Perfect Match
This article appears in the inaugural issue of Hornets Magazine, which is available at newsstands in the Ford Center.
October 31, 2006
For obvious reasons that include Peja Stojakovic’s prolific shooting ability and his status as a three-time NBA All-Star, Hornets players couldn’t wait to see the nine-year veteran suit up in teal and gold this season. There’s also at least one not-so-obvious reason why New Orleans/Oklahoma City’s members were thrilled when they learned that the high-scoring swingman had signed a five-year contract with the Hornets.
“Hey Peja, the players are all looking forward to you coming in, so you can try to beat Coach (Byron Scott) in shooting games (such as H-O-R-S-E) during practice,” Anita Scott, Byron Scott’s wife, told Stojakovic half-jokingly upon meeting him this summer.
“Yeah, now I’ve finally got someone on the team who I’m going to really have to work hard to beat!” quickly added Byron Scott.
As the Scotts and countless fans can attest, the 2005-06 Hornets were woefully lacking in the shooting department. In fact, the 45-year-old head coach’s claim that he was the team’s premier shooter a year ago may have been accurate, considering the Hornets ranked 26th out of 30 NBA teams in shooting percentage and 25th in 3-point percentage. The Hornets’ failures at the most crucial basketball skill factored greatly late in 2005-06, when their bid to secure a playoff berth fell short.
That’s partly why the acquisition of Stojakovic, one of the league’s most feared shooters, stunned a multitude of NBA observers – and made so much sense.
“It may have shocked everyone, but I tell you, you won’t find a signing that better suits a team than these guys getting Peja Stojakovic,” an opposing scout told The Sporting News this summer. “He comes in and already knows (Scott’s Princeton-style) offense, and he’s coming to a team with an outstanding point guard, Chris Paul, who will be helped by Peja’s shooting.”
“I think the whole league took notice of what we did,” Byron Scott said. “After we signed Peja, I got so many calls. My phone just kept ringing. General managers around the league have been saying, ‘Golly, you guys are having a great summer.’ They all know that we are serious and our attitude has changed. We want to be able to compete with some of the elite teams in the Western Conference. We feel like we’ve taken another step to move a little closer to our goal, which eventually is to win a championship.”
“I don’t think anybody saw that coming,” Hornets power forward David West said of Stojakovic’s signing. “I didn’t know we had an opportunity to get him, but I’m glad we did. He’s a dangerous player. He’s going to add a dimension that we haven’t had.”
“I’m not going to lie, when they signed Peja, it took a lot of people by storm,” reserve big man Marc Jackson agreed.
In completing one of the NBA’s two biggest offseason moves (Ben Wallace’s signing with Chicago was the other), the Hornets made a significant commitment to the 29-year-old Stojakovic and shored up their biggest weakness. Teamed with Paul and West, the Hornets envisioned a high-scoring trio that gives defenses frequent nightmares. Stojakovic and West are lethal shooters from the perimeter, while Paul is one of the game’s best at penetrating to the basket.
“Basically what it means is that it’s going to put opposing teams in a lot of one-on-one situations,” West said of the Stojakovic addition. “They’re not going to be able to concentrate solely on keeping Chris (Paul) out of the paint. You’re either going to have to give up layups, or you going to give up wide-open 3s.”
Add it up, and it’s easy to understand why Hornets management aggressively pursued Stojakovic, contacting the player’s agent on the first day of free agency. But why did the established star want to become a Hornet?
“The contract is good,” the Belgrade native acknowledges of the reported five-year, $64 million deal, “but you can’t always look at that (as the lone consideration). You can take the best contract offer and be miserable. When I looked at the relationship I had with Byron Scott, that was important, knowing that I have someone who I can really communicate with and have a great professional relationship.
“All of the guys who have played for him (including during Scott’s tenure as the New Jersey Nets’ head coach) say that they’ve had fun, and they’ve always played good basketball.”
Fun. Stojakovic admits that after his banner 2003-04 campaign – when he was mentioned as an MVP candidate and was a second-team All-NBA selection – he hasn’t enjoyed himself as much on the basketball court. Beginning with the departure of Sacramento stalwart and Stojakovic’s close friend, Vlade Divac in 2004-05, the Kings began moving away from their previous unselfish, share-the-ball style of play that made them a pleasure to watch.
Making matters worse for Stojakovic, he began hearing frequent trade rumors last season and was dealt to Indiana midway through 2005-06. Even though his overall numbers remained solid, with averages of 18.2 points and 5.8 rebounds, his efficiency dropped, as his shooting percentage noticeably decreased for the second straight year.
“It was a different situation once Vlade (Divac) and Chris (Webber) left the team,” Stojakovic said of the Kings. “The team that we had last year in Sacramento was a lot of new guys. That’s what happens. Times change. I was sure I was going to be a King forever, but I got traded.
“We are all human. Sometimes you struggle. But it’s a matter of how fast you’re going to bounce back from it.”
Now that he’s been reunited with Scott (a former Sacramento assistant coach) and ex-Kings teammate Bobby Jackson, Stojakovic sees several similarities between the current Hornets roster and the one that thrilled fans in northern California earlier this decade.
“We played an up-tempo style in Sacramento for the first 7 1/2 years I was there,” Stojakovic compared. “I looked at the teams Byron Scott has coached, and I saw that they push the ball up the floor, and there is a lot of cutting to the basket and a lot of passing. It’s the type of basketball that I am familiar with, and I like to play that way.
“I also looked at this team and what kind of talent it has and how young it is. I saw how they played last season, with so much energy and passion. I wanted to be a part of that.
“This can be like what we had in Sacramento – the beginning of something great.”
