Hornets want Stojakovic to be go-to guy
Player has been criticized for past playoff stuggles
http://newsok.com/article/2950576/?template=sports/main
Wed Oct 4 2006
By Darnell Mayberry
Staff Writer
NEW ORLEANS — The irritation in Peja Stojakovic's voice increases with each question.
Really, he wouldn't mind if everyone forgot all about his past. How just two seasons ago, he capped a career year with a colossal meltdown in the playoffs. How that embarrassment managed to trump his original postseason disappearing act that came two years prior.
The questions keep coming.
Finally, Stojakovic, the Hornets' $64-million, off-season acquisition, assures that he's ready for what he couldn't seem to handle back then — when he continually let down his Sacramento Kings teammates and fan base when they needed him most.
"I want to be the guy," Stojakovic said Tuesday after his first Hornets practice at New Orleans Arena. "I'm not running away from responsibility."
The Hornets need him not only to embrace it, but to excel in it.
More than any of their six other off-season additions, Stojakovic is the guy the Hornets brought in to get them to the playoffs. He's the perimeter shooter they coveted, but can he be the closer they lacked? Does Stojakovic have the ability to carry the Hornets?
"Peja can be that one guy," said Hornets coach Byron Scott. "He's proven it in his career. He can light it up. And if he gets doubled or guys are running at him, he's a very good passer and he's very unselfish. So yeah, he can definitely be that type of guy."
Stojakovic certainly has the credentials. He's a three-time All-Star and a career 18.4-point scorer. Still, he's haunted by the ghosts he created during the 2002 and 2004 playoffs.
Stojakovic averaged 21.2 points and shot 48.4 percent from the field during the 2001-02 season. Then his scoring average dipped to 14.8 points in the playoffs, when he shot 37.6 percent and missed six of the Kings' 16 playoff games.
Then came the 2003-04 season, when Stojakovic finished the regular season as the league's No. 2 scorer with a 24.2-point average. He shot 48 percent from the field and 43.3 percent from 3 that year. But he averaged just 17.5 points in the playoffs, shooting 38.4 percent from the field and 31.5 percent from 3.
He was labeled a choke artist.
"In his younger days, it was always that criticism about Peja, ‘He never showed up in the playoffs,' " said Hornets guard Bobby Jackson, who teamed with Stojakovic for five seasons in Sacramento. "In this game there's a lot of criticism when you're averaging 20-something points and you only average 14 or 15 points in the playoffs."
But the Hornets showed last year they need Stojakovic during the regular season before they even think about the playoffs. They lost several games because the other team's best player took over.
Dwyane Wade buried the Hornets in the fourth quarter and overtime. LeBron James and Michael Redd took over the fourth quarter, too. Dirk Nowitzki did it twice. Scott could only dream of that kind of star after witnessing each game-clinching performance.
"We're going to have more options this year when the game is on the line," Scott said. "Like most teams that have great players, they make sure (the ball) is in their hands every single time. And we're going to try to do the same thing."
Stojakovic wants to be smart in those situations, though.
"It's most important for us to get the best possible shot at that time," he said. "You can be the go-to guy and make bad decisions. It's not always necessary for you to have to take that shot. The go-to guy means that you can make smart decisions and the smart play to get it to the guy who's wide open."
Scott expects Stojakovic to be that type of player, praising his knowledge of the game, his passing ability and of course his sharp-shooting. With those skills, Scott said, and Stojakovic being surrounded by scoring threats Chris Paul, David West and Jackson, the Hornets shouldn't suffer through many scoring droughts as they did a year ago.
"You want him to take that last shot," Jackson said. "If I'm a GM and I pay a guy $64 million, I want him to shoot (more often than not).
Some nights he's going to have it and some nights he's not. But the majority of the nights, he's going to have to take those big shots.
"He's going to have to give us wins. Or he's going to have to set something up and pass it so we can make a jumper. You got to be one of those guys that's willing to make the winning shot, make your teammates better or make that play at the end of the game. And I think he's one of those guys."
