<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">As the Hornets were showing signs of exhaustion going into the final stretch of their three-hour opening-day practice at New Orleans Arena on Tuesday, Peja Stojakovic caught Coach Byron Scott's attention. Stojakovic reacted by instinct to move toward the baseline when two defenders quickly cut off point guard Bobby Jackson. Stojakovic got open and took the shot just like it was diagrammed in Scott's playbook. "Last year, we would have had to tell the guy to go baseline," Scott said. "It's so much easier when you got players who just know how to play. Today Peja was just like I expected, still very smart with a great understanding of the game." Until this summer, the Hornets had difficulty obtaining players of Stojakovic's caliber, a three-time All-Star, through free agency. Before the 2005-06 season, the Hornets made a strong push to sign then-free agent Bobby Simmons. But when it came decision time, Simmons accepted an offer from the Milwaukee Bucks, forcing the Hornets to explore their second and third options before finally settling on Aryvdas Macijauskas, who played sparingly last season before he was waived. In the past, some high-profiled free agents perceived the Hornets as a franchise unwilling to offer big-money contracts. Others were turned off by the team's constant struggles, such as in 2004-05 when they lost a franchise-record 64 games. The Hornets experienced no such bad luck this past summer. They made the biggest free-agent deal in the league by signing Stojakovic to a five-year, $64 million contract, legitimizing the Hornets' commitment to becoming a winning franchise after logging a 56-128 record the past two seasons. "One of the reasons we stepped up and spent money was to get star power for people in this community to embrace them," said Hornets owner George Shinn, who committed to $146 million in new salaries this offseason. "For the past four or five years, all we heard was that we needed a proven shooter. So we went out and not just got one of the best players in free agency but we felt Peja is one of the best shooters in the entire league." At 6-feet-10, Stojakovic is tall enough to shoot over most shooting guards, and his versatility on the wing makes him a scoring threat at small forward, too. </div> Source
If Stojakovic can put 20 ppg and shoot a decent percentage from the arc, it would make the Hornets a very interesting team. Paul and Desmond Mason can slash very well, Peja deadly from 3, strong defense from Tyson Chandler.
<div class="quote_poster">SkiptoMyLue11 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">If Stojakovic can put 20 ppg and shoot a decent percentage from the arc, it would make the Hornets a very interesting team. Paul and Desmond Mason can slash very well, Peja deadly from 3, strong defense from Tyson Chandler.</div> Chris Paul is that guy to make Stojakovic better. he's one of those guys. I predict Peja has a comeback year. 20ppg
^ Yeah, cuz Chris will bring the defense in, then kick it out to Peja and hell be able to score easy. I was watchin the Hornets-Kings Preseason game and Peja hit the winning shot, he did pretty well, went one on one with the guy and did a fadeaway to put them ahead.
