Psst Peja?

[bdouble013]

Dogg....where did you go? Ever since Cat got here Peja has been a little out of it (or so it seems to me). Is it Cat or is Peja just in a bit of a slump?

Editor's note- I'm not trying to say Peja is weak/should be traded/insert whatever misconstrued arguement here. I'm just wondering what the hell is going on.

 

[piksi]

Other than tonight I disagree.

 

[Andriod_KiNg]

Dogg....where did you go? Ever since Cat got here Peja has been a little out of it (or so it seems to me). Is it Cat or is Peja just in a bit of a slump?

Editor's note- I'm not trying to say Peja is weak/should be traded/insert whatever misconstrued arguement here. I'm just wondering what the hell is going on.

Maybe he is resting up for the playoffs , but i think tonight he was just played well , he was locked down ... he will bounce back... he had 24 and 17 agianst the Clippers , i dont think hes doing that bad

 

[Since93]

Peja is OK for the past few games. He just has a terrible night. That's why I don't understand why keeping him late on the court when Mo and Special K is soooo good providing another offensive option Peja (tonight) didn't have--drive to the basket.

 

[ReinadelosReys]

Anyone else notice that big fat bruise about the size of an egg on his arm...I agree with the pikster

Maybe we should yell his scouting report at him all game, worked last game. Anyone else hear Dunleavy yell " make him go right...he can't dribble, he can't dribble" then watch him go left off the dribble for that baseline jumper?

 

[bdouble013]

He had 24 the first clip game? My bad. I thought it was MUUUUCH less than that. Feel free to disregard this then.

 

[rnmeuy]

what bruise, i didn't see anything.

 

[Superman]

Peja is OK for the past few games. He just has a terrible night. That's why I don't understand why keeping him late on the court when Mo and Special K is soooo good providing another offensive option Peja (tonight) didn't have--drive to the basket.

Because Peja - hot, cold or otherwise - is always a threat when he's on the floor. He provides instant spacing and infinite options for the offense, and he's the best shooter in the NBA. You keep him on the floor.

 

[SacKings384]

He had 24 the first clip game? My bad. I thought it was MUUUUCH less than that. Feel free to disregard this then.

Done and... Done...

 

[funsc]

Pedja was struggling in defending that quick-muscle man Patterson,

or maybe just save energy for following road games

 

[vj9999]

I saw the bruise too. I think Webber punched him

Seriously though, I loved the communication on that last play that Peja made. You could see him tell Webber exactly what he wanted and Peja inbounded and Webb passed him the ball back for a nice drive. I love seeing good communication on the court and understanding that they have for each other.

 

[Kev.in]

We've seen Patterson give him trouble before, so it's not like he got frozen out or is just going through the motions. He had trouble getting open, maybe he was tired. It wouldn't surprise me to see him (and others in the starting lineup) have some more low scoring games on occaision now that we have a more potent starting lineup. Some nights Mobley will score 20 and some nights 10 and those other 10 will go elsewhere.

 

[uolj]

I'm not saying I want to see this happen, but I wouldn't be surprised if Stojakovic's role in the offense slipped even more with Mobley here and Webber playing well lately. Then, once the playoffs roll around, he will be more effective as the option #2A (with Bibby and Mobley being #2B and #2C). It sounds like the offense has moved away from the Divac/Miller/Stojakovic style of early last year back to the Webber/Bibby/Stojakovic style that was around before that. This reduced pressure could make him very effective in the playoffs even if he isn't dominant.

 

[fishgirl]

Yeah I wonder what's going on with Peja - I hope it's just one of those nights... but didn't he have a double-digit scoring streak going? I keep hearing it on the broadcasts. Not that it matters more than a W, but it's kinda too bad that it had to end last night... C'mon Peja!

 

[Folsom Al]

Chalk it up, to ....

One of those nights ....

He also shaved his face clean .... (Samson theory)

He did make that lay-up in the final 2 minutes (he missed a couple during the game, as well) ... we needed that !!! Just like Favre is always good for a few interceptions, Peja is usually reliable for a few missed lay-ups.

The Serbian Lay-Up (3-ptr), is his shot ...

