Post by ashes on Nov 24, 2009 3:50:43 GMT -5
Listen to my tale of two very different players that have met under two very different circumstances. A story of hardship, control, and two very similar ends to two very different means.
My story begins three years ago with the aspirations of a young Frenchman named Yakhouba Diawara. Not even an adult yet, Diawara had already played professional basketball in France and had aspirations of attending college in the United States and playing in the NBA.
Same time, different place there was a young guard by the name of Zoran Planinic. Planinic, like Diawara, dreamed of playing in the NBA, but unlike Diawara, he didn't have the choice of attending college in the US, and he certainly didn't have the option of declaring for the draft at the tender age of 17. No, in fact Planinic didn't have many options growing up in Croatia, at least not once he began competitive play in basketball. Sports are the pride of Croatia, and once Planinic's gift was discovered, he was pushed further than his young age may have been ready for. He soon became the pride of Croatian basketball, and a very important commodity.
Flashback to 1999. We're in Portugal at the FIBA Under-19 World Championship. Spain has just defeated the United States to win the Championship. The day prior we saw Croatia, led by 16-year old Zoran Planinic defeat the Carlos Delfino led Argentina national team for the bronze medal. A few days earlier is where our two stories intertwine: Croatia vs. France. The two young stars met on the international big stage. Diawara shot 3-11 and finished with 8 points in a losing effort. His match-up? Zoran Planinic. Planinic shot 7-13, scoring 21 points while holding Diawara to a less than stellar performance. Planinic shined brighter and led his team to the Bronze medal. The birth of a rivalry.
We're back a year later on draft day, and in a shocking turn of events, Diawara got one step closer to his dream. With the 23rd overall selection in the draft, the New Jersey Nets surprised everyone and selected the relatively unknown youngster from France. Diawara's fate would rest in the Nets GM's hands. Diawara had recently signed a lengthly extension with his French club, JDA Dijon, but they agreed to release Diawara from his contract if Nets would agree to Diawara attending college in the States. However, this would prove too risky for the conservative Nets GM who declined and opted to maintain Diawara's rights as he played overseas.
Planinic, on the other hand, didn't have the opportunity to even declare for the UOSLR Draft. In fact, UOSLR scouts weren't even allowed to attend Planinic's games other than the U-19 Championships. Planinic and his Croatian club, KK Cibona, were very successful in Croatian competition, winning the championship of the Croatian league each year. The Euroleague is where the plot thickens.
After returning to JDA Dijon, Diawara struggled in the French National Basketball League. Diawara would lose his starting job and ended the season averaging 6.5 PPG, 2.0 RPG, and 2.0 APG. He continued to play off the bench for the next season, averaging 8.0 PPG, 3.5 RPG, and 1.5 APG. Diawara stated he was losing his passion for the game. A passion that would be re-ignited two seasons later when JDA Dijon received a B License and qualified for the Euroleague season. When starting guard Pierre Le Mans went out with an ACL tear midseason, Diawara was once again given the starting job. The game was against KK Cibona in Croatia.
It was their first meeting since the U-19 Championship. Once again, Planinic dominated, scoring 33 points and holding Diawara to an inefficient 12 point outing. KK Cibona was in a dominant position in their group at this point, one game away from clinching a birth in the Euroleague Top 16. However, Planinic was quoted in the paper when asked what he thought of the competition that night, to which he responded, "What competition?"
Little did he know that he was lighting a fire underneath an already angry Diawara. Diawara would go on to average 24 PPG the remainder of the season and clinched a berth for his team in the Top 16, but in the final game of the regular season, in Dijon, France, the two clubs met for a "meaningless" rematch. Before the game, Diawara thanked Planinic for his comments a few weeks prior, "He really got me going again. Now I plan on embarrassing his club tonight and in the playoffs."
Planinic, when asked for a response to Diawara, simply asked, "Who?"
KK Cibona would win the game 88 to 71 behind Planinic's 32 points. Diawara finished with 16 points and 6 turnovers. The two did not guard each other. After the game, Diawara had no comment for reporters. Planinic, who's club made it to the Euroleague Quarterfinal Round last season, was overheard saying he hopes the two clubs meet again.
