What Big Z Could Do for Arkansas Now That’s He Got His Bearings

Zvonimir Ivisic, Arkansas basketball
photo credit: Arkansas Athletics

With its highly anticipated exhibition vs preseason No. 1 Kansas on Friday, Arkansas basketball continues to be one of the most highly anticipated and discussed teams in the nation thanks to new head coach John Calipari and his bevy of new transfers and freshmen he’s bringing with him to The Hill.

Big name transfers like AAC Player of the Year Johnell Davis from Florida Atlantic and All-SEC center Jonas Aidoo from Tennessee – along with a trio of highly touted freshmen – headline the new arrivals.

However, the very first player to join Calipari’s new Razorback roster has a chance to become the biggest X-factor on a team oozing with top-end talent. Zvonimir Ivisic – affectionately known as “Big Z” thanks to his 7-foot-2 frame – is one of the more intriguing players in the SEC, and perhaps the country, next season.

Any player standing over 7 feet tall with an offensive skill set that allows him to roam the paint as easily as the 3-point arc should theoretically give a collegiate team an advantage on paper, but Ivisic is a unique case that could provide even more value than one might expect at surface level.

Zvonimir Ivisic Scouting Report

A 7-foot-2 stretch big man capable of knocking down shots from beyond the arc, Zvonimir Ivisic shot 37.5% from deep as a true freshman at Kentucky. Granted this came on only 1.1 attempts per game, a relatively small sample size, but it certainly provides enough context to suggest Ivisic can be a regular threat from beyond the arc.

Razorback fans might now be asking themselves, “What makes this any different than the last 7-foot shooter we had in Connor Vanover?”

Let me explain.

The most notable difference between the two is Ivisic’s athleticism. This doesn’t mean you should be expecting blistering speeds or 40-inch verticals from Big Z, but his lateral motion and quick reaction time both as a shot blocker and rebounder surpass Vanover’s capabilities.

This helped Ivisic post an 11.9% block rate – essentially the percentage of blocks compared to the total available shots Ivisic could have blocked. Despite being listed roughly three inches taller than Ivisic, Vanover only surpassed this block rate once in his five years of college when he hit 13.1% during his lone season at Oral Roberts.

In the same breath, Ivisic posted a rebound rate of 15.1% during his limited minutes last season – better than Vanover’s 14.9% during his time at Arkansas and 13.9% career percentage.

Along with the counting stats, Ivisic’s mobility makes him a dangerous floor-runner both after defensive rebounds in transition offense and as a defender getting back to stop the ball.

Ivisic also has a very high basketball IQ, especially for someone of his position. He’s a capable and willing passer, even flashing the ability to throw fancier no-look passes when the situation arises. The tweet below shows the highlights from Big Z’s debut game against Georgia last season, when he tallied 13 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks on 75% shooting from long range:

This incredible game certainly skewed Ivisic’s numbers in a positive way, but it also showed exactly what he’s capable of despite not having a full summer to practice with the team, not utilizing a college weight room and training staff, and not having much time to adjust to the pace of the collegiate game.

His relatively skinny frame could sometimes make him a liability in one-on-one post matchups despite his high block rate, and his 3-point shooting dipped drastically after his first lights-out performance.

Both issues could rear their heads again in the 2024-25 season, but he also has a great chance to improve both over the course of his first full summer with Calipari and staff. This uncommon situation that Ivisic finds himself in with his first collegiate summer coming before his sophomore year makes him the ultimate X-factor heading into next season.

“He’s skilled for that size, good passer,” Calipari said last month. “Fighting on this team, you know with [Trevon Brazile] – who’s explosive – and we’re trying to get him to be an attack player, not just a jump-shooter. He’s doing pretty good. With Jonas [Aidoo], you’ve got that kid who has been in this league, was an all-conference player. Physically, [Aidoo is] able to do the stuff that you need to get done and that’s going to help Big Z get better because that’s who he’s practicing against.”

NBA Player Comparison for Zvonimir Ivisic

The easy comparison for seven-foot-plus European players that can shoot the ball from long range is Kristaps Porzingis, but Ivisic might actually have a better case to be compared to the one-time All-Star and reigning NBA Champion.

Not only does Big Z have a similar height and skillset to Porzingis, but his mobility and athleticism makes him a more realistic comparison than most other foreign stretch big men.

One thing that makes Porzingis so dangerous on both sides of the ball is his ability to cover ground fast. He’s one of the best in the NBA – when healthy – at recovering to block shots at the rim, whether it’s a guard who beat him off the dribble or an opponent on a fast break.

Ivisic perhaps doesn’t match up step-for-step with Porzingis in this ability, but he’s still very capable of being that type of mobile defender – more so than most other players of his size. He is also capable of handling the ball for quick stretches and runs the floor better than one might expect for a lanky stretch five.

Comparing the two statistically, Porzingis came into the NBA as a 36% 3-point shooter on roughly 4.2 attempts per game during his first three seasons in the league prior to tearing his ACL and missing his fourth season. Big Z shot a blistering 38% from long range on much lower volume (1.1 attempts per game), but did so in a similar catch-and-shoot fashion that Porzingis excels in.