Com'n Peja .... put the ball in the hole !!!

 

[Stojakovic]

With Mobley in the lineup, and his Vlade-replacement in Christie gone these type of games are to be expected.

Peja has always been a very passive player, and unless you give him the ball he's the last person who'll try to rip it out of your hands. So with more options on the offensive end for the Kings, expect him to get less touches, therefore less shots and less points.

 

[Folsom Al]

I Disagree ...

With Mobley in the lineup, and his Vlade-replacement in Christie gone these type of games are to be expected.

Peja has always been a very passive player, and unless you give him the ball he's the last person who'll try to rip it out of your hands. So with more options on the offensive end for the Kings, expect him to get less touches, therefore less shots and less points.

Peja played smart last night .... he felt his shot was off so he opted to play hard in other areas of his game and compliment others in their game. He took what 12-13 shots and had opportunities to shoot more .... but, he didn't. He didn't completely stop shooting ... he did make that lay-up in crunch-time and he even missed a 3-ptr in that same stretch.

The touches are gonna be there ... if his shots are droppin' .... I guarantee you ... he's shootin' !!!

I'll agree with you that Peja gets PASSIVE (I prefer to classify it as NON-AGGRESSIVE) .... but, last night he was just off and he knew it (smart).

 

[piksi]

Divac/Miller/Stojakovic style of early last year back to the Webber/Bibby/Stojakovic style that was around before that.

First style is much more effective ofensively.

 

[Bricklayer]

With Mobley in the lineup, and his Vlade-replacement in Christie gone these type of games are to be expected.

That was one of my possible expectations upon hearing about the trade -- Vlade had great chemistry with Peja, and so did Doug, and now his primary two personal assist men are gone.

But he was fine in the first couple of Mobley games, if clearly more part of a collective. Last night was just...like I say, worrisome. What I always worry about with Peja is...well, "pout" is too strong a word, but discouragement is not. When he goes totally passive on us is it because he's being smart and uunselfish, or is it because he's working hard for his shot and doesn't feel he's getting the ball often enough and then just quits? Last night he got taken out of the game SO early it shard to imagine him giving up that quick unless he just felt Patterson smiothering him from the beginning and said to himself "guess its going to be one of those nights" and didn't even bother trying.

Either way he ended up as a mere decoy for basically the whole night. Agree wiht the poster in the other thread who notes that with Mobley onboard now the Kings fate is no longer so closely tied to Peja's offense -- Peja can be having a bad night and we can look elsewhere rather than force it to the struggling player. That actually should be a good thing for us, but Peja is inscrutable as always, so who knows how he takes that.

 

[piksi]

That was one of my possible expectations upon hearing about the trade -- Vlade had great chemistry with Peja, and so did Doug, and now his primary two personal assist men are gone.

But he was fine in the first couple of Mobley games, if clearly more part of a collective. Last night was just...like I say, worrisome. What I always worry about with Peja is...well, "pout" is too strong a word, but discouragement is not. When he goes totally passive on us is it because he's being smart and uunselfish, or is it because he's working hard for his shot and doesn't feel he's getting the ball often enough and then just quits? Last night he got taken out of the game SO early it shard to imagine him giving up that quick unless he just felt Patterson smiothering him from the beginning and said to himself "guess its going to be one of those nights" and didn't even bother trying.

Either way he ended up as a mere decoy for basically the whole night. Agree wiht the poster in the other thread who notes that with Mobley onboard now the Kings fate is no longer so closely tied to Peja's offense -- Peja can be having a bad night and we can look elsewhere rather than force it to the struggling player. That actually should be a good thing for us, but Peja is inscrutable as always, so who knows how he takes that.

The difference here is tha Pedja does not force the issue and therefore gives the team the chance to win.
Other Kings players will take their shots no matter what. (even Iverson would envy them)

(For better explanation see stats against NOH that we lost couple weeks ago)

 

[KingKong]

I want to see some more of the Peja that played against Utah. Peja was just in a zone, scoring at will, delivering beautiful passes, grabbing boards and hustling. It's not like he can't do it and Doug wasn't even playing that game.

