View Poll Results: Who should start at the point to start the season?

**schub** · 10-07-2004, 08:00 AM

Quote:

Still, sooner or later, Travis Best, Jacque Vaughn or Zoran Planinic are going to have to step forward and be counted. None will be able to outrun a defense a half-dozen times a game as Kidd did. But at least two of them are going to have to prove worthy of playing 20-something minutes per game.

And it's too early to handicap the race.

"We have until the end of the month," coach Lawrence Frank said yesterday. "It's going to be a committee right now, a partnership. And at some of our positions we're almost going to have to take the intangible approach -- we're going to have to beat you with numbers. That may be one of those positions, whether it's two or three guys, whereas (in the past) it was one guy playing 38-40 minutes per night."

...

Best is the most accomplished. He was a vital contributor for seven years in Indiana, and under Larry Brown and Larry Bird developed into a superb pick-and-roll player who produced in the fourth quarter. This is his fifth team in four years.

Vaughn is all about defense, schooled at the altar of John Stockton for four years in Utah, and a natural leader. This is his fifth team in five years.

Planinic has the most physical gifts and perhaps the brightest future of the three, and judging by the work he has put in -- he has dropped 15 pounds -- he wants it. He also has the advantage of being more familiar with the motion game, and it's shows.

I'm hoping they go with Zoran, since giving him extended minutes would obviously help the most in the long-term. And I really like his game when he's playing with some confidence.

**Tom** · 10-07-2004, 09:00 AM

I would wish they'd start Zoran, but in come the problem. The two above PG's have more experience than Zoran and it would probably translate to more wins.

I think if we are too far down in the loss column...Kidd might just call it a season. I guess you have to figure out how important
zoran is to the teams future. If you in your heart of hearts believe he is your future then start him because Kidd will probably be gone anyway.

ToddMacCulloch11 · 10-07-2004, 11:08 AM

Zoran starting would be best...he'd get a lot of minutes and experience.

hihofink · 10-07-2004, 03:51 PM

Of course I want to see and hear good thinks about Plananic, and I would hope he is the best player to start. He obviously has a future spot with this franchise, and can help years down the line.

However, I feel the PG spot is completely up for grabs, and whichever player takes on the leadership role the best, and plays the smartest basketball will be the starter (I keep thinking of that Jamei Fox football movie). With that being the case, I am visioning Vaugn taking the starting spot. However, Best may suprise, and become a good leader out there too.

**schub** · 10-09-2004, 06:26 AM

Quote:

Frank said right now he has "no clue" who his starter would be, but noted Planinic has shown a remarkable boost in confidence and displayed a better command of the system. Vaughn has "natural leadership skills," the coach said, while the veteran Best "is known and has done it."

http://www.nypost.com/sports/nets/29985.htm

Rashidi · 10-09-2004, 09:20 AM

Best or Vaughn will start depending on how good of a scorer Mercer is. If the Nets need extra punch, Best starts. If Mercer is back to his 15 ppg ways, Vaughn starts. Either way, Planinic will be valuable off the bench at both guard spots, he's a better shooter at the 2 than Rodney Buford.

7M3 · 10-09-2004, 11:33 AM

You certainly have to hope it's Planinic.

Not only, as schub said, would it be the most beneficial in the long-term, last year Zoran displayed penetration ability and court vision on the level of which neither Best nor Vaughn have ever possessed.

**schub** · 10-11-2004, 04:42 AM

Quote:

Frank has sifted through point guards, Travis Best, Jacque Vaughn and Zoran Planinic, and seen the skills and talents of each. But he insisted he has "no clue" which guy leads for the starting job.

http://www.nypost.com/sports/nets/30070.htm

**schub** · 10-12-2004, 01:31 PM

Zoran wants to make his point

Quote:

Zoran Planinic didn't need the South Beach Diet or Atkins to drop nearly 20 pounds over the summer.

All he needed was to hear that Jason Kidd would be missing an extended period of time due to knee surgery to find the motivation.

"As soon as I heard that Jason was going to have an operation and might not come back until (November or December), I knew what I had to do," Planinic said. "That is why I stayed here and worked my (rear) off. At the end of last season, I was 226-to-227 (pounds). Now I am 209."

