HOOPLOG: Peja Stojakovic

A whole new look NBA

Mon, 03 Jul 2006 23:01:57 -0800

Just to recap, here's the moves made in the past 24 hours or so:

The Bulls signed Ben Wallace (and acquired P.J. Brown and one year of his contract for Tyson Chandler's enormously long/overpriced deal)
The Hornets went insane and signed Peja Stojakovic, Bobby Jackson, and traded for Tyson Chandler.
The Lakers signed Vlad Radmanovic.
The Clippers signed Tim Thomas.
The Hawks signed Speedy Claxton.

Like I said...a whole new NBA. And the free agent signing period hasn't even officially began.

Peja Stojakovic Gets Pacers Rolling

Thu, 02 Feb 2006 10:19:27 -0800

Feb 2, 2006 -- Peja Stojakovic provided the offense, and all of the Pacers took care of Ron Artest's defense.

Peja to Make Pacers Debut on Tuesday

Sat, 28 Jan 2006 13:39:25 -0800

"Peja Stojakovic, the newest member of the Indiana Pacers, is about to go through a crash course in the team's system," writes Mike Wells of the INDIANAPOLIS STAR. "With the Pacers struggling and battling injuries, the quicker Stojakovic learns, the better."

Artest Drama Major

Wed, 25 Jan 2006 13:35:19 -0800

Link: ESPN.com - Pacers talk to Artest; Stojakovic feels disrespected

Well, don't look now, the trade between Sacramento and Indiana is back on? Maybe? Who knows.

I just need this thing over with. Time for Artest to bring his own brand of crazy to a whole new city. Pumpin his brand of under-marketed tunes out the back of his Lexus, letting us all know that he's not only the best defender in the league, that no one can stop him when he puts his mind to it and then run off and become the biggest music producer known to man.

Now... Why would Peja Stojakovic feel "disrespected"? This is the same player that demanded a trade out of Sacramento last season when his good friend wasn't signed as a free agent and ended up on the Lakers bench for the year.

This is the business. Who these days, expects their names not to be floated in the media and discussed in the next Peter Vecsey article?

C'mon Peja, grow up, buy a travel bag and pack it up. This is the NBA, not the Serbian leagues.

Stojakovic sits out with lingering back injury

Fri, 13 Jan 2006 19:14:46 -0800

NORMAN, Okla. -- Peja Stojakovic missed Sacramento's game against the New Orleans Hornets on Friday night because of a lingering back problem.

Stojakovic, the Kings' second-leading scorer with 16.6 points per game, left Wednesday's game against Houston in the third quarter after re-aggravating a protruding disc in his back. He said the injury causes problems with a nerve that makes his right leg go weak. At one point in pregame warmups Friday, Stojakovic made 11 straight and 19 of...

GAME 32/82, Vs. Indiana, Open Game Thread

Sun, 08 Jan 2006 10:55:24 -0800

I promise to come back full force on Monday. If not, I'll give you your money back.

I'm not yet ready to pronounce the Kings as back - 3 out of 4 is cool and all, but it was the Clippers twice and Boston. And we're still five games under.

Indiana is a pretty good test. They aren't the Indiana everyone thought they'd be - they're underachieving quite a bit, given the Artest Fiasco.

But that doesn't mean the Pacers aren't trouble - look at what they did to Golden State a couple days ago. Giving this team an early lead is like giving them a can of spinach - you've absolutely got to get out ahead and try to hold them off.

I'm pretty glad Donnie Walsh and Larry Bird haven't found a taker for Artest - I've been personally tormented over the question of whether I'd want him in Sacramento. When we're losing bad and looking horrible, I think, "Yeah, what do we have to lose? At least he'll be interesting."

But when our offense is playing well, when we're getting the stops we need to win games, I'm less excited. I like having a team full of sane, if not elite players. It lets me sleep at night.

Someone is going to take him, though, and I kind of hope it's not someone in the division. The Lakers with Artest is frightening. I'd be relegated to praying for Ron-Ron to go Hannibal Lector on Kobe. I wouldn't be horribly concerned if the Warriors got him - they couldn't get that motley crew together in time to make it matter. The Clippers become a lot better, even if they move Corey Maggette, because a lock-up defender is the one thing they lack.

