North Jersey MAHWAH - Zoran Planinic's play in training camp has gotten Jason Kidd and Vince Carter's attention. Displaying improved confidence, Planinic has impressed the coach. "He's gotten better," Lawrence Frank said Friday. "He's definitely gotten much better." Planinic knew he had to show something in his third and perhaps final camp as a Net. The versatile guard, who could become a free agent after the season, is fighting a numbers game. The Nets signed Jeff McInnis in August to back up Kidd. They picked up the option on Jacque Vaughn and drafted Antoine Wright, who could play backup shooting guard and small forward down the road. Clearly, Planinic's time is now to show he belongs. "I know that's bad for me," Planinic said of the McInnis signing. "But what can I do? I'm trying to find a way to play anywhere. It doesn't have to be point guard. I just want to play." How Planinic, 23, spent his summer is the biggest reason he's been a different player in camp. Planinic played major minutes, and played well, for Croatia in the European Championships. The experience enabled him to return to New Jersey surer of himself and ready to prove he can play in the Nets' crowded backcourt. "I'm more confident now," he said. "I was playing 30, 35 minutes a game there. I think this summer really helped me. I'm really confident. I'm not just saying that. I really am confident." Source
Planinic's best choice is to try to fit in somewhere at the 2/3 spot..and give Antoine Wright and Murray a run for minutes, if either one fails to show they are worthy of PT during Training camp and Preseason. But him as a point guard, I dont see it happen....his ball handling, floor leadership and just his ablity to see the floor, would have had to greatly improve to trust him at the point guard. Nets management clearly doesnt have faith in him at that position...that is why they made sure to wrap up McInnis and Vaughn early in the offseason, before even addressing the bigman concerns. If he shoots the ball well and displays a few other things I can see him giving our wing players a little run for PT, but other then that, I dont see him cracking the pg rotation. Planinic may not be suited to discover and reach his potential in a Nets' uniform....maybe it happens somewhere else, if the Nets can package him in a deal at the deadline or when he becomes a free agent next summer.
Zoran has been critisized a lot since he was not able to show anything in his rookie year. I always knew that this guy could play. The thing is that he has never gotten the opputunity to show his skills. He could have had an oppurtunity to play last year when Kidd was injured, but Zoron did not gain any of the coachs' trust since appearantly he did not showcase his skills in practice and waited for playing time to come to him. I think that hope that his emergence will make the Nets even deeper than they are now. Depth on a team is vital if it is to with-stand any injuries which may happen at anytime.
