Peja!!

[FullAB]

I think he is just parroting RA's position. RA has always said that the goal is to make the playoffs.....and then go from there. Take it easy on Peja.

 

[Rowdyone]

So now the "expectations game" begins. It's one thing to expect a player to perform at a certain statistical level but quite another to anoint him with "leader" status simply because he's either senior member on the team now, expected to carry the bulk of the scoring load, or, as in this case, the surviving combatant in a collossal battle of athletic egos (a battle exagerated and inflamed by the media and those who wish to believe that Webber's trade was the result of this passion play)...ugh. Webbers trade was about Webbers inability to play at the same level we paid max dollars for, pure and simple. And to expect Peja to immediately step up and proclaim victory in this dreamed up soap opera and command "leader" status is silly. Leaders earn it, they don't command it. People follow the leaders they choose, not those foisted upon them. If Peja becomes our leader it will be as a result of performance, not who can crow the loudest.

 

[Bricklayer]

There are several factors that can improve his play. I think he'll get better shots and more rythm shots than he did before now that he will be the primary scoring option. He was also playing hurt for some time, and his game really gets affected when he is in any way not 100%(sucks but that's the way it is). I don't think its an automatic that if he plays better he was tanking it before.

If his rebounding picks up dramatically, what then? That's nothing except effort and not being a wuss.

Fact is that Peja has struggled worse than any other major King this year, and put in the worst effort too. Biggest underacheiver. So you underacheive, are clearly lacking hustle on many a night, the team struggles in aprt because you are underacheiving,n this results in the breakup of the team to your benefit, at least if all you care about is your own numbers....what is that exactly?

 

[love_them_kings]

If his rebounding picks up dramatically, what then? That's nothing except effort and not being a wuss.

Fact is that Peja has struggled worse than any other major King this year, and put in the worst effort too. Biggest underacheiver. So you underacheive, are clearly lacking hustle on many a night, the team struggles in aprt because you are underacheiving,n this results in the breakup of the team to your benefit, at least if all you care about is your own numbers....what is that exactly?

I think that Peja is in a tight spot now, because all eyes on him. Will the effort and passion be there now that Webber is not? And if so, what does that say about Peja? We can only watch & see. I thought it was interesting that in the Serbian interview Peja said FOR THE FIRST TIME (since the trade request) that he wants to stay a King. Interesting timing. I do NOT believe that Peja "asked" for Webber to be traded, or anything as melodramatic as that, but to say that this trade had nothing to do with Peja is, in my eyes, naive.

 

[love_them_kings]

Why isnt Peja saying anything close of a championship is failure like C-Webb? Peja got what he wanted, now if he doesnt sack up and develop his game a bit more(i.e: low post, rebounding), then we might as well trade him to whoever so we can get someone in here who WANTS and SAYS that anything less that a championship is failure...C-Webb IS a leader. Peja cant be the little boy anymore and crawl into a corner or run to his agent and ask for a trade if someone calls him out for some reason. This is what you wanted Mr Stojakovic, make us believers dammit!

Peja is not, and will never be Webber. Webber's passion and desire to win is something that made me love him even more. Peja needs to step up his play, and I believe he will, but you can't just turn on or off that kind of passion. I think that if you're looking for someone to lead this team on heart, you would be better to look at Bibby or Mobley or even Brad. Peja can, and needs to, elevate his game to a higher level, but looking at him to lead the team in anything but points isn't realistic.

 

[HndsmCelt]

I think that Peja is in a tight spot now, because all eyes on him. Will the effort and passion be there now that Webber is not? And if so, what does that say about Peja? We can only watch & see. I thought it was interesting that in the Serbian interview Peja said FOR THE FIRST TIME (since the trade request) that he wants to stay a King. Interesting timing. I do NOT believe that Peja "asked" for Webber to be traded, or anything as melodramatic as that, but to say that this trade had nothing to do with Peja is, in my eyes, naive.

That "tight Spot" you refer to is called the spot lite, it is where great players WANT to be. No excuses, it is now time for Pedja to sack up and establish once and for all if he is a star or wingman.

 

[love_them_kings]

That "tight Spot" you refer to is called the spot lite, it is where great players WANT to be. No excuses, it is now time for Pedja to sack up and establish once and for all if he is a star or wingman.

yep, it's the spot light all right. And most great players want it, but does Peja? And can he handle it?

 

[HndsmCelt]

yep, it's the spot light all right. And most great players want it, but does Peja? And can he handle it?

All great players want it, and can handel it... I don't know if Peda does or if he can. Time will tell what he wants to be.

 

[burekijogurt]

If his rebounding picks up dramatically, what then? That's nothing except effort and not being a wuss.

Fact is that Peja has struggled worse than any other major King this year, and put in the worst effort too. Biggest underacheiver. So you underacheive, are clearly lacking hustle on many a night, the team struggles in aprt because you are underacheiving,n this results in the breakup of the team to your benefit, at least if all you care about is your own numbers....what is that exactly?

