<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'></p> Peja Stojakovic was sweating with a towel around his shoulders as he walked from the weight room to the gym Wednesday morning at the Alario Center.</p> He ran to catch a pass and took a jump shot from the baseline. As he moved, there was no grimacing, no sign of limitations like last season, when he missed all but the first 13 games after requiring season-ending back surgery in December to remove a disk fragment.</p> After spending the entire summer at his offseason home in Greece, Stojakovic participated in his first volunteer workout with his teammates.</p> "I can't say I'm 100 percent, but I'm feeling way better," Stojakovic said. "I'm running and shooting, I'm doing all kind of different drills. I just want to get back on the court and be with the guys."</p> Hornets Coach Byron Scott is counting on Stojakovic, a 6-foot-10, nine-year veteran and three-time All-Star, to be steady and injury-free to possibly help the team earn a playoff berth for the first time since the 2003-04 season.</p> Although all five starters were injured at various points last season, not having Stojakovic proved to be a big blow that led to the Hornets' missing the playoffs for the third consecutive season and finishing with a 39-43 record, 10th in the Western Conference.</p> Stojakovic, who signed a five-year, $64 million contract in 2006, is needed because the Hornets have struggled to maintain a consistent shooting threat from the perimeter, particularly when they tried to make a playoff push near the end of the season.</p> With the addition of shooting guard Morris Peterson, the Hornets' top free-agent acquisition this summer, Stojakovic will shift to small forward, his natural position.</p> "He looks great, looks strong," said Scott, after watching Stojakovic take jump shots. "We just need to get him in game shape."</div></p> Source: NOLA</p>
