Planinic Impressive

The following two stories concern NBA rookie Zoran Planinic who plays
for the NJ Nets. He has become a key player for the team as shown by
the following article from Newsday and a second artile below from the NY
Times. John Kraljic

By Laura Price-Brown
STAFF WRITER

November 15, 2003

Zoran Planinic gobbled tapes of Nets star Drazen Petrovic when he was
growing up in Bosnia- Herzegovina. He never saw him play in person -
Petrovic died in a car crash when Planinic was 10 - but the NBA rookie
knew that if he wanted to learn basketball, he'd have to know Petrovic.

"Drazen was the best athlete in Croatia, so you have to have the tapes,"
Planinic said. "I see the people respect me more because of him."

So he studied and played, turning pro at 14 and being named Best
Croatian Young Player at 20. The Nets picked the 21-year-old Planinic
22nd overall in this year's NBA draft. Friday night at Continental
Airlines Arena, under the banner that displays Petrovic's retired
number, Planinic made his own statement for Croatia as the Nets beat the
Knicks, 85-80, in front of 17,557.

Planinic shot 4-for-6 and scored nine points in 15 minutes, most of them
while Jason Kidd rested on the bench. After losing to the San Antonio
Spurs, Kidd and Nets coach Byron Scott had agreed that Kidd would be
more effective not playing 41 minutes a game. The two-time Eastern
Conference champions signed 12-year veteran Robert Pack this week to
help fill that backup role, but he never shed his warmups Friday.

Planinic took over at point guard late in the first quarter with the
Knicks leading 18-14. He promptly led the Nets on a 10-0 run in his
eight minutes, finishing it with a sweet baseline runner for a 24-18
lead.

When he returned with 1:37 left in the third quarter, the Knicks had
rebounded from an 11-point deficit and trailed 54-52. Knicks guard
Howard Eisley burned the rookie on a layup, but the former Croatian
national champion recovered by draining a rainbow from the top of the
key.

Planinic also learned quickly about what it means to play in the NBA.
While guarding Allan Houston, he stuck out his left hand as he contested
a shot but never moved it. Houston wisely leaned in and drew a foul on a
three-point attempt, converting all three free throws for a 57-56 lead.

"I knew it was coming," said Pack, who counseled the rookie during the
game. "I knew he held out his hand too long."

But the 6-7 Planinic was impossible to intimidate. He told himself to
stay aggressive, and with 3.9 seconds left in the third quarter, he
accepted a Kerry Kittles feed on the fast break, dribbled behind his
back to blow past Eisley and softly laid in the ball to tie the score at
59.

Planinic's play impressed Scott enough for the coach to leave him in at
the start of the fourth, even as Kidd returned. Planinic effectively
kept a hand in Houston's face, and when Scott finally sat him for the
night with 7:27 remaining, the coach patted Planinic on the rear.

"I told him that he was going to play some minutes and he responded
really well," Scott said. "The thing that impressed me most is he
stopped thinking so much. He just played."


November 16, 2003
NETS 100, HAWKS 85
Nets Finally Break Free and Reach 100 Points
By LEE JENKINS

TLANTA, Nov. 15 - The Nets needed 10 games to find their backdoor passes
and halfcourt lobs, but in one night with the Atlanta Hawks they
rediscovered their old fast-breaking selves.

The Nets took off the manacles Saturday night and proved they could
still move a little. Showing exactly how they captured the past two
Eastern Conference championships, the Nets entertained a rare capacity
crowd at Philips Arena and ran past the Hawks, 100-85.

Informed that his team was averaging only 85 points a game, Coach Byron
Scott promised more scoring and the Nets made good on his guarantee.
They reached 100 points for the first time this season and got back to
.500 in their trademark style.

Jason Kidd and Kenyon Martin made the highlights with two ally oops -
including one from halfcourt - but they did much more. Martin scored 23
points and smothered Shareef Abdur-Rahim, snatching 14 rebounds. Kidd
directed an offense that appeared high-octane again, scoring 21 points
and dishing out 8 assists. He spent much of the second half smiling and
laughing, a sight the Nets had been missing.