Player has been criticized for past playoff stuggles
http://newsok.com/article/2950576/?template=sports/main
Wed Oct 4 2006
By Darnell Mayberry
Staff Writer
NEW ORLEANS — The irritation in Peja Stojakovic's voice increases with each question.
Really, he wouldn't mind if everyone forgot all about his past. How just two seasons ago, he capped a career year with a colossal meltdown in the playoffs. How that embarrassment managed to trump his original postseason disappearing act that came two years prior.
The questions keep coming.
Finally, Stojakovic, the Hornets' $64-million, off-season acquisition, assures that he's ready for what he couldn't seem to handle back then — when he continually let down his Sacramento Kings teammates and fan base when they needed him most.
"I want to be the guy," Stojakovic said Tuesday after his first Hornets practice at New Orleans Arena. "I'm not running away from responsibility."
The Hornets need him not only to embrace it, but to excel in it.
More than any of their six other off-season additions, Stojakovic is the guy the Hornets brought in to get them to the playoffs. He's the perimeter shooter they coveted, but can he be the closer they lacked? Does Stojakovic have the ability to carry the Hornets?
"Peja can be that one guy," said Hornets coach Byron Scott. "He's proven it in his career. He can light it up. And if he gets doubled or guys are running at him, he's a very good passer and he's very unselfish. So yeah, he can definitely be that type of guy."
Stojakovic certainly has the credentials. He's a three-time All-Star and a career 18.4-point scorer. Still, he's haunted by the ghosts he created during the 2002 and 2004 playoffs.
Stojakovic averaged 21.2 points and shot 48.4 percent from the field during the 2001-02 season. Then his scoring average dipped to 14.8 points in the playoffs, when he shot 37.6 percent and missed six of the Kings' 16 playoff games.
Then came the 2003-04 season, when Stojakovic finished the regular season as the league's No. 2 scorer with a 24.2-point average. He shot 48 percent from the field and 43.3 percent from 3 that year. But he averaged just 17.5 points in the playoffs, shooting 38.4 percent from the field and 31.5 percent from 3.
He was labeled a choke artist.
"In his younger days, it was always that criticism about Peja, ‘He never showed up in the playoffs,' " said Hornets guard Bobby Jackson, who teamed with Stojakovic for five seasons in Sacramento. "In this game there's a lot of criticism when you're averaging 20-something points and you only average 14 or 15 points in the playoffs."
But the Hornets showed last year they need Stojakovic during the regular season before they even think about the playoffs. They lost several games because the other team's best player took over.
Dwyane Wade buried the Hornets in the fourth quarter and overtime. LeBron James and Michael Redd took over the fourth quarter, too. Dirk Nowitzki did it twice. Scott could only dream of that kind of star after witnessing each game-clinching performance.
"We're going to have more options this year when the game is on the line," Scott said. "Like most teams that have great players, they make sure (the ball) is in their hands every single time. And we're going to try to do the same thing."
Stojakovic wants to be smart in those situations, though.
"It's most important for us to get the best possible shot at that time," he said. "You can be the go-to guy and make bad decisions. It's not always necessary for you to have to take that shot. The go-to guy means that you can make smart decisions and the smart play to get it to the guy who's wide open."
Scott expects Stojakovic to be that type of player, praising his knowledge of the game, his passing ability and of course his sharp-shooting. With those skills, Scott said, and Stojakovic being surrounded by scoring threats Chris Paul, David West and Jackson, the Hornets shouldn't suffer through many scoring droughts as they did a year ago.
"You want him to take that last shot," Jackson said. "If I'm a GM and I pay a guy $64 million, I want him to shoot (more often than not).
Some nights he's going to have it and some nights he's not. But the majority of the nights, he's going to have to take those big shots.
"He's going to have to give us wins. Or he's going to have to set something up and pass it so we can make a jumper. You got to be one of those guys that's willing to make the winning shot, make your teammates better or make that play at the end of the game. And I think he's one of those guys."
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