No one remembers that Peja Stojaković finished 4th in the MVP vote in 2004
Let Shane McClanahan cook + Victor Wembanyama to Spurs
Peja Stojaković was better than you remember.
When you think of former Sacramento Kings small forward Peja Stojaković, I bet you think of a player who was a sharpshooter and one of the key players on the great Kings teams of the early 2000s; thinking that would be more than fair. I mean, Peja did shoot 40.1% from downtown for his career, which is still good for 46th all-time. He retired with 1,760 three-pointers made, which ranked 10th all-time when he retired in 2011. The 40 3P%/89% FT% Club only has six members and you guessed it, Peja is one of them, along with Steve Nash, Stephen Curry, J.J. Reddick, Mark Price, and Ray Allen. Pretty elite company.
As good as a shooter Peja was though, he more than just a shooting specialist like J.J. Reddick, but a primary scorer who could put his team on his back when necessary like Ray Allen. He did not just stand on the perimeter waiting for the ball, but was a three-level scorer that gave opposing coaches fits. He famously scored 20 straight points to open the game for the New Orleans Pelicans, an NBA record. Think of when Klay Thompson occasionally goes on his scoring binges and that may give you a better idea of what Peja was capable of at his peak. And peak Peja is who you forget about.
In 2004, Peja finished second to Tracey McGrady in the NBA in scoring. He led the NBA in free throw percentage that year at 92.7%. He shot 48% from the field on 17.1 shots per game and 43.3% from the 3-point line on nearly seven attempts per game. Not only a scorer, he grabbed over six rebounds that