"We got out and ran," Kidd said. "Our strength is getting out and
running and we did that."

Kidd is happy to be playing fewer than 40 minutes these days and
thrilled to have designated rest periods in the first and second half.
He said he was fresher and stronger in the past two games, both Nets
victories, and for that he can thank Zoran Planinic. A first-round draft
choice from Croatia, Planinic has become more assertive and more
consistent since the Nets' signed Robert Pack to be Kidd's backup
Thursday.

"I just played aggressive again," Planinic said. "These last two games
have been very different from the others. Jason is only playing about 30
minutes, so that's good."

Planinic and Alonzo Mourning are separated by more than a decade of
N.B.A. experience, but they are just now getting accustomed to their new
roles off the bench. The Nets were ahead by a point in the second
quarter when Mourning established position in the post and Scott
hollered for his players to pound the ball inside.

Catching the ball deep in the key, Mourning bullied Atlanta's interior
defense and got himself to the free-throw line, sinking eight free
throws in a row. It was Mourning's most effective effort since coming
back from a kidney disorder.

"Once I get my blood flowing, my adrenaline going and my sweat going,
I'm better off," Mourning said. "I just want my minutes to be productive
so when I come in, we don't lose a step."

The Hawks are known for playing some of the worst defense in the league,
which is exactly what the Nets needed to face. Running their Princeton
offense to precision for the first time this season, they shot 49.7
percent and took a 19-point lead in the fourth quarter. Atlanta never
threatened in the second half.

The Hawks went through two seven-minute stretches without making a field
goal. After his team dominated in the paint and on the break, Scott
praised the Nets for playing "a complete game."

"We made some shots, we made some easy baskets," Martin said. "We got up
and down and passed the ball and were unselfish. Guys found each other
and played the way we need to play to win."

The Nets count on these victories before they even record them. In the
past two years, they have dominated most inferior opponents, with slight
slip-ups against the Hawks and the Cavaliers. Heading into this season,
the Nets preached the importance of blowing open games they are supposed
to win.

Not much has gone as planned so far, but for one game, the Nets appeared
exactly as advertised.

from the heart...to the lens...to the screen.

http://www.hometeamproductions.tv

COMPOSING CROATIA

Nenad Bach was a rock star in his native country, albeit a classically trained one; but in 1984 he made the decision to expatriate in order to follow his dream of finding a U.S. market for his music. The singer/songwriter has appeared, Zelig-like, with musicians ranging from Bono to Pavarotti to Garth Hudson and the late Rick Danko of The Band. He has hobnobbed with actors and heads of states in his role as an unofficial ambassador for peace, having transcended the trauma of war back home to emerge empowered to effect change. In addition to recording his own music, he has produced CD’s featuring the never-before recorded folk music of his homeland, the haunting acappella sounds of “klapa,” with its universal themes of love, the sea, the fight for freedom and the heroic human struggle. HOME TEAM has been documenting Nenad over the past five years – witness to his personal struggle to make the transition from stardom in Croatia to outsider in an industry dominated by youth and pop culture. He has never given up. Now, he is composing scores for independent films as he continues to perform and write his own music. Perhaps most importantly, he remains committed to his work as a “citizen of the world,” a tireless antiwar activist, the driving passion which infuses his life and the music

Home Team Productions was launched in December, 1999. Its founding members are Producer/Directors Victor Zimet and Stephanie Silber. Home Team's opening season was a busy one. Credits include WORKFORCE, a pilot for Fox; segments for BRAZELTON ON PARENTING for Fox Family; work on Rob Reiner's I AM YOUR CHILD FOUNDATION videos, for New Screen Concepts; and a one-hour BRAVO Profile on Cyndi Lauper. A second BRAVO Profile produced and directed by Home Team about the actor/director Robert Duvall aired October, 2002. The hour, shot in Buenos Aires, Argentina, as well as in America's heartland, took a close up look at Duvall's creative process as he produced and directed his film, ASSASSINATION TANGO. No ordinary man; no ordinary profile. The documentary won a Telly Award and an Aurora Award, 2003.

