Champs lock up Andrija Zizic from Reds

[Zdenko]

Reigning Euroleague champion Panathinaikos made its third new signing of the off-season and coach Zeljko Obradovic didn't have to go far to find him. The Greens locked up big man Andrija Zizic (207, 27) from rival Olympiacos Piraeus for three seasons. Zizic has spent the past two seasons with the Reds, averaging 12.2 points and 5.2 rebounds in 22 Euroleague games last season. He had several highlights with the Reds, reaching the Quarterfinal Playoffs each season. Zizic was the 2005-06 Euroleague Week-9 MVP and set a record for most free throws in a game without a miss when he went 17-for-17 against Maccabi in January 2006. He began his career in his native Croatia with Omis Mosor and then played for Plastic Solin, KK Split and Cibona Zagreb. Zizic signed for Barcelona in January 2005, but joined Olympiacos that summer. Among his career trophies are two Croatian championships, a silver medal for Croatia at the 1998 European Junior Championships and appearing at the 2003 and 2005 European Championships.

"When I played against Panathinaikos last June in the [Greek League] finals, I could never imagine that a few months later I would wear this uniform,” Zizic said on the Panathinaikos website. “In February I had renewed my contract with Olympiacos. When I learned suddenly that our agreement was not in effect, I was shocked. But fortunately Panathinaikos's proposal came very fast and I said immediately yes, because coach Obradovic showed that they want me a lot and now it's great that I can play for the leading team in Europe which last year conquered everything.”