In the NBA where scoring is as high on the appetite list as are plants for Bears, it is no surprise that you are able to see guys go head to head on a nightly basis and just score score score. Guys like Joel Embild and Karl Anthony Townes displayed their knack of explosive scoring recently. Sometimes you also see 2 guys go crazy in a contest and try to out score the other. One of the more famous 1-1 battles in NBA history has to be between Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics and Dominique Wilkins of the Atlanta Hawks in 1988 as they combined for a ridiculous 81 points in a 48 minute game as the human highlight reel exploded for 47 points while Bird settled for 34 points. But in the end it was the Boston Celtics who prevailed 118-116 as Bird was hotter and more efficient in the clutch and in the fourth quarter as he delivered 20 of his 34 points. These kind of unique games are rare, but they do happen not only in the NBA or pro level overseas, but also in the youth sector. Last season In the JBBL (U-16) final game, Eintracht Frankfurt-Fraport Skyliners as the underdog delivered an incredible effort against heavy favorite Alba Berlin, but ran out of gas in the fourth quarter losing 93-85. In this game each team´s best player Mathieu Grujicic of Alba Berlin and Ivan Crjnac went head to head and combined for 93 points. At the end it was Grujicic who came out victorious as he dropped a mind boggling 52 points while Crjnac contributed 41 points. “That game is an unbelievable memory for me. It was one of the best and one of the saddest days for me. I had a very good game and when I go back to watch, I remember everything. Grujicic and I had a real battle. His play motivated me. We had to play catch up the whole time. I think that there was a time in the game where we both had 38 points. From then on it was a battle to see who would win. I respect him as a player. He is a really good player. We both proved that day that we could keep up with the other”, stressed Ivan Crnjac (201-F-2007).

Ivan Crnjac who lists Real Madrid´s Deklan Duru and current FC Barcelona player Mattieu Grujicic as his 2 toughest opponents in his career was born on March 10, 2007 in Frankfurt, Germany and grew up in Nieder-Erlenbach. He had a normal and happy childhood. Like many boys, he tried many sports from ages 4-6, and liked soccer but finally landed with basketball at age 6. His brother Drago who is 4,5 years older was always playing basketball. His first team was in Dortelweil and he then made the jump to Eintracht Frankfurt-Fraport Skyliners in 2015. It is no secret that in the Rhein-Main area, if a kid is talented sooner or later he probably will go to the Eintracht Frankfurt-Fraport Skyliners organization simply because it´s the best address in the area and known for years for serving super development to young kids. In the last 10 years players like Johannes Voigtmann, Danilo Barthel and Isaac Bonga were groomed to become Euroleague players. “I felt like I could play at a high level and Frankfurt seemed like the logical choice”, stated Ivan Crnjac. He already displayed in young years just how much potential he has as he once scored 57 points in an U-14 youth game. Last season he was bounced on to the big youth stage leading Eintracht Frankfurt-Fraport Skyliners into the JBBL U-16) 2023 Top 4 in Frankfurt. He came into the contest averaging 24/12 stats and was the main go to guy on the team. The club was very special that had many talented role players like Noah Koch, Julius Messer, Maximilian Peters und Darren Maglocky. “We had experience and brought calmness into the team. We had been there before and pushed the other guys. We all had great will and pushed each other”, remembered Ivan Crnjac. A big time coach in the Skyliners youth department has been Olaf Kanngiesser. He has won the JBBL title, U-14 title and U-18 cup and been in the organization for 20 years. It is no secret that he knows how to win and form players. “He is a very good coach and so important for young players. I know him since the U-14. He always valued my game and pushed me. I honestly don´t know if we would have reached the top 4 last season with another coach. He truly understands young players”, warned Ivan Crnjac.

Drago and Ivan Crnjac at Basketball City Mainhatten in Frankfurt

The versatile point forward lists Lebron, Jordan, Kobe and Shaq on his NBA Mount Rushmore is a 2,00cm forward that weighs 84 kilo and has a similar game to Lauri Markkanen. “The idea came from my dad. When he watched Euro 2022 game between Finland and Croatia, he thought that I played like him. Since that day, I have been watching his videos”, said Ivan Crnjac. It is a delight to watch Ivan play, because he already has such a high IQ for his age not commonly seen with 16 year olds. “I think on the bigger level. I may not be the most skilled player, but I compensate through my IQ. I like to help my team as best as possible and motivate the guys and be a good teammate”, warned Ivan Crnjac. His game continues to develop smoothly as in the JBBL, he was more of a driver and in the NBBL he is taking more three´s. “One could define his game now already as very grown up”, stressed brother Drago Crnjac. After not taking many three´s in the NBBL last season, he worked more on his shot last summer. He suffered an injury before the season and was out for some months. That injury was like a small blessing in disguise. “When I was injured the last months, I was able to work more on my shot. I couldn´t do physical activity so I worked on my shot. Now it has become a big part of my game in the NBBL”, added Ivan Crnjac. He is a solid defender and has the potential to be a lock down defender. “I´m a bit slow to guard guards, but my long term goal is to be able to defend 1-5. I want to be strong enough to guard centers and agile enough to guard guards”, commented Ivan Crnjac.

Miles Schmidt-Scheuber and Ivan Crnjac at Basketball City Mainhatten in Frankfurt

The 2023 JBBL finalist who lists Dirk Nowitzki, Drazen Petrovic, Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic and Giannis on his Euro NBA Mount Rushmore is having a strong NBBL season playing 29 minutes per game averaging 15,8ppg, 5,0rpg, 1,3apg and is shooting 28% from outside and taking 67 three´s per game while in the Pro B, he has already made his debut and averaging 12,3 minutes per game and 3,3ppg and 1,3rpg. “I´m more of a shooter. I´m still playing a lot off the ball as there are more skilled players on ball. I´m going more in the direction of a 3 and D player. In the NBBL, I´m the go to guy and scorer. Despite being in the youngest year in the NBBL, I´m becoming that leader”, expressed Ivan Crnjac. He is so young, but has a normal goal that many young talented players have now adays. “When I was younger, my dream was the NBA, but now I´m heading more towards the Euroleague. I understand the Euro game better than the NBA game. I´m a guy that likes to take small steps. I want to play a good World championships this summer”, warned Ivan Crnjac. An important person in his life has been brother Drago. They played together for the first time in the Kreissliga when Drago was 11 and Ivan was 7 and are doing it again in the Pro B now. Drago is like a mentor for him, because he sees things on the court that Ivan as a younger player might not see and besides they have good chemistry as well. “Drago is a really good player. He has taught me so much. We have a court outside in our town where we play a lot. He has a good mentality and is really competitive and pushes me. He has that I want to win mentality that he has helped instill in me. He has helped me a lot with small things and my shot”, warned Ivan Crnjac. I can remember running around the Suwag arena before the 2023 JBBL semi-final between Eintracht Frankfurt-Fraport Skyliners-Alba Berlin and finally found brother Drago. I asked him please give me a cool nickname for your brother. He didn´t hesitate and fired the name “Universal Genius”. That nickname has stuck with me since that day and is what I call him in the broadcasts. It fits his game. He is simply a universal genius. “Olaf Kanngiesser named me that. It was nice to hear from him. I think it fits my game. I use my versatility and IQ in many ways on the court”, warned Ivan Crnjac. So who wins a 1-1 on the court between Ivan and Drago? “It has been very even games, but I won the last one”, smiled Ivan Crnjac. It will be interesting to see how Ivan Crnjac continues to develop in the next years. If he is already a universal Genius at age 16, then it´s only scary where his game will be in a few years.