Ante Zizic made more than a geographical leap when, in midseason he left Cibona of the Adriatic League for the up-and-coming Darussafaka Dogus, an Istanbul-based team in the Turkish League and, of particular value, the EuroLeague.
The learning curve was cliff-like, and the talent tough enough to knock the young Celtics prospect around mercilessly in his first practices and games. His new coach was a man of not only prime EuroLeague accomplishments but also a short, lively run in the NBA with Cleveland and LeBron James — David Blatt.
Blatt in turn had seen Zizic for the first time at the age of 16 in one of his camps as then-head coach of Maccabi Tel Aviv.