Minnesota seems like a no-brainer; Denver is so crazy about Artest that you'd think they could make it work. If I were the Pacers, I'd give Ron-Ron his wish and work out something with the Knicks. Artest deserves nothing less than to play for the hardest coach on a horrible team in front of his people, who will no doubt refuse to put up with his crazy Hoboken bullshit.

(Can I get into a witness protection program now? Please?)

To the early morning lineups!

INDIANA
PG - Jamaal Tinsley? I really need to brush up on my Indiana Pacers.
SG - Stephen Jackson, former World Championship/Atlanta Hawk
SF - Danny Granger, heralded rookie
PF - Jermaine O'Neal, superstar
C - Jeff Foster? Again, I need to brush up.

SACTOWN
PG - Mike "Still Not An All-Star?" Bibby.
SG - Kevin "Star of the Frosh-Soph Game During All-Star Break" Martin.
SF - Peja "Three-point champion" Stojakovic.
PF - Kenny "Ha ha" Thomas.
C - Brad "Perennial All-Star" Miller.

The line: It's not up yet on Bodog, so I'm going to throw out a +2. And no, I wouldn't bet either way. Maybe an under, if the line is somewhere around 192.

Fun bet o' the night: How vehemently will Grant Napear argue against bringing Ron Artest to SAC? Your choices are a) more vehemently than his assertation that Bonzi did not call out Peja, b) more vehemently than his assertation that Bonzi did not call out Peja, or c) equally vehemently than his assertation that Bonzi did not call out Peja?

Sideshow most likely to be entertaining: Peja Stojakovic, rebounding beast. For what it's worth, Peja was very self-deprecating in talking about his 13 boards after Friday's game. He actually seemed human, as quoted by Sam Amick. But hell, he has seemed a lot more active in all aspects of the game since his last injury. Maybe something snapped inside him? Who knows.

Best matchup: Kings offense vs. Pacers defense. Can they throw up 60 in the first half and shoot over 50 percent from the field? Can Bibby get to his spots at will? Can Brad Miller explode into flames? Will KMart and Peja be able to attack the offensive glass like they did against LAC? If so, this (and probably every game) is a win.

6 p.m. start on Comcast. Watch some football, settle in for hoops. It's on!

Clutch! Sonics Crown Kings, 106-104

Mon, 21 Nov 2005 00:00:02 -0800

After another slow start, the Sonics played well when it counted and beat the Sacramento Kings 106-104 in a thriller Sunday night. Ray Allen, who also started slowly again, scored 21 of his 28 points in the second half to lead the comeback.

In a brilliant move, Sonics coach Bob Weiss started King killer Danny Fortson at center, who took Peja Stojakovic out of the game in the second half with a slap so hard it was audible from the other end of the court. Danny, you so cRaZy!

The Sonics were also helped by stellar play from Nick "Caveman" Collison, who hit a clutch 15-footer late in the game, and Vlad the Rad, who finally cut his rat-tail, stopped whining and played like the potential all-star we've been hoping for.

Drink up, Sonics fans—the boys are back in town!

Vlade is a lover, not a fighter

Wed, 16 Nov 2005 12:00:27 -0800

In Serbia and Montenegro, men are required by law to serve a six-month term in the military before the age of 35. I remember reading about Peja Stojakovic doing it. But Vlade, he likes to party. The Serbia and Montenegro army has filed charges against Vlade, accusing him of evading the military draft. Vlade currently lives in LA, and could face a one-year prison term in S&M.

Listen, fellas... I know that the Serbia & Montenegro military has to live up to their reputation of being a fierce, fighting, machine of destruction. I get that. But it's Vlade... what's he going to do for you? You can't hide Vlade in a tree and ask him to kill people.

One, he's 7-feet tall, and doesn't hide well... which makes him a pretty easy target, although I believe his beard is actually impenetrable by bullets. And speaking of the beard, Vlade has to shave every fifteen minutes, which is not conducive to good fighting. And when he's not shaving, he's smoking. That will give his position away to the enemy. That's what Vlade does.