It looks like you already made up your mind. If you publicly call out a player several times, then don't pass the ball to him at the right time at the right place, when you are clearly capable, create a division in the locker room where 'the dogs you want to play with' try to push out the wheenies with a happy-go-lucky attitude, destroying the team chemistry, and eventually force your GM to trade you, what exactely is that?

 

[bigbadred00]

I don't know why we are arguing about Peja's performance. The problem was never the offense and that's where Peja shined. We have an awesome offensive club, we need defence. I guess Peja wasn't bringing it defensively either. Is he going to bring it defensively when Chris is not here any more. Will his attitude change to being a Ron Artest type defender? Isn't that the only thing that matters. We don't have problems scoring, we can score on anyone, but we can't defend a chair this year. Will Peja, Mobley, Brad, and Bibby and the rest become a better defensive club now that Chris isn't here? Did Songalia really stop Dirk last night, did the team play great D without Webber? Did I just dream up we gave up 120 points last night.

 

[burekijogurt]

We played with 8 guys, we played in shock after the trade, we played our first game after the trade, and we played the third leading scoring team in the NBA. yes we gave up 120 points. i'll wait for more games to deliver the verdict though.

 

[Bricklayer]

It looks like you already made up your mind. If you publicly call out a player several times, then don't pass the ball to him at the right time at the right place, when you are clearly capable, create a division in the locker room where 'the dogs you want to play with' try to push out the wheenies with a happy-go-lucky attitude, destroying the team chemistry, and eventually force your GM to trade you, what exactely is that?

Its calling a spade a spade and trying to win. Weenies do not win championships.

As an aside -- that destroyed chemistry, if such it was, consisted of exactly one man, pouting away in his little locker. Bibby, Bobby, Mobley, Doug, Brad -- they were all on board. They played their asses off. They cared. Now who am I leaving out?

 

[outsider62]

I don't know why we are arguing about Peja's performance. The problem was never the offense and that's where Peja shined. We have an awesome offensive club, we need defence. I guess Peja wasn't bringing it defensively either.

Actually he was our best one on one defender after Doug trade.

 

[outsider62]

Its calling a spade a spade and trying to win. Weenies do not win championships.

As an aside -- that destroyed chemistry, if such it was, consisted of exactly one man, pouting away in his little locker. Bibby, Bobby, Mobley, Doug, Brad -- they were all on board. They played their asses off. They cared. Now who am I leaving out?

Someone who has to be hidden on defense each game?

 

[LjuboDaMan]

Actually he was our best one on one defender after Doug trade.

YES he's not one of the best in the league but here, in Sac town ... yeah he is the best

Even if Peja plays great ... puts up great numbers ... its not because he is all hyped up cause webber left ...

even when webber was here but not playing ... Peja was playing like a maniac ...

 

[G_M]

I don't know why we are arguing about Peja's performance. The problem was never the offense and that's where Peja shined. We have an awesome offensive club, we need defence. I guess Peja wasn't bringing it defensively either. Is he going to bring it defensively when Chris is not here any more. Will his attitude change to being a Ron Artest type defender? Isn't that the only thing that matters. We don't have problems scoring, we can score on anyone, but we can't defend a chair this year. Will Peja, Mobley, Brad, and Bibby and the rest become a better defensive club now that Chris isn't here? Did Songalia really stop Dirk last night, did the team play great D without Webber? Did I just dream up we gave up 120 points last night.

Peja is the best defensive player on the team! I know that's a scary thought but I think it's true. Last year in the Dallas series Peja came up big on several key possessions.

No one really stops Dirk except Dirk. Songalia played Dirk as well as Webber if not better. Webb just does not have the lateral movement to stay in front on anyone.

Defense is still a problem for this team. I think Webber not being on the floor will help transition D and rotations which should positively impact the entire team defense concept.

 

[LjuboDaMan]

and rebounding ?

i dont know if thats gonna increase , maybe a bit .... kenny, brad, and darius can do the job

 

[burekijogurt]

Its calling a spade a spade and trying to win. Weenies do not win championships.

As an aside -- that destroyed chemistry, if such it was, consisted of exactly one man, pouting away in his little locker. Bibby, Bobby, Mobley, Doug, Brad -- they were all on board. They played their asses off. They cared. Now who am I leaving out?

Neither do weenies who bark loudly.

 

[outsider62]

No one really stops Dirk except Dirk.

and Peja more often then not

 

[LjuboDaMan]

peja's ddddddddddddddd is underrateddddddddddddddddddd

he aint that bad ... gosh

 

[LjuboDaMan]

the DirkoStopper is actually good when he wants to play hard D and we all know about his O ...

so ... that is one good player

all the leadership crap dont kno ... we will see ... i think the effort will be there and thats most important

 

[bigbadred00]

Problem is if Peja is our BEST defender, then were in trouble because at best he's a good to average defender. All the contenders other than Phoenix have stoppers, we have none, we haven't had one since Christie in 2002.

