried any other sports.”
“It was my father”, says Antonio, “who first took us to the team in Cutlak.” Ivica was hardly 11 years old then, but already passed 180 cm, and he was followed very soon by his brother, Antonio. Basketball was a love at first sight for the Zubac brothers, and the aim to become national players and then to go for international challenges has very early been formulated.
“We had to work hard as we had a lot to learn” says Ivica proudly. “But a great progress has been made. Three years ago, I was called for a tryout by Cibona, and the team has immediately selected me for the U14 squad and a series of successes has begun. We were national champions last year and I was nominated and played for the national selection in Kiev.
No doubt, Ivica is working hard to be a major presence on the court. Adding more speed, a bit of strength and a great deal of experience to his massive presence, he would definitely grow into a center like Nikola Pekovic or Aleksandar Maric. And his huge little bother is closing up in his size 55 footsteps… Last summer Mario has also been called to Cibona and he has been playing for the team for a year now, growing fast in size and experience alike he is in the safe hand of the coaches of the Cibona kadet team. So the Zubac family’s 4.5m and 250kg joint contribution to Croatian basketball will definitely leave a major mark in the future history of Croatian youth basketball.
Photo: P.T.
