Conditioning Is Key to Tomislav Ivisic, Andrej Stojakovic Returning to Full Strength

Although it feels as though anybody on Illinois’ talent-laden roster could blossom into a star – and that is true, to an extent – it’s no secret that big man Tomislav Ivisic and wing Andrej Stojakovic are expected to carry a hefty portion of the offensive load.

But unfortunately for the Illini, both of their stars have been dealing with injuries of sorts. Ivisic has been sidelined for some time due to his tonsils being removed, while Stojakovic has been out for an even longer period of time due to a knee injury.

Illinois is expected to see both return soon, with Ivisic set to play in Monday night's season opener and Stojakovic regarded as a game-time decision. It's news, in any case, that Stojakovic is, at the very least, quite near to being back on the hardwood with no restrictions.

Tomislav Ivisic and Andrej Stojakovic behind in terms of conditioning

In addition to putting their injuries behind them, both Ivisic and Stojakovic have another hurdle to leap before they can operate at their highest levels: conditioning. It’s impossible to replicate game conditioning when a player is out of action, and the longer the layoff, the longer the journey to full conditioning tends to be.

As Illini fans saw with an often poorly conditioned Ivisic a year ago – by no fault of his own, given that he battled injuries and illness much of the season – game shape can be a true difference-maker for any player.

“The build-up with Tomi is just more about conditioning than anything – he did nothing for 16 days,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said in a Sunday press conference. "Laid in a hyperbaric chamber and wasn’t allowed to do anything. So conditioning was a factor. We put him on a minute restriction in the Florida scrimmage, monitoring him pretty closely from that way, and it was – the minute restriction – probably too high compared to where his conditioning was after a day of practice."

It’s a similar situation for Stojakovic, who was out even longer than Ivisic.

“On the defensive side, literally just being in tune, I think he’s got a chance to be an elite defender with Bam (Kylan Boswell),” Underwood said of Stojakovic. "[He's] got great athleticism. Again, his conditioning is a big part of his struggles at the moment. Just out for seven weeks. So when you’ve got a bad wheel and you can’t go and physically condition, it takes a little bit to get that back. But he’s pushing through that. Both he and Tomi are pretty tough. And so, we’ll see as it goes."

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Andrej Stojakovic
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At the end of the day, it's encouraging news for the Illini. If conditioning is the lone thing keeping Ivisic and Stojakovic from reaching 100 percent, then it’s only a matter of time before the pair are firing on all cylinders. Ideally, though, that time arrives sooner rather than later, as Illinois has two top-25 matchups in the next 16 days (Texas Tech and Alabama).