Hi guys. It's been awhile since last update on Guerschon Yabusele and Ante Zizic but I am back. Here's #ZizicWatch for October 2016 and here's #ZizicWatch and #YabuWatch for November 2016. Thanks again for all the good words, I really appreciate that! In fact, because of all this I actually got to talk with Austin Ainge and Guerschon Yabusele on Twitter! Unreal. Yabu is following me and he's retweeting all the tweets and Ante is always giving a like for the highlights :)
#ZizicWatch
Stats since December 1st: 13.0 points (74.6 FG%, 80.5 FG%), 7.0 rebounds, 1.1 blocks in 22.5 minutes (11 games)
This stats are just from ABA, Basketball Champions League (Cibona) and TBL, Euroleague (Darussafaka) but Ante was also playing some games in Croatian league. His transfer to Darussafaka was big for the Celtics and for Ante himself. He's now playing under David Blatt and in much stronger team than Cibona. I think it's safe to say that ABA lost one of the biggest stars and Zizic would probably be a MVP over there at the end of the season. But to play in Euroleague is much better for him and for his progress. Of course, he's been having some problems in new team, learning the system and transforming from the first option on Cibona to a pretty much role-player in Darussafaka. He doesn't get so many touches in the post as his main role is to: 1) set screens, 2) roll to the basket, 3) fight for the rebounds. And he's been pretty good in all of those areas for Darussafaka so far. In fact, Blatt trusts him so much that Zizic started two games, including Darussafaka's last Euroleague game. One pretty interesting stats: he hasn't missed a free throw playing for a new team (15/15 in last six games). Darussafaka is 4-2 since Zizic's arrival but those two losses came in Euroleague. You can't really be surprised that some NBA teams have asked about Ante, giving his solid play in Europe and the fact that he's just turned 20 years old.
Here are highlights from most games, unfortunately I still don't know how to get TBL games footage so I can only do highlights from his Euroleague performances. For now, hopefully... If anyone have any ideas, hit me up!
- December 4th: 35 pts (13/16 FG, 9/13 FT), 12 reb in 30 minutes vs Mega Leks
- December 11th: 10 pts (4/7 FG, 2/2 FT), 11 reb in 25 minutes vs Krka
- December 13rd: 14 pts (4/7 FG, 6/7 FT), 8 reb in 24 minutes vs Mega Leks
- December 18th: 17 pts (8/9 FG, 1/4 FT), 5 reb in 20 minutes vs Igokea
- December 21st: 16 pts (8/12 FG), 8 reb, 2 blk in 25 minutes vs Avelno
---Transfer to Darussafaka (more info)---
- December 30th: 4 pts (2/3 FG), 6 reb, 2 blk in 16 minutes vs Barcelona
- January 2nd: 4 pts (4/4 FT), 4 reb in 13 minutes vs Galatasaray
- January 5th: 14 pts (6/8 FG, 2/2 FT), 9 reb in 24 minutes vs Maccabi
- January 8th: 16 pts (5/7 FG, 6/6 FT), 8 reb, 3 blk in 27 minutes vs Buyukcekmece
- January 12th: 0 pts, 1 reb in 11 minutes vs Baskonia
- January 20th: 13 pts (5/7 FG, 3/3 FT), 5 reb in 33 minutes vs Unics Kazan
#YabuWatch
Stats since December 1st: 23.6 pts (59.0 FG%, 42.5 3PT%, 65.3 FT%), 10.0 reb, 2.3 ast in 29.6 minutes (17 games)
Yabu's is doing very well in China. I mean, very well. Those stats are great as he's been averaging double-double in this 17 games. Of course, it's Jimmer who leads the Sharks but Yabusele quickly become the second best player on the team that is first in the league for some time now with 25-4 record. And with Fredette missing some time due to ankle injury, Yabusele became the lone leader of the Sharks. Last three games? 33.3 pts (62.0 FG%, 37.5 3PT%, 76.0 FT%), 15.7 reb, 4.7 ast! Jimmer actually got back on the track in that last game but he came off the bench as our Yabu started the game and once again was the best player on the court. You can say it's just China but CBA is getting stronger year by year and we're talking about 20-year-old who is just tearing it up lately. He actually got to play in CBA All-Star Game and had himself a dunkfest. But it's not only ASG, he's dunking it hard in every game. And he does it all, really. Shooting over 40.0 percent from the 3-point line (which is FIBA line in China), getting 10.0 rebounds per game and hustling all over the court. It's great to see him driving some more to the left, too!
Here are highlights from all 17 games + his performance at CBA All-Star Game:
- December 2nd: 20 pts (8/12 FG), 5 reb in 29 minutes vs Qingdao
- December 4th: 5 pts (2/5 FG), 4 reb in 13 minutes vs Bayi
- December 9th: 18 pts (7/12 FG, 3/6 3PT), 6 reb, 3 ast in 24 minutes vs Shandong
- December 11th: 24 pts (7/11 FG, 2/4 3PT, 8/10 FT), 11 reb in 28 minutes vs Tianjin
- December 14th: 17 pts (5/9 FG, 2/3 3PT), 6 reb in 27 minutes vs Bejing
- December 16th: 17 pts (5/11 FG, 6/10 FT), 11 reb in 30 minutes vs Beikong
- December 18th: 25 pts (10/19 FG, 4/5 FT), 15 reb in 35 minutes vs Guangsha
- December 21st: 30 pts (11/18 FG, 3/6 3PT, 5/5 FT), 4 reb, 3 ast in 36 minutes vs Zhejiang
- December 25th: 23 pts (10/13 FG), 7 reb in 28 minutes vs Tongxi
- December 28th: 19 pts (7/11 FG, 2/4 3PT), 5 reb in 24 minutes vs Jiangsu
- December 30th: 29 pts (10/17 FG, 5/8 3PT), 8 reb in 35 minutes vs Guangzhou
- January 1st: 28 pts (8/17 FG, 4/10 3PT, 8/10 FT), 10 reb in 35 minutes vs Guangdong
- January 4th: 28 pts (10/17 FG, 3/8 3PT), 15 reb in 37 minutes vs Shenzen
- CBA All-Star Game: 26 pts, 9 reb
- January 11th: 19 pts (8/13 FG, 2/4 3PT), 17 reb, 5 ast in 34 minutes vs Jilin
- January 13rd: 34 pts (11/17 FG, 3/6 3PT, 9/13 FT), 15 reb, 5 ast in 40 minutes vs Lianoning
- January 15th: 33 pts (12/21 FG, 3/7 3PT, 6/8 FT), 16 reb, 6 ast in 47 minutes vs Shanxi
- January 20th: 33 pts (13/20 FG, 7/8 FT), 16 reb, 3 ast in 37 minutes vs Fijuan
Let's just hope Yabu can keep it up and Zizic will be dominant at times again while getting more and more comfortable to the new team. I really believe both of them could help the Celtics in some areas right away and both have potential to be impactful NBA players. If you have any questions, suggestions or requests - I am all ears! Here's my YouTube channel where you can find all highlights (not only of draft-and-stashers!) and here's my Twitter where I post updates every game. And if you want to support me a little bit more, you can become my patron here which is something I would greatly appreciate!
Submitted January 21, 2017 at 10:56AM by Timi093