Pedja for B92 (after preseason)

[piksi]

May not be the best time and some may be tired of this but here we go:

http://www.b92.net/sport/intervju.php?nav_id=154974&mm=11&yyyy=2004

DISCLAMER:

I translated this to the best of my abilities. If anyone thinks that something regarding the translation should be changed - please do so.
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One of the best Kings players in the past couple of years P.S. had a long summer, became father, had a break from BB and according to hom - he is ready for the new season. He started it as a King but where he is going to finish it we will find out before the trade deadline considering his wishes to leave the kings.

"I told them (the kings org.) that I want to be traded. Nothing has changed in that aspect but I am a professional and will honor my contract for the next 2 years if neccessary."

The atmosphere in the kings lockerroom was damages with the CW interwiev where he accused teammates of "hiding from the ball" at the end of the season especially during "losing to Wolves"

"The atmosphere in the team is OK so far. It has always been like that. At the end of the last season we started to look for the blame in somebody else. Simply, we did not have energy to take the responsibility. We will see how that will influence this season, but I hope that time heals wounds. We did not play well in the preseason. I hope for the improvement but honestly I think that whe hit the limits, had our chances in the last 5 years in which we were together. The organisation is obviously giving us one more Year but we will see what happenes till feb 25."

Kings are playing without Vlade who went back to hell ( I edited the last word but You know what it stands for)

"I would say that it was obviously the decision of the organisation. Vlade chose the best option for himself. It is the NBA business. We will definitely miss him because an other player like Vlade does not exist in the NBA. I miss him as a friend and as a teammate. As the season progress everybody else will realize what he meant for the Kings."

Talking about the favourites this season - he picks Spurs ans favourite #1

"There many teams of the similar quality but I think that SA is #1 followed by wolves. Suns, Nuggets and even Jazz couls be a surprise. In the east - MIA, IND and DET"

 

[Crackerman]

Thanks for the article Piksi.

After reading this article, it really got me thinking whether Pedja is going to help the team by being here or hurt the team. All of his comments were negative. Being Professional and honoring a contract does not show me that he is going to have the heart to help win a championship.

The way I look at it is: We have a player that is going to do just enough in the regular season so that other teams will still want him in the future. I do not want somebody on our team that is just going through the motions.

Every other player on this team wants to be here, and wants to win a championship as a KING. Don't get me wrong I think Pedja is awesome, he is my second favorite player on the team behind Bibby. Once he is on a roll and hitting 3's there is nothing like it in the NBA. The past couple weeks I would get mad with all of the posts about trading Pedja, but after this article I think it might be for the best.

 

[rnmeuy]

First off, Peja is my favorite player, so it is very hard for me to say this. I think Peja should stop talking to the media about still wanting to be traded. He needs to just play basketball. He is just making himself look bad by continuing to say he wants to be traded. I'm hoping he'll play like he did last season, when he was an MVP candidate and help the Kings finally get over the hump. He needs to show everyone that he can make shots when it counts, in the playoffs. I am just tired of the continual drama. Let's just focus on the game.

 

[Crackerman]

rnmeuy,

I understand your point but here are my thoughts:

If I am at a job that I hate:

* If I tell my co-workers that I am not happy with my job, co-workers and management, then everyone will know that I do not want to be there, and most likely this will all reflect in my job performance.

*If one day I stop complaining at work, it does not mean that I am going to start performing better. Everyone will still know that I do not want to be there and I will not be giving my all to the company.

*If I was the owner or management for the company I would not want to keep an employee that is going to hurt my business. Even though the employee may continue to do his job, in the long run that employee is not going to make the company grow. You would want to have someone that is going to give 100%

Even though I am comparing apples to oranges I beleive that with keeping Pedja it Could hurt the team in the long run.

That being said, I hope that he proves me wrong!!!!!!!

 

[rnmeuy]

Thanks Crackerman, I understand your point, exactly what I was thinking.

I hope Peja proves all the doubters wrong, however I'm afraid the only way to do that is for him to perform in the playoffs and for the Kings to go farther, which I think means making it to the Finals. WCF may not be enough.

 

[fakie]

First off, Peja is my favorite player, so it is very hard for me to say this. I think Peja should stop talking to the media about still wanting to be traded. He needs to just play basketball. He is just making himself look bad by continuing to say he wants to be traded. I'm hoping he'll play like he did last season, when he was an MVP candidate and help the Kings finally get over the hump. He needs to show everyone that he can make shots when it counts, in the playoffs. I am just tired of the continual drama. Let's just focus on the game.

peja is my favorite player as well. i started watching the kings because of him.
and i totally agree with what you said.
now i am beginning to wonder if he's really who i think he is, or if i was just mistaken.
when the player's heart is there, you know it. like michael jordan against the utah jazz in the finals when he had food poison, he could barely stand, but still, he put on a heck of a performance.
peja doesn't have to be MJ, he just needs to be a king.
inside and out.

 

[Heuge]

Talking about the favourites this season - he picks Spurs ans favourite #1

"There many teams of the similar quality but I think that SA is #1 followed by wolves. Suns, Nuggets and even Jazz couls be a surprise. In the east - MIA, IND and DET"

Why did he have to go say something stupid like that? It may be true but does he have to declare to everybody that his team is not the best. While I do love this team, why do they have to keep talking. He and Webb are not doing themselves or us, as fans, any favors.

oh yeah, thanks for translating piksi.

 

[BigSong]

I can't believe anyone on the Kings would want to play with someone who just said the type of things Stojakovic said in this article, assuming it's all true.

 

[Bricklayer]

I can't believe anyone on the Kings would want to play with someone who just said the type of things Stojakovic said in this article, assuming it's all true.

Its really nothing new. Same message as this summer. Is interesting though that he's still reiterating it right on the eve of the season.

The hope would always be that winning cures everything. But then again, the Kings have won a LOT during Peja's tenure, and over the summer he was saying he would consider going to the Bulls. So maybe winning isn't that high on Peja's list of priorities.

Either way, there is a trick here to be performed by Petrie. The not blinking thing, which he's very good at. But also the setting aside the personal feelings thing, where he might have a hard time with Peja. As long as Peja is playing hard the situation is tolerable, although not conducive to developing a real esprit de corps. If it becomes a distraction though, or Peja is noticeably lagging, at some point Geoff will owe it to the rest of the team to make a move.

 

[C Diddy]

At this point, I think I am getting really tired of Peja's whines to the Serbian media. Why doesn't he just man up and play already? He makes a big deal out of how he is going to honor his contract yet has to supplement the comment by how hes still unhappy? C'mon Peja. You are better then that. Webber called you out for being soft, allegedly, and Vlade left. We know already. If you are really going to honor your contract, then come out, shoot better then 35%, hustle, play defense, and prove it to the fans. We deserve it.

Next article that I see about Peja whining that he still wants to be traded is going to prompt me to send him a block of cheese and a violin to drown his sorrows.

 

[Bricklayer]

People seem to have reacted very badly to Peja's trade demands. But really, its been pretty muted. I think matter of factly that it may well end up with peja leaving Sacto. But he hasn't really made much of a fuss about it. Nothing like the loud and constant complains and demands of a guy like Sprewell for instance. Seems Peja really wants out, for somewhat fuzzy reasons. But he doesn't volunteer that unless asked.

One thing he should do (other than just suck it up and play) is master the "well I don't want to get into that, the season has started and I'm just going to go out there and try to help this team win" line of standard sports B.S.. Honesty isn't always the best policy.