Just let us keep Vlade. He belongs in America, ideally, hosting some soft of a late night talk show. We'll even organize some kind of trade. Let us keep Vlade, and we'll send you Jeremy Shockey, and he'll probably kill anyone you ask him to. Sound fair?

New! Updated! Top 20!

Tue, 15 Nov 2005 09:38:42 -0800

Every couple of weeks here at FBB, we update our rankings of the elitest of the elite. Basically, we’re treating this like a new mock draft. If your draft was held today, how would it look? This is our best guess.

1. Kevin Garnett, SF, Min
Sure the free throws are a concern, but there is a reason this guy went #1 in many drafts – consistency. He’ll come around.

2. Dirk Nowitzki, PF, Dal
You can yell all you want, but right now I’d take Dirk over LeBron. A plus in every single category except assists.

3. LeBron James, SF, Cle
Boards, blocks and steals are all half of what they were last year. Junior slump? He’ll break out of it, but still.

4. Shawn Marion, F, Pho
No Amare means the Matrix is an inside presence on offense – that means more boards, but less (as in ZERO) three pointers made so far this year.

5. Tim Duncan, F/C, SA
That 85% from the stripe will come down, but if it stays over 75%, he returns to elite status.

6. Tracy McGrady, G/F, Hou
If there are two things that don’t go away, it’s knee problems and back problems. T-Mac has both. You’ve gotta worry about that.

7. Kobe Bryant, SG, LAL
He’s scoring 2 more ppg this year, but it’s taking him 6 more shots because of the lack of threes and the fact that he’s not getting to the line as much as in the past. Steals and assists are also down, but those should come.

8. Dwyane Wade, G, Mia
With Shaq out, he’s been carrying the load. His stats remind me of Lebron last year, minus the threes.

9. Gilbert Arenas, PG, Was
FBB’s hometown hero is making us proud. He won’t shoot anywhere near 50% this year, but if he can stay over 43%, he’s a top-ten pick next year.

10. Allen Iverson, G, Phi
Last year was no fluke. AI as a PG is the real deal.

11. Paul Pierce, G/F, Bos
Off to a hot start – his 8 boards, 26.3 points, and 48% from the field all would be career highs. All will come down eventually, but not by much.

12. Steve Nash, PG, Pho
Has yet to miss from the stripe. Still, how long can he keep this up, with no Amare?

13. Elton Brand, PF, LAC
61% from the field? That will have to come down eventually, but the uptick in blocks is encouraging.

14. Jason Kidd, PG, NJN
If you can overlook the lack of points and FG%, he’s a top fantasy PG.

15. Marcus Camby, C, Den
Ok, we can’t let him slide any further. This guys deserves his own column – maybe we’ll get to him this week.

16. Ray Allen, SG, Sea
The steals are a nice surprise, and the rest is classic RayRay.

17. Peja Stojakovic, SF, Sac
He’s baaaaaack. The Kings may be struggling, but it’s not Peja’s fault – his 3.3 threes and 97% from the stripe are flat out awesome.

18. Vince Carter, G/F, NJN
If you thought he’d maintain that 27 ppg from last year, you were crazy, but he’s turning in a very nice year so far.

19. Andrei Kirilenko, F, Utah
A total lack of shooting (from the field, the stripe, and the arc) combined with an ankle injury means AK-47 is our biggest slipper so far.

20. Richard Jefferson, F, NJN
There’s a lot to like about Jefferson right now, but our favorite numbers are the 9 boards and 4.6 assists. A higher-scoring Lamar Odom, sorta.

Just missing the cut:
Yao Ming, Chauncey Billups, Eddie Jones, Lamar Odom, Antawn Jamison, Michael Redd.