So to recap, our story has taken us to 2002, the Euroleague Top 16. The sixteen teams were split into four groups, JDA Dijon was in Group C, and KK Cibona in Group D. KK Cibona would win all of its games and advance to the Quarterfinal Round with Planinic averaging 17 points and 7 assists a game. JDA Dijon would advance behind Diawara's 23 points game, but as the second seed in the group, winning 5 out of 8 games.
The Quarterfinal Round consisted of #1 seeds matching against #2 seeds and playing a best of three series. Sure enough, JDA Dijon met KK Cibona.
Game one. The hype was unheard of in Europe. Unfortunately, the game didn't live up to the hype. Once again, in their fourth head to head meeting, Planinic shined brighter than Diawara, scoring 20 more points and leading his club to a 91 to 70 blowout. Once again, they did not guard each. Diawara was furious and begged his coach to match him up on Planinic. He got his wish for Game two.
It wasn't pretty. Planinic had his best game of his career, scoring an amazing 47 points in the 104-81 route of JDA Dijon. While Diawara managed to score 29, it wasn't quite the game he had hoped for defensively. After the game, the two refused to shake hands, skipping each other and proceeding to the next opponent. Diawara would later cite a mix of anger and embarassment, whereas Planinic once again responded with, "Who?" KK Cibona advanced to the Euroleague Final Four where they lost to Barcelona.
Fast forward to a few months ago. It's once again the UOSLR Draft, and with the 17th overall selection, Zoran Planinic heard his name called, much to the league's surprise. Croatian basketball officials had kept Planinic's game as much out of UOSLR's sights as they could to this point as they worked to build the Planinic name and brand. They had hoped he would be one of the greatest players to come from their country. Perhaps the "forbidden fruit" nature of Zoran Planinic called to the Phoenix Suns, who will retain Planinic's draft rights, but the Croatian star will not be making his UOSLR debut this season and it's unknown when that time will come. However, one thing was noted after the draft. When selected 17th, a Croatian reporter joked with Planinic and asked how he felt about being selected so low. To which Planinic replied, "I can live with being taken 17th. If it was like 23rd or so, I may have been a little angry."
JDA Dijon and KK Cibona have both been selected for the Euroleague again this year.
My story begins three years ago with the aspirations of a young Frenchman named Yakhouba Diawara. Not even an adult yet, Diawara had already played professional basketball in France and had aspirations of attending college in the United States and playing in the NBA.
Same time, different place there was a young guard by the name of Zoran Planinic. Planinic, like Diawara, dreamed of playing in the NBA, but unlike Diawara, he didn't have the choice of attending college in the US, and he certainly didn't have the option of declaring for the draft at the tender age of 17. No, in fact Planinic didn't have many options growing up in Croatia, at least not once he began competitive play in basketball. Sports are the pride of Croatia, and once Planinic's gift was discovered, he was pushed further than his young age may have been ready for. He soon became the pride of Croatian basketball, and a very important commodity.
Flashback to 1999. We're in Portugal at the FIBA Under-19 World Championship. Spain has just defeated the United States to win the Championship. The day prior we saw Croatia, led by 16-year old Zoran Planinic defeat the Carlos Delfino led Argentina national team for the bronze medal. A few days earlier is where our two stories intertwine: Croatia vs. France. The two young stars met on the international big stage. Diawara shot 3-11 and finished with 8 points in a losing effort. His match-up? Zoran Planinic. Planinic shot 7-13, scoring 21 points while holding Diawara to a less than stellar performance. Planinic shined brighter and led his team to the Bronze medal. The birth of a rivalry.
We're back a year later on draft day, and in a shocking turn of events, Diawara got one step closer to his dream. With the 23rd overall selection in the draft, the New Jersey Nets surprised everyone and selected the relatively unknown youngster from France. Diawara's fate would rest in the Nets GM's hands. Diawara had recently signed a lengthly extension with his French club, JDA Dijon, but they agreed to release Diawara from his contract if Nets would agree to Diawara attending college in the States. However, this would prove too risky for the conservative Nets GM who declined and opted to maintain Diawara's rights as he played overseas.
