# Peja Clutch



## JayRedd (Jan 2, 2006)

> *Why Hasn’t Peja Been More Involved In Clutch?*
> 
> Tuesday, March 7, 2006
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> ...




Peja's "dissapearing act" late in the game or in big playoff games has been his MO for years now. I never really believed it. But reading this "In fact, in his 14 appearances with the Pacers, he has scored two points or less in the fourth quarter seven times" makes it sound really bad.


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## Gonzo (Oct 14, 2004)

Peja doesn't get the ball late in the games. Jackson (sometimes AJ or Freddie) is the one who gets the ball, unfortunately. For some reason we trust these players more. I can understand why we trust our oldest player AJ, but I don't understand why we take the always streaky Jackson over Peja.

Freddie's still young; he'll definately develop into our "go-to" guy (and already has, some).


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## PaCeRhOLiC (May 22, 2005)

Larry Legend said:


> Peja doesn't get the ball late in the games.).



Exactly, many times I've seen him open, only never to get the rock...




*Go PaCeRs!!!!*


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## JayRedd (Jan 2, 2006)

Larry Legend said:


> Peja doesn't get the ball late in the games. Jackson (sometimes AJ or Freddie) is the one who gets the ball, unfortunately. For some reason we trust these players more. I can understand why we trust our oldest player AJ, but *I don't understand why we take the always streaky Jackson over Peja*.
> 
> Freddie's still young; he'll definately develop into our "go-to" guy (and already has, some).


I see it more as Peja not taking it upon himself to get shots than the other guys on the court not getting him the ball. If you're supposedly the best scorer on the court, it's your job to find a way to get points. Or at least get some shots off.


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## Gonzo (Oct 14, 2004)

JayRedd said:


> I see it more as Peja not taking it upon himself to get shots than the other guys on the court not getting him the ball. If you're supposedly the best scorer on the court, it's your job to find a way to get points. Or at least get some shots off.


The problem is that he doesn't get the first pass in the offense. I've seen him open a few times, but have never really paid attention to his cuts or where he is. Maybe I'll try to do that in our next close game.


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## absolutebest (Jun 10, 2002)

Well, I am one of Freddie's biggest fans, but remember that potential game winning lay-up he missed against the Spurs without even drawing contact? I say give Peja a crack. A.J. is a good floor leader, but he has no business taking game-winning shots. We saw that against Houston. I would rather have Saras take the shot.


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## JayRedd (Jan 2, 2006)

absolutebest said:


> Well, I am one of Freddie's biggest fans, but remember that potential game winning lay-up he missed against the Spurs without even drawing contact? I say give Peja a crack. A.J. is a good floor leader, but he has no business taking game-winning shots. We saw that against Houston. I would rather have Saras take the shot.


Frankly, there's not one healthy guy on this roster whose hands I want the ball in at the end of the game unless it's on a kick-out for an open jumper.


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## StephenJackson (Oct 28, 2004)

absolutebest said:


> Well, I am one of Freddie's biggest fans, but remember that potential game winning lay-up he missed against the Spurs without even drawing contact? I say give Peja a crack. A.J. is a good floor leader, but he has no business taking game-winning shots. We saw that against Houston. I would rather have Saras take the shot.



Agreed, Saras won't choke. He's like Miller in that he has that swagger about him in that he wants the ball and expects to score in the clutch. I can only begin to imagine how frusterated he must be feeling about the lack of faith that has been given to him by Carlisle.


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## Pacers Fan (Aug 25, 2002)

JayRedd said:


> Frankly, there's not one healthy guy on this roster whose hands I want the ball in at the end of the game unless it's on a kick-out for an open jumper.


Jermaine O'Neal is our best player in the clutch. He's reliable, also. If only he'd stop taking those jumpers, he'd be a much better clutch player.


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## StephenJackson (Oct 28, 2004)

Pacers Fan said:


> Jermaine O'Neal is our best player in the clutch. He's reliable, also. If only he'd stop taking those jumpers, he'd be a much better clutch player.