Porzingis has a career average of 1.8 blocks per game, including 2.0 over his first three seasons. While the current Celtic’s block rate over his first three seasons (5.3%) is significantly below what Ivisic posted in his lone season with Kentucky (11.9%), it’s important to note that the highest block rates in the NBA are generally lower than the highest rates in college, largely due to the disparity in talent and size at the collegiate level compared to the NBA level.

Porzingis’ career 5.0% block rate would rank him roughly top 20 all-time in the NBA, whereas Ivisic’s 11.9% block rate would land him somewhere in the low 60s in college basketball history. For reference, the top two qualifying college players in this metric are both recent SEC players: Ole Miss’s Jamarion Sharp (17.3%) and Auburn’s Walker Kessler (17.2%).

The biggest development in Porzingis’ game since he entered the NBA is strengthening his frame and becoming a better isolation scorer from the mid-post while maintaining his lethal ability to stretch the floor from beyond the arc.

Big Z’s ability to improve on these aspects of his game heading into next season could allow him to take yet another step closer to the former NBA All-Star in both talent level and skill set. It could also plant him firmly in the starting center conversation for the Razorbacks next season.

Projected Fit with Arkansas Basketball

With John Calipari’s new roster building strategy of grabbing between 8-9 high-profile players to create his main rotation before filling out his roster with walk-on caliber players, virtually everyone making up the key 8-9 players will get every opportunity to prove themselves on the court.

Zvonimir Ivisic’s situation is no different. His height suggests he should play the center position while he’s in college, but with the ever growing popularity of positionless basketball – combined with Big Z’s ability to stretch the floor, pass the ball and recover to contest shots even if he gets beat on the perimeter – it’s not unfathomable to think he could spend some time at the four alongside one of the other two big men.

Jonas Aidoo seems like the locked-in starting center due to his All-SEC accolades, plus he’s the biggest body in terms of size and strength and has arguably the best combination of defensive ability, experience and offensive competence between the three bigs on the Razorback roster.

Next, assuming that Aidoo is penciled in at center for the time being, Calipari has perhaps more options at the power forward position than he does any other position on this roster. Trevon Brazile projects as the most natural four if he’s able to return to his pre-injury self. Adou Thiero is listed at 6-foot-8 despite joining the Kentucky Wildcats as a 6-foot-4 freshman two seasons ago, and his quick leaping ability and rebounding prowess make him not only a realistic option at this spot, but perhaps the best option.

Beyond these two likely options, Karter Knox and Billy Richmond could both be considered in this position in small-ball lineups thanks to their length, athleticism and versatility, though neither are currently projected to steal this particular starting spot.

Big Z has a case to be made to start alongside Aidoo, but given the Hogs’ lack of depth behind these two big men, it perhaps makes more sense to start one of them and bring the other off the bench to more easily distribute the big man minutes.

That leaves us with Ivisic being written in as the backup center.

However, he still has an unbelievable amount of potential on paper. His combination of size, skill set, IQ and mobility don’t come around often. There are some shooting big men, some passing big men and some good defensive big men, but it’s hard to find one that can do everything Big Z has shown to be capable of.

If his first summer in a collegiate program allows him to blossom into the player he’s capable of being on both sides of the ball while also mitigating his weaknesses, Ivisic could certainly contend to become not only the starting center, but perhaps even one of the Hogs’ most vital players on a roster loaded with top-end talent.

One of the other big concerns with lanky big men, especially those over 7 feet tall, is injury potential. This has plagued the aforementioned Porzingis for much of his career and can be seen across NBA history with big men of similar size like a younger, skinnier Joel Embiid, Chet Holmgren and even Yao Ming back when he was a perennial powerhouse in Houston.

This concern becomes a bit more amplified when considering the lack of frontcourt depth Calipari has built into his first roster in Fayetteville. It’s also not exactly encouraging to hear that Ivisic has already been spending some time in a walking boot during preseason training camp. He was, however, able to play in the Tip-Off Tour a week and a half ago in Hot Springs and Pine Bluff.

A full healthy Big Z could quickly become a nightmare for opponents this season. His skill set automatically makes him a mismatch on the offensive side of the ball, so if he continues to get stronger with better defensive footwork and grows as a scorer inside the arc, opposing coaches are going to have some restless nights before they face the Razorbacks.

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Concerns about Razorback Basketball

The Hogs’ projected rotation is all of eight, max nine, players. If any of the core group of players is injured at any point this season, Calipari must deal with not only losing talent, but he’d also incur a roster juggling headache. If you lose too many from that group, you’re forced to give minutes to players who aren’t necessarily SEC caliber.

More here:

Other Arkansas Basketball Player Breakdowns

Love this analysis of Zvonimir Ivisic? Check out our other similar breakdowns for this season’s Arkansas basketball team:

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Check out some highlights of Zvonimir Ivisic:

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