Currently Zimet and Silber are at work on a long-form concert documentary about the late Irish blues guitar great, Rory Gallagher.
 

Stephanie directing in Argentina             Victor directing "Chasing A Dream"

Stephanie Silber has worked in entertainment and the media for over twenty years. Her theatrical experience includes work both on the boards and behind the scenes, and includes associations with Playwrights Horizons and The Ensemble Studio Theatre. After a stint as a print journalist, writing primarily about entertainment, Silber began producing, writing, and directing long-form documentaries which have aired on outlets such as Court Television, The History Channel and The Learning Channel. Her educational video, ENVIRONMENTALISTS UNDER FIRE, for the Sierra Club and Amnesty International, was recognized in 2000 with a Telly Award, and was represented at the Amnesty International Film Festival in Vancouver, 2002. Silber brings her vision as a painter and a novelist to her work.

Victor Zimet has worked in the film and television business for twenty-five years. Along the way he collected an Emmy for producing and directing a magazine segment on the victorious 1986 Mets for WYNC. Prior to the launching of HOME TEAM, he edited many network specials, and developed a stellar reputation at CBS, editing on various series including STREET STORIES with Ed Bradley, EYE TO EYE with Connie Chung, and PUBLIC EYE with Bryant Gumbel, during which he received another Emmy nomination. In 1999 he co-produced a story for National Geographic about his friends, The Flying Neutrinos, formerly homeless street musicians who managed through hard work and a totally original vision to build a raft and sail the Atlantic from New York to Ireland.

Silber and Zimet are real-life teammates as well. They were married during the period in the early 80's when they were producing and directing two documentaries about baseball, Victor's first love, operating as Home Plate Productions in those days. Their current collaboration marks the realization of a dream no longer deferred.

The Home Team philosophy can be summed up simply: from the heart...to the lens...to the screen.

http://www.hometeamproductions.tv/previews.html

http://www.hometeamproductions.tv/works.html
 

Here's to Tony, he's a bloody legend

By BRYAN LITTLELY and BRONWYN HURRELL
08nov03WHETHER they won money on her or not, everyone in Port Lincoln it seems is now riding on the back of Melbourne Cup winner Makybe Diva.

The Eyre Peninsula city, best known for its tuna industry, was this week soaking up its time in the spotlight as the new heart of Australian horse racing.

Headlines in the local paper tell the story: "It's Our Cup" and there's already a suggestion one of the city's streets should be named after the champion mare.

There's also plenty of praise for the man with the rags to riches story who made it happen.

"Tony Santic's a bloody legend," an enthusiastic female fan shouted down the microphone during a karaoke party at the Grand Tasman Hotel after Lincoln's own Ladies Oaks Day race meeting on Thursday.

Santic expects returning to his home town next week will be the impetus for it to "all sink in".

Born in Croatia, there is no doubt about the place he calls home – the place his parents Joseph and Tonka came to work cutting railway sleepers before they went into fishing.

"They say you're on cloud nine – I'm well above that," he said in some "quiet" time at his Smyzter Lodge breeding farm in Geelong.

Yet the man the town cannot wait to toast in person is still at a loss to explain exactly how he captured the cup.

"I don't know if it's a rags to riches story," he said. "It's more than a fairytale, more than a story – it's something I can't even believe myself.

"We all talk about going to the Melbourne Cup but never plan on winning it."

He admits he doesn't know "if I've broken even or in front or behind" with his $1 million betting win on Makybe Diva.

"It's only getting some of mine back, I must admit," he said.

"I wouldn't say I was a big punter. You always lose more than you win I think."

Tuna Boat Owners Association president Brian Jeffriess said things were far from this good in Santic's past. In the 1980s he was caught up in the troubles faced by both the tuna industry and the South East fishery.

"Wherever he went, due to circumstances beyond his control, things went wrong," Mr Jeffriess said. "Instead of landing on his feet, he landed on his posterior."

Jeffriess said with Tony being so much younger than the rest of the major tuna boat owners when the good times eventually arrived, "if anyone was going to be spoilt by the success it was going to be him". "But he wasn't."