For once you praise JO and I disagree with you! Can't we agree?!? The ONE part of JOs game that drives me nuts is that I don't find him to be clutch at all. He has a nasty habit of having huuuuuge first halves and then disappearing in the second half, especially in the 4th.


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## Pacers Fan (Aug 25, 2002)

StephenJackson said:


> For once you praise JO and I disagree with you! Can't we agree?!? The ONE part of JOs game that drives me nuts is that I don't find him to be clutch at all. He has a nasty habit of having huuuuuge first halves and then disappearing in the second half, especially in the 4th.


Yeah, he disappears in the 3rd and for most of the 4th. With 3-4 minutes left on the clock, though, he's great. Have you wondered why we went from winning most clutch games two years ago to losing most now?


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## StephenJackson (Oct 28, 2004)

Pacers Fan said:


> Have you wondered why we went from winning most clutch games two years ago to losing most now?



Good point.

Think of all those missed FT's this year as well though.


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## StephenJackson (Oct 28, 2004)

Peja with the game winning 3.

/thread

...for now.


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## pac4eva5 (Dec 29, 2005)

PaCeRhOLiC said:


> Exactly, many times I've seen him open, only never to get the rock...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


thats the way it should be, believe me...


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## StephenJackson (Oct 28, 2004)

pac4eva5 said:


> thats the way it should be, believe me...



Well, tonight is very contradictory to that statement, seeing as he hit the go-ahead game winning three for us.


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## jermaine7fan (Aug 19, 2005)

StephenJackson said:


> *For once you praise JO and I disagree with you!* Can't we agree?!? The ONE part of JOs game that drives me nuts is that I don't find him to be clutch at all. He has a nasty habit of having huuuuuge first halves and then disappearing in the second half, especially in the 4th.


Ha... I was thinking the same thing...

EXCEPT... JO is clutch... 

ON D... I've seen several game winning swats for him in his day... 

Offense... not so much... I may have seen him hit a game winner on a couple of occasions... possibly only once...


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## jermaine7fan (Aug 19, 2005)

Pacers Fan said:


> With 3-4 minutes left on the clock, though, he's great. Have you wondered why we went from winning most clutch games two years ago to losing most now?


Reggie... and his FT shooting...

Jermaine prolly had a few of the offensively clutch moments for us... but he had been more clutch on D for us in those games... but yeah... I do remember the good ol' days when a tight game... meant a win...


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## jermaine7fan (Aug 19, 2005)

But if I could chose... Peja would have the last shot every time... I see he finally hit us a clutch shot tonight... now let's see them go to him for the last shot next time it's needed...

1 shot to do to determine the game... I don't want it in the hands of anyone else... 

PEJA!

He can get a good shot off... or draw a foul and FT's...


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## Pacers Fan (Aug 25, 2002)

jermaine7fan said:


> Ha... I was thinking the same thing...
> 
> EXCEPT... JO is clutch...
> 
> ...


Just the opposite for me. I remember his blocked shot on Pau Gasol a few years ago. He's hit one game winner against Detroit, which shouldn't have counted, but other than that he's hit many shots to either push, cut, or gain the lead late in games.


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## PacersguyUSA (Sep 1, 2002)

Jermaine hit a game winner is that one game that they took 20 minutes to deliberate whether it should count.


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## Pacers Fan (Aug 25, 2002)

jermaine7fan said:


> Reggie... and his FT shooting...


Reggie's missed a few clutch FT's, but he's more consistent than others on our team. I don't know what's happened to Freddie Jones. He seems to have regressed in every area of shooting. When Croshere returns soon, we'll have someone who can hit FT's in the clutch. With Peja, Sarunas, and Croshere all in the lineup to shoot FT's, we should be okay. I worry about Freddie, Jackson, Tinsley, and Harrison, however.


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## PaCeRhOLiC (May 22, 2005)

^^ Good post P.F.... :cheers: ...

Feel the same way...





*Go PaCeRs!!!!!*


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