Planinic, on the other hand, didn't have the opportunity to even declare for the UOSLR Draft. In fact, UOSLR scouts weren't even allowed to attend Planinic's games other than the U-19 Championships. Planinic and his Croatian club, KK Cibona, were very successful in Croatian competition, winning the championship of the Croatian league each year. The Euroleague is where the plot thickens.
After returning to JDA Dijon, Diawara struggled in the French National Basketball League. Diawara would lose his starting job and ended the season averaging 6.5 PPG, 2.0 RPG, and 2.0 APG. He continued to play off the bench for the next season, averaging 8.0 PPG, 3.5 RPG, and 1.5 APG. Diawara stated he was losing his passion for the game. A passion that would be re-ignited two seasons later when JDA Dijon received a B License and qualified for the Euroleague season. When starting guard Pierre Le Mans went out with an ACL tear midseason, Diawara was once again given the starting job. The game was against KK Cibona in Croatia.
It was their first meeting since the U-19 Championship. Once again, Planinic dominated, scoring 33 points and holding Diawara to an inefficient 12 point outing. KK Cibona was in a dominant position in their group at this point, one game away from clinching a birth in the Euroleague Top 16. However, Planinic was quoted in the paper when asked what he thought of the competition that night, to which he responded, "What competition?"
Little did he know that he was lighting a fire underneath an already angry Diawara. Diawara would go on to average 24 PPG the remainder of the season and clinched a berth for his team in the Top 16, but in the final game of the regular season, in Dijon, France, the two clubs met for a "meaningless" rematch. Before the game, Diawara thanked Planinic for his comments a few weeks prior, "He really got me going again. Now I plan on embarrassing his club tonight and in the playoffs."
Planinic, when asked for a response to Diawara, simply asked, "Who?"
KK Cibona would win the game 88 to 71 behind Planinic's 32 points. Diawara finished with 16 points and 6 turnovers. The two did not guard each other. After the game, Diawara had no comment for reporters. Planinic, who's club made it to the Euroleague Quarterfinal Round last season, was overheard saying he hopes the two clubs meet again.
So to recap, our story has taken us to 2002, the Euroleague Top 16. The sixteen teams were split into four groups, JDA Dijon was in Group C, and KK Cibona in Group D. KK Cibona would win all of its games and advance to the Quarterfinal Round with Planinic averaging 17 points and 7 assists a game. JDA Dijon would advance behind Diawara's 23 points game, but as the second seed in the group, winning 5 out of 8 games.
The Quarterfinal Round consisted of #1 seeds matching against #2 seeds and playing a best of three series. Sure enough, JDA Dijon met KK Cibona.
Game one. The hype was unheard of in Europe. Unfortunately, the game didn't live up to the hype. Once again, in their fourth head to head meeting, Planinic shined brighter than Diawara, scoring 20 more points and leading his club to a 91 to 70 blowout. Once again, they did not guard each. Diawara was furious and begged his coach to match him up on Planinic. He got his wish for Game two.
It wasn't pretty. Planinic had his best game of his career, scoring an amazing 47 points in the 104-81 route of JDA Dijon. While Diawara managed to score 29, it wasn't quite the game he had hoped for defensively. After the game, the two refused to shake hands, skipping each other and proceeding to the next opponent. Diawara would later cite a mix of anger and embarassment, whereas Planinic once again responded with, "Who?" KK Cibona advanced to the Euroleague Final Four where they lost to Barcelona.
Fast forward to a few months ago. It's once again the UOSLR Draft, and with the 17th overall selection, Zoran Planinic heard his name called, much to the league's surprise. Croatian basketball officials had kept Planinic's game as much out of UOSLR's sights as they could to this point as they worked to build the Planinic name and brand. They had hoped he would be one of the greatest players to come from their country. Perhaps the "forbidden fruit" nature of Zoran Planinic called to the Phoenix Suns, who will retain Planinic's draft rights, but the Croatian star will not be making his UOSLR debut this season and it's unknown when that time will come. However, one thing was noted after the draft. When selected 17th, a Croatian reporter joked with Planinic and asked how he felt about being selected so low. To which Planinic replied, "I can live with being taken 17th. If it was like 23rd or so, I may have been a little angry."
JDA Dijon and KK Cibona have both been selected for the Euroleague again this year.