Santic is one of few owners who still goes out to sea and fishes each season and is known around town as "a gentleman".

Plenty of beers have been downed at the Grand Tasman since the horse named after Santic's secretaries won the top prize in Australian racing.

Publican Matt Rogers hinted that plenty of people, including himself, had won a lot of money by backing Makybe Diva and Santic was rumoured to have shouted the bar.

The parties are expected to continue over the weekend, peaking when Santic returns with the cup, most likely on Tuesday, to a street parade and possibly a civic reception, in scenes reminiscent of Dean Lukin's 1984 Olympic weightlifting gold.

Although Makybe Diva has never even been to Port Lincoln – she was bought in London as a foal at foot and transported to Melbourne when Santic could not find a buyer for her – many residents and regular visitors to the town have links to Santic and the Makybe Diva success story.

Trackside at Port Lincoln on Thursday was Phil McEvoy, 47, a top regional jockey for 20 years and father of Melbourne Cup winning jockey Kerrin McEvoy, who rode Brew to victory in the race in 2000 and ran seventh on Distinctly Secret on Tuesday.

On crutches after hurting his ankle in a Melbourne Cup Carnival celebratory fall, McEvoy celebrated Santic's win with the tuna king on Tuesday.

"I had a win too – I liked the horse and had a good backing on her. Tony and I were talking last year that she would win the Melbourne Cup," McEvoy said.

"Now she has, you'll find people around here will start forming racing syndicates, his friends buying horses to try to emulate a bit of what Tony has done."

Another now-famous face at the Port Lincoln races was jockey Clare Lindop, who rewrote the history books by becoming the first Australian woman to ride in the Melbourne Cup.

Lindop, 24, was still on a high after "the one-off opportunity to have a dream come true" ride, but had to quickly come back down to earth this week with rides at Murray Bridge on Wednesday and Lincoln on Thursday.

Port Lincoln resident Julie Chung, 34, backed Makybe Diva for a win as it was considered a local horse. "It's nice to see someone from Port Lincoln do well – we're really proud," she said.

What would you do?


 

Subject : TWO TOUGH QUESTIONS

Question 1:
If you knew a woman who was pregnant, who had 8 kids already,
three who were deaf, two who were blind, one mentally retarded, and she had
syphilis, would you recommend that she have an abortion?

Read the next question before looking at the response for this one.
Question 2:
It is time to elect a new world leader, and only your vote counts. Here are
the facts about the three candidates.
Candidate A. Associates with crooked politicians, and consults with
astrologists. He's had two mistresses. He also chain smokes and drinks 8 to
10 martinis a day.
Candidate B. He was kicked out of office twice, sleeps until noon, used
opium in college and drinks a quart of whiskey every evening.
Candidate C. He is a decorated war hero. He's a vegetarian, doesn't smoke,
drinks an occasional beer and never cheated on his wife.
Which of these candidates would be your choice?
Decide first... no peeking, then scroll down for the response.












Candidate A. is Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Candidate B. is Winston Churchill.
Candidate C. is Adolph Hitler.
And, by the way, on your answer to the abortion question:
If you said YES.........................you just killed Beethoven.
Makes a person think before judging someone. Wait till you see the end of
this note!
 

Keep reading...........................
 

Never be afraid to try something new. Remember: Amateurs...built the Ark.
Professionals...........built the Titanic
And Finally, can you imagine working for a company that has a little more
than 500 employees and has the following statistics:
*29 have been accused of spousal abuse *7 have been arrested for fraud *19
have been accused of writing bad checks *117 have directly or indirectly
bankrupted at least 2 businesses *3 have done time for assault *71 cannot
get a credit card due to bad credit *14 have been arrested on drug-related
charges *8 have been arrested for shoplifting *21 are currently defendants
in lawsuits *84 have been arrested for drunk driving in the last year...
Can you guess which organization this is?


Give up yet?


It's the 535 members of the United States Congress.
The same group that cranks out hundreds of new laws each year designed to
keep the rest of us in line.