Post Game Re-cap: Warriors:99 Kings:114

Mon, 17 Oct 2005 09:38:59 -0800

The Warriors Lose! Who cares it's only pre-season. However they did play well. Baron Davis pitched in a game high 22 points 4 rebs, 1 steal and 6 assists, and Troy Murphy put in a solid 15 points and 8 rebs. The Warriors just could not contain Peja Stojakovic and Kevin Martin who each scored 15 points as well as Kenny Thomas who pitched in 11 points and a game high 9 rebounds. The Warriors played well to start the game off, but lost the lead with 8:13 to go in the first quarter. From then on the Kings never relinquished their lead. Furthermore a lax 2nd quarter in which the Warriors were out scored 29-18 put the Warriors completely out of the game. Let's just hope that the Warriors will be better at coming from behind during the regular season. Link for the recap.
The WARRIOR WONDER OF THE NIGHT GOES TO:
BARON DAVIS
key stats: led all scorers with 22 points but also dished out a game high 6 assists

2005 Fantasy Tiers by Position: Small Forwards

Wed, 05 Oct 2005 09:42:59 -0800

It’s nearly impossible to define the “typical” small forward. Some are long-range bombers, some excel at crashing the boards. Others are defensive whizzes. Taken early, your small forward will determine how some of your late picks turn out. Taken late, a small forward can really fill a need – or make a small one even more glaring. Let’s sort through the variety:

Tier One
LeBron James, Shawn Marion, Andrei Kirilenko.

The cream of the crop. James is either the first or second pick in any draft. Marion is a top-5 pick, and if he stays healthy, AK-47 has top-5 talent as well. The health is certainly a risk, but we’re huge fans of AK, so we’re putting him in the top tier.

Tier Two
Peja Stojakovic, Ron Artest, Lamar Odom, Rashard Lewis, Richard Jefferson, Corey Maggette.

These are some of the most valuable players in fantasy basketball. Some are like shooting guards who can rebound. Others are power forwards who can step outside. Each really has unique skill set. You’ll notice we’ve got Ron Artest up here. That’s not a mistake. He’s lined up for a comeback fantasy player of the year award, if such an award existed.

Tier Three
Bobby Simmons, Antoine Walker, Quentin Richardson, Caron Butler, Carmelo Anthony, Jalen Rose, Al Harrington, Tayshaun Prince, Luol Deng, Kyle Korver, Josh Smith.

All of these guys could end up as top-25 players by the end of the year. All of them could also end up being one of the worst players on your team that you just can’t drop. I’m a personal fan of Carmelo this year if you can get him late enough that the risk is low. Meanwhile, Bobby Simmons might end up being overvalued this year in some drafts. He’s just not a 4th round pick – none of these guys are. But by the end of the fifth round, you have to start thinking about this tier.

Tier Four
Grant Hill, Mike Miller, Josh Howard, Darius Miles, Mike Dunleavy, Michael Finley, Gerald Wallace, Marvin Williams, Andres Nocioni, Wally Szczerbiak.

One of the problems with tiering the small forwards is that they have such different strengths, it’s tough to differentiate on an overall level. None of these guys will be fantasy studs this year. However, each has a chance to be a solid contributer to your teams, whether it’s in 3’s (Miller or Finley), boards (Nocioni), or head cases (Miles). These are important players to research for the mid-late rounds of your draft. While they’re never great picks, they’re generally pretty safe in the 10th round of so. Don’t target them necessarily, but if a player you were going to take goes right before you pick, these guys are nice second options.

Tomorrow: Power Forwards.

Peja top NBA free agent in '06?

Mon, 03 Oct 2005 09:33:26 -0800

There are 13 name players who could be on the free-agent buffet table next summer, all with intrigue value. 1. Peja Stojakovic, Kings He's not even 30, and you can't find a better shooter . Though playoff disappointments continue to...

Fantasy Basketball Mock Draft – Round Four

Wed, 28 Sep 2005 09:43:18 -0800

(For rounds one, two and three, just scroll down)

Players already on the team are in parentheses.

