With an expected trade or more likely buyout of Lucious Harris coming up before the September deadline, the Nets will more than likely have somewhat of a bigger hole in their off-guard. Yes they have recently signed veteran versitle swingman Eric Williams, But with the Nets lack of experience in the frontline, it is expected that Eric Williams will spend time at both forward spots depending on matchups, which means his plate will be full. The Nets have also signed journyman Rodey Buford, but he is considered by many to just be a roster filler. So all this adds up to a hole in the backup 2-guard spot. Zoran Planinic can be a legit option to slide over in the backcourt and play some legit minutes at the 2-guard spot off the bench. From every scouting report I seen, they say that Zoran is an excellent shooter coming off screens while playing off the ball. This is apart of Zoran's game we never got to see or explore last year because in the limited minutes he did play, he did such as a point guard playing on the ball. If we move him off the ball to the shooting guard positions and play him to his strenght,running him off screens, then we might end up finding out that he is a pretty good shooter.And may could fill some of our lack of a perimeter shooting. Zoran's defense would be my main concern, he defenitaly can't guard alot of the two guards & wing players in the league. But Iam thinking that since he will be playing alongside RJ or Eric Williams most of the game at the small forward spot, they can handle defending the really good wing players while Zoran's on the court. Right now Zoran's roll seems to be the 3rd point guard behind of course kidd and Jacque Vaughn,who seems to be a safer choice right now to run the offense when Kidd goes to the bench. As the 3rd point guard Planinic will go thru another season with little to no playing time. I think he can learn more by recieving legit minutes, nothing crazy about 10-15 minutes, maybe less would be good for Zoran next year. The only way he will be able to get those minutes is by shifting over in the backcourt. So would you like to see Zoran get some minutes as apart of the everyday rotation at the 2 guard spot? or would you just rather Zoran stay at the point guard and learn from the bench and probably wait for the 2005-2006 season, when he might be ready to run a team as an everyday backup point guard?
I would rather see him at the 2 guard spot since we will probably be getting rid of Lou Harris. We would be perfect behind Ron Mercer and that is true that Jefferson can guard the two spot when Zoran is on the floor and it gives him experience in guarding against other people. I have heard that he does have a sweet 3 pt if he can ever get it going and he has a nice inside jump shot, the kid is young he could even play like a role that reggie miller and richard hamilton played with their respective teams. Basically run off screens and also spread out the defense. I like the idea of him coming of the bench and getting legitimate playing time so that he can get his skills up since we don't have tamar slay, kmart, and so to be gone harris. We will need another scoring option off the bench. We did find one in Brian Scalabrine maybe we will find one in Zoran. Maybe he can be the next Drazan Petrovic.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting RJ4EVER:</div><div class="quote_post">There will never be another Drazen Petrovic.</div> Thats true but some one that brings everything to the game like he did.
The thing is, the Nets depend on their half court defense for their fast break. I know that we lost some half court D when we lost KK but moving Zoran to the SG position will make matters worse. I think we'll have Lu next season. So him and Mercer at the 2 position should be ok. Although I hope Mercer improved his D. My main point tho is, I have a good feeling about Zoran. He did a pretty good job in our summer league and if we're on a rebuilding stage, why not include Zoran at 1?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting InNETSweTrust:</div><div class="quote_post">The thing is, the Nets depend on their half court defense for their fast break. I know that we lost some half court D when we lost KK but moving Zoran to the SG position will make matters worse. I think we'll have Lu next season. So him and Mercer at the 2 position should be ok. Although I hope Mercer improved his D. My main point tho is, I have a good feeling about Zoran. He did a pretty good job in our summer league and if we're on a rebuilding stage, why not include Zoran at 1?</div> Yeah we wouldnt need to have Zoran move if Lu stays but I read somewhere that the Nets save more than half his salary by buying him out. So its very likely Lu wont be there next season. And the possiblity of Lu being apart of a package trade is very likely as well. So I rather Zoran move over and play some two then use Rodney Buford as the main backup at the 2 guard. And like you just talked about hoping Mercer improved his D. if he didnt improve his Defense then we will have to hide him on the wing as well. So when Mercer goes to the bench we can bring Zoran into the game. I think as long as Zoran and Mercer are not ever on the floor at the same time our perimeter D will be alright. If we lose Lu after we lost Kittles, then we are going to have to find a decent perimeter shooter from somewhere. And Zoran playing off the ball as of right now maybe our most solid option, if he is a good a shooter as they say he is coming off of screens.