Detroit-Prince/Wallace
Spurs-Bowen/Duncan
Sonics-Big Guys in the Middle
Heat-Oneal and Wade and Eddie Jones
Houston-Yao (sadly)
Dallas-Howard

We don't have one.....

 

[bigbadred00]

Not saying after the Chris trade were "contenders" anymore anyway. We are just a playoff team now, most likely.

 

[Bricklayer]

Neither do weenies who bark loudly.

No they don't. And if Webb had come out this season, played shrinking violet, pouted, whatever, then he's no better than Peja. But he didn't -- he left everything he had on the floor, played with passion, became the undisputed and very vocal leader of the team, and revinvented himself as a great clutch performer. He was not as talented as he once was, but he got everything he could out of what he had to give.

Five years ago this team had a problem -- we had two star forwards, and both were basically weenies. Neither would hit the floor, neither wanted to take the big shot, neither stepped up when things got tough. In the five years since, one of them grew enormously in all those aspects, becoming in his later diminished years the sort of COMPETITOR that can win a title, even if the body was not always willing.

Peja, on the other hand, still hasn't changed, still hasn't grown where it matters, and even took a step back this year -- there is still is not a loose ball he will dive for, not a rebound he won't shirk, and not an elite defender who can't shut him down with barely a protest. And that's fundamentally unacceptable, because its not about skill, which Peja has in spades, its about a missing organ on the upper left side of his chest.

People talk about Peja's shots per game -- that's not what's important for him. He could score 50 and still be a weenie. Where Peja has to somehow grow if he's ever going to really matter is by somehow discovering heart and passion -- to find a way to burn to win. He's got a role model to follow now -- the guy who just left town.

 

[sloter]

Hey Brick, I think there's a website for you ... www.nba.com/sixers/

Edit: didn't mean to quote anything

 

[outsider62]

the DirkoStopper is actually good when he wants to play hard D and we all know about his O ...

so ... that is one good player

all the leadership crap dont kno ... we will see ... i think the effort will be there and thats most important

I know, he is no leader and will never be. Let's get rid of him!

 

[outsider62]

No they don't. And if Webb had come out this season, played shrinking violet, pouted, whatever, then he's no better than Peja. But he didn't -- he left everything he had on the floor, played with passion, became the undisputed and very vocal leader of the team, and revinvented himself as a great clutch performer. He was not as talented as he once was, but he got everything he could out of what he had to give.

Five years ago this team had a problem -- we had two star forwards, and both were basically weenies. Neither would hit the floor, neither wanted to take the big shot, neither stepped up when things got tough. In the five years since, one of them grew enormously in all those aspects, becoming in his later diminished years the sort of COMPETITOR that can win a title, even if the body was not always willing.

Peja, on the other hand, still hasn't changed, still hasn't grown where it matters, and even took a step back this year -- there is still is not a loose ball he will dive for, not a rebound he won't shirk, and not an elite defender who can't shut him down with barely a protest. And that's fundamentally unacceptable, because its not about skill, which Peja has in spades, its about a missing organ on the upper left side of his chest.

People talk about Peja's shots per game -- that's not what's important for him. He could score 50 and still be a weenie. Where Peja has to somehow grow if he's ever going to really matter is by somehow discovering heart and passion -- to find a way to burn to win. He's got a role model to follow now -- the guy who just left town.

and Petrie still made right decision.

 

[LjuboDaMan]

I know, he is no leader and will never be. Let's get rid of him!

we will see we will see ...

this is diff now ... lets hope Peja (and Bibby) lead this team deep into playoffs

or at least give it all they have

I dont see Peja yelling all over ... hes not a loud person, he is too quite ... when the team needs some motivation ... doesnt mean he cant lead us ///

but to be the leader on the floor ... HE WILL BEEEEEEEEEE

i hope hehe

 

[bigbadred00]

So, half the league smokes pot, does that make them any less of a player? You act like Weed is going to bring him down. I don't promote it or do it but if that's our biggest problem that he's a weed smoker than he really doesn't have a problem.

 

[Bricklayer]

Hey Brick, I think there's a website for you ... www.nba.com/sixers/

Edit: didn't mean to quote anything

Know the site well -- Philly being my second city fom my college days. They won't win it all, but at least they know for sure that the guys who are going to try to pull it off really want it. That alone is why Phily will embrace that team for a short while at least -- they are tough, but they worship heart (and hence love even a punk like Iverson).

Bibby wants it here, Bobby wants it. Those guys burn. If the Kings are ver to win a title either Peja has to somehow discover competitive fire, or he has to go. It was problematic enough in a second gun, its far mroeso in a guy who's susposed to be the main gun.