Team L: Jason Richardson (Lamar Odom, Gilbert Arenas, Brad Miller)
Team K: Larry Hughes (Pau Gasol, Allen Iverson, Paul Pierce)
Team J: Zydraunas Ilgauskas (Chauncey Billups, Dwayne Wade, Vince Carter)
Team I: Rashard Lewis (Joe Johnson, Andrei Kirilenko, Jason Kidd)
Team H: Michael Redd (Dwight Howard, Tim Duncan, Steve Nash)
Team G: Kirk Hinrich (Steve Francis, Kobe Bryant, Elton Brand)
Team F: Richard Jefferson (Manu Ginobili, Amare Soudamire, Mike Bibby)
Team E: Andre Miller (Ben Wallace, Tracy McGrady, Jermaine O’Neal)
Team D: Marcus Camby (Chris Bosh, Shawn Marion, Stephon Marbury)
Team C: Andre Iguodala (Baron Davis, Dirk Nowitzki, Yao Ming)
Team B: Emeka Okafor (Ron Artest, Lebron James, Shaquille O’Neal)
Team A: Jason Terry (Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Peja Stojakovic)

In round four of our mock draft, we’re seeing basically an extension of round three. With only about one round left of “solid” players (more on that later in the week), your goal in the fourth has to be to start setting yourself up for the later rounds. You want to be worried about team needs, but at the same time, you want to be able to take the best player available (BPA). There’s nothing worse than really stretching for a guy this early just because your team is really lacking in a category so far. So what you’ll see happening in our mock draft is that teams are settling for someone who at least comes close to qualifying as a team need and a BPA.

The fourth round, perhaps more than any other, is where your draft preparation will really come into play. If you’ve ranked players about 50 or 60 deep, it will make your fourth round much earlier. All you have to do is take your draft sheet, identify the 4 or 5 highest-ranked players, and then choose the one among those who best serves your needs. Take, for example, Team H. The top available players there (according to our lists) were Redd, Hinrich, Jefferson, and Miller. We would have those guys ranked with Jefferson first, then Hinrich, followed by Redd and Miller. However, we felt like this team needed some scoring punch, as it’s possible that neither Dwight Howard nor Steve Nash will put up 16 ppg this year. The highest scoring player among our BPA’s was Michael Redd, so he was the choice there, despite the fact that we had ranked Jefferson and Hinrich ahead of him.

So, what teams do you think look the best so far?

Fantasy Basketball Mock Draft – Round Three

Tue, 27 Sep 2005 09:06:30 -0800

(For rounds one and two, check the previous post)

Players already on the team are in parentheses.

Team A: Ray Allen (Kevin Garnett, Peja Stojakovic)
Team B: Ron Artest (Lebron James, Shaquille O’Neal)
Team C: Baron Davis (Dirk Nowitzki, Yao Ming)
Team D: Chris Bosh (Shawn Marion, Stephon Marbury)
Team E: Ben Wallace (Tracy McGrady, Jermaine O’Neal)
Team F: Manu Ginobili (Amare Soudamire, Mike Bibby)
Team G: Steve Francis (Kobe Bryant, Elton Brand)
Team H: Dwight Howard (Tim Duncan, Steve Nash)
Team I: Joe Johnson (Andrei Kirilenko, Jason Kidd)
Team J: Chauncey Billups (Dwayne Wade, Vince Carter)
Team K: Pau Gasol (Allen Iverson, Paul Pierce)
Team L: Lamar Odom (Gilbert Arenas, Brad Miller)

Round three of our mock draft is arguably the most important round. The first two rounds have put the top talent on your team. The third and fourth rounds will dictate how the rest of your draft will go. A team that is weak in a category after two rounds might be a coincidence. A team that is still weak in those categories after three rounds is a problem. Take, for example, the case of team J, who after three rounds has maybe 1.5 blocks per game to his name. He will need to reach for size at some point in the draft – maybe not in round four, but in the middle rounds he will certainly have to take someone whose strength is blocks, perhaps well before he should be drafted. You don’t want to be put in the position of having to consider drafting Adonal Foyle or Theo Ratliff. Making the right moves here will save you from that fate.

The other important thing to note is that in the third round, we see the end of the third tier of players. DM and I agreed that this drop happens right around where Steve Francis was drafted in our mock. The drop from him to Dwight Howard is pretty significant. While you can make arguments that maybe Joe Johnson or Lamar Odom belong in that third tier, everyone taken after Francis at least makes you hesitate before you pick them.

