Ivica Zubac Shines in Croatia's Narrow Win Against Netherlands

This summer, Ivica Zubac has fully recovered from his broken rib injury and is spending time playing for Croatia in the FIBA Basketball World Cup.

Saturday evening, Croatia had a back-and-forth contest against the Netherlands, and Big Zu was a dominant force. For the third time in four games this summer, Big Zu achieved a double-double. He went a near-perfect 8-10 from the field, scoring a total of 24 points. And corralled a total of 11 rebounds.

But Big Zu wasn't just effective inside the paint. He finished the game with an efficient 8-11 effort from the charity stripe, making Netherlands pay for fouling him when he was in the scoring vicinity.

What stood out to me the most in this matchup was how agile Zubac looked. Earlier in the NBA season --when Zubac made his debut for the Pacers-- he looked a little slow and did not have nearly enough lift when leaping for rebounds or contesting shots.

In this game however, he had multiple plays that were eye-popping. Early on, he made a slick play where he kept the ball on a dribble-handoff option, and after keeping the ball, he darted towards the rim and dunked on the helpside defender.

The Croatian guards and wings did a terrific job of getting into the paint, causing Zubac's defender to leave him alone to stop the drive. Once the help defense came, this left Zubac wide-open and his teammates made multiple great reads and fed him for a handful of easy twos.

With Big Zu towering over the Netherlands defense, he found himself getting fronted in the post by his defender. Putting a nice seal on his defender, one of Croatia's guards was able to deliver a pass over the top of the defense into the outstretched hand of Zubac. He caught the ball and dunked it home, as the weak-side defense arrived late.

The last offensive play that caught my eye was when Zubac dribbled the ball down the baseline but got himself underneath the basket. He knew he had the advantage over his shorter and smaller defenders and patiently waited until he had a clean look to make the flip shot.

Defensively, he had two blocks in the game. The rejections were impressive, but it was how he was able to finish the play that leaped out.

Ivica Zubac against Netherlands was a show to enjoy 🎡

🇭🇷 24 PTS
🇭🇷 11 REB
🇭🇷 2 BLK
🇭🇷 8/10 2FG
🇭🇷 8/11 FT#FIBAWC X #StepItUp pic.twitter.com/rLsS9kgT0E
— FIBA Basketball World Cup 🏆 (@FIBAWC) August 30, 2026

As one of the guards from the Netherlands dribbled down the lane with the Croatian defender slightly behind, Zubac was able to cut the drive off and still stay connected with his defender. This slowed the driver down and he made a pass to Zubac's man, thinking he was open. No. 44 thought he had a clean look, but Zubac got low and sprung up to reject the shot.

Big Zu's pick-and-roll defense is going to be a talking point all season long. Not because it's a weakness, but because how he is used to defending them is different than how Indiana likes to guard it.

The other rejection Big Zu had in this game was in a pick-and-roll situation. He was in drop coverage and was playing a few feet off the guard who had the ball in his hand. As the guard attacked the basket, the big who set the screen then rolled to the basket and tried to get in Zubac's way. Big Zu played through the contact made by the roller and swatted the guard's shot off the backboard.

It was a terrific showing for the Pacers' big man. He's looking healthier, spryer, and stronger. His passing was on display in limited plays, but his ability to put himself in the most advantageous positions on both sides of the floor happened nearly every position.

Croatia was able to squeak out the 101-99 victory, improving their record to 7-1 in Group K. There is no doubt Croatia loses this game without the strong play of the Pacers new center.

You can follow me on X @AlexGoldenNBA and listen to my daily podcast, Setting The Pace, wherever you get your podcasts.

Add us as a preferred source on Google