 

[HndsmCelt]

Bah! If utalizing and studying statistics has taught me nothing else it has taught me that given a large enough sample odd numbers become inevetalbe. Relly folks I think you may be reaching here by trying to read anything into last nights horendous outing by Pedja. If some one just gave me a set of say 300 scores and ONE of them was significantly lower than the rest I would toss the score as an aberation and not think twice about it.

Bottom line is people have bad days, maybe the new babby cried all night and Pedja was sleep deprived.... (add your favorite hypothisis here) In the end I don't plan to give Pedja's bad night a single further thought. If he has another night like this then I'll take a second look.

 

[PFFFT!!]

Lets not forget he does have a bad back. May or may not factor into this.

 

[vj9999]

Honest question. Should Peja be required to take at least 20 shots a game? Would you rather have him stop shooting when he's having an off night or keep shooting hoping to get out of slump?

I guess as long as we are rebounding well, he should keep shooting, but if we are most likely to miss on offensive rebounds than any of our players bad shooting is as good as a turnover.

I would love to see him take at least 20+ and not stop trying.

 

[Bricklayer]

Mentioned this before, but Peja has never and never will take 20 shots a game. That's reserved for guys who handle the ball or can create their own shot. Even pre-Webber's return last year he only got off 18. But I do think that he should rarely fall too far below 15 shots a night, even if its not flowing well. You can't ever get into rhythm if you never shoot in the first place.

 

[vj9999]

I agree with you Brick. According to nba.com, Peja's FGA high for this season was 24 against Denver and career high is 29 against Toronto in 2001. His FGM career high is 16.

 

[keflanag]

The difference here is tha Pedja does not force the issue and therefore gives the team the chance to win.
Other Kings players will take their shots no matter what. (even Iverson would envy them)

(For better explanation see stats against NOH that we lost couple weeks ago)

Interesting twist of the facts from a blatant Pedja homer. You could also construe it as ... Pedja lacks the confidence to continue shooting when he misses a few. He is weak mentally. Pedja will never be a guy who steps up for the big shot and puts the team on his back (see the last 3 games by Webber).

(Note that I don't actually believe all of that, but you can see both sides if you are actually open-minded.)

The fact is ... Pedja was our MVP last year. He carried the team for most of the season. This year ... he just isn't. It's no one elses fault. He just hasn't had the greatest season so far.

 

[bdouble013]

Piksi- there are three kinds of lies in this world. Lies, damn lies, and statistics. So far this team is doing pretty damn well the way Webb has been playing. Sure there are times that he has taken some shots that might not have been great ideas, but still the Kings are 26-11 and still you can only complain about how Peja isn't taking every shot.

Offensively with Vlade/Brad/Peja it looked great in the season, but there was no possible way the Kings last year would have won a championship with that line-up. They wouldn't have won it with Webb hobbled as he was either, but they had to get Webb back in and healthy to at least have a shot.

Last night Peja passed up looks. Your boy Peja passed the ball back to the devil himself, only to have the ball given back to him....only to give it right back. Stop with the Peja is better than Webb or vice verse bull and root for the team sometime this season. Do it for me, ok?

 

[Rowdyone]

Statistically Peja was "due" for a sub-par scoring night so l'm not worrying about it in any other context...at least now. Give Patterson some credit, too. When you scout the Kings one of your first priorities is "how do we stop Peja"? With Cat on board that gives us one more scoring option if they're concentrating on Peja, something I've supported for two years, an actual shooting guard (even though I liked what Doug brought to the team if your team doesn't rebound and you're constantly playing close games it's hare to justify one "defensive specialist" in the starting lineup).

 

[piksi]

Interesting twist of the facts from a blatant Pedja homer. You could also construe it as ... Pedja lacks the confidence to continue shooting when he misses a few. He is weak mentally. Pedja will never be a guy who steps up for the big shot and puts the team on his back (see the last 3 games by Webber).

(Note that I don't actually believe all of that, but you can see both sides if you are actually open-minded.)

The fact is ... Pedja was our MVP last year. He carried the team for most of the season. This year ... he just isn't. It's no one elses fault. He just hasn't had the greatest season so far.

Well, we won last night but lost in New Orleans.