So after three rounds, which teams look best? I think Team A looks pretty strong, with three players who could have been first round picks last year, as well as the best overall player in the game. Team B certainly has a ton of upside, but after LeBron he took two major question marks. Teams picking in the second half of the first round certainly appear a lot weaker than the teams with earlier picks. The teams with the earlier picks not only got their pick of the top tiers, but also got two of the third tier players. This might even out over the next couple of rounds – we’ll see later this week. Tomorrow, the fourth round.

2005 Fantasy Basketball Mock Draft

Mon, 26 Sep 2005 10:16:18 -0800

Is it ever really too early to do a mock draft? Absolutely not. Especially with training camp starting next week, and the season only about a month away. So what we’re going to do is spend this week going through a mini-mock draft. Today we’ll do rounds one and two, and we’ll do one round a day for the rest of the week. After six rounds, it’s really far too early to tell who’s going to go where. But hopefully we’ll give you an idea of how you can expect the first few rounds to shake out, so you can start targeting certain players.

Here are the rules we’re going by. It’s a 12-team league, with PG, SG, G, SF, PF, F, C, C, Util, Util as the positions. We’re also trading off picks by team – so if I pick for a team one round, then DM picks for that team the next round, so that the teams aren’t necessarily shaped by just one person’s views. Pretty simple, right? Anyhow, let’s get started with the first two rounds:

Round One

Team A: Kevin Garnett
Team B: LeBron James
Team C: Dirk Nowitzki
Team D: Shawn Marion
Team E: Tracy McGrady
Team F: Amare Stoudamire
Team G: Kobe Bryant
Team H: Tim Duncan
Team I: Andrei Kirilenko
Team J: Dwayne Wade
Team K: Allen Iverson
Team L: Gilbert Arenas

The first round went – pretty much – right down the list of our overall player rankings. There are two pretty big drops in the first round, from pick two to pick three, and from pick nine to pick ten. KG and LBJ are the unquestioned top two, especially with Nowitzki no longer qualifying at center. At three, though, you could make an argument foe Dirk, Marion, McGrady, Stoudamire, or maybe even Kobe or Tim Duncan. After Kirilenko was a clear cut choice to us at nine, we really felt there was another drop-off at ten, where Wade was a decent choice but really there are 5 to 7 players who could all be a possibility there.

Round Two (Players already on team in parentheses)
Team L: Brad Miller (Gilbert Arenas)
Team K: Paul Pierce (Allen Iverson)
Team J: Vince Carter (Dwayne Wade)
Team I: Jason Kidd (Andrei Kirilenko)
Team H: Steve Nash (Tim Duncan)
Team G: Elton Brand (Kobe Bryant)
Team F: Mike Bibby (Amare Stoudamire)
Team E: Jermaine O’Neal (Tracy McGrady)
Team D: Stephon Marbury (Shawn Marion)
Team C: Yao Ming (Dirk Nowitzki)
Team B: Shaquille O’Neal (LeBron James)
Team A: Peja Stojakovic (Kevin Garnett)

In the second round, we started to drift away from our overall rankings. As much as we like to preach the idea of taking the best available player in the first few rounds of the draft, sometimes you just can’t. For example, for team H, was Steve Nash really the best player on the board? Probably not. We had ranked Elton Brand ahead of Nash, but with Tim Duncan already on the team, Nash was just a better complement than Brand. Granted, we didn’t have to go very far down our board to find a nice #2 man for Duncan, but nonetheless we strayed from the “draft the best player” strategy.

By the end of round two, all of the top players at the scarcity positions – PG and C – should be off the board. We all know that Shaq is gonna kill your FT% and miss some time, but still, he shouldn’t slip to the third round. One thing to note about the second round is that there was never a huge talent drop. Really, Peja Stojakovic has just as much potential this year as Paul Pierce does. It’s also interesting to note that almost every player here was at one point in their careers a first-round fantasy pick, with a few exceptions. Tomorrow – Round Three.