Planinic hopes the Nets are noticing his slimmer physique. Faster and more confident than he was during a trying rookie season, Planinic hopes to beat out veteran point guards Jacque Vaughn and Travis Best for the starting nod while Kidd rehabs his left knee.

"We gave him a weight to come back at and he beat it by four pounds," Lawrence Frank said. "Those other guys have played in the league but knowing the offense, I think (Planinic) obviously has a really good start."

I'm real curious to see who's the starter in the first pre-season game on Thursday.

NYCbballFan · 10-12-2004, 03:50 PM

Slimmer and presumably quicker is good. I'm looking forward to finding out what Planinic, who now can almost qualify as one of the veterans on the team, will do in Year Two. He has skills. Beating out Vaughn and Best, who are both best suited for back-up jobs, shouldn't be too hard.

digital jello · 10-12-2004, 05:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by 7M3!
You certainly have to hope it's Planinic.

Not only, as schub said, would it be the most beneficial in the long-term, last year Zoran displayed penetration ability and court vision on the level of which neither Best nor Vaughn have ever possessed.

Agreed.

The PG spot is looking mighty shady.

**schub** · 10-13-2004, 08:36 AM

From today's Bergen Record:

Quote:

Zoran Planinic, who was drafted 22nd overall in 2003, was already with the team. Jacque Vaughn, a seven-year NBA veteran, signed as free agent in July. But the Nets, apparently not satisfied with Planinic and Vaughn, signed Best just before training camp opened last week.

"If Jason were healthy, I probably wouldn't be here," Best said before the Nets' opened practice at Ramapo College on Tuesday night. "They have three point guards here. In my situation, I'm in my 10th year and I'm trying to take advantage of every opportunity I can because you never know when it may be over."

...

Coach Lawrence Frank said Tuesday that the competition among the three point guards remains "wide open" and that he won't make any decisions until after the preseason, which New Jersey opens Thursday against the Knicks in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

"Obviously, there's no one like Jason Kidd, but we have three very capable guys," Frank said. "There's a chance that all three could play and there's a chance that only two will play.

"Travis is obviously a guy who is a veteran player who has played in big games and has a knack for hitting big shots late in games. He's a very good pick-and-roll player and a very, very classy individual."

**schub** · 10-13-2004, 02:03 PM

What does it say for Best and Vaughn that Kidd on crutches has as many votes as them combined?

**schub** · 10-25-2004, 05:28 AM

Vaughn Jockeys to be Net Point

Quote:

Vaughn had to learn who likes the ball where, who needs to be stroked, who needs a boot to the butt to get going. It's all part of being a leader at point guard, the job Vaughn may lead by inches over Zoran Planinic and Travis Best in the absence of Jason Kidd.

"I call him one of those military guys — always under control, always trying to set the defense up. You can always hear his voice out there. He's good in the leadership role," said forward Eric Williams, another new Net. "He's one of those throwback point guards that people like to play around. He puts his nose in it on defense, and the other way, you know he'll get us into the offense."

Coach Lawrence Frank, with his best poker face, swears he still is undetermined about his choice for his opening-night starting point guard. Planinic has served in that role for much of the preseason, but turnovers and lack of experience are worries. Vaughn lacks the flash, size and versatility of the 6-7 Planinic but counters with stability, consistency and experience.

"He's a little more vocal, a little more confident. He's been an All-American point guard since he was 16," Richard Jefferson said of Vaughn.

...

"He's got very good leadership skills. He's able to organize and direct. He's got a high basketball IQ," said Frank. "He's able to pressure the ball 94 feet. He's learning his teammates in terms of where they like the ball. And he gives maximum effort."

**schub** · 10-30-2004, 08:02 AM

A look back at the starting point for the 8 preseason games:

1. NYK - Planinic
2. BOS - Vaughn
3. CLE - Best
4. CHA - Planinic
5. BOS - Vaughn
6. PHI - Planinic (Vaughn DNP)
7. NYK - Vaughn
8. PHI - Planinic (Vaughn DNP)

So, the only conclusion one could really come to is that Best won't be the starter. He just might continue to alternate Planinic & Vaughn into the regular season.

View Poll Results: Who should start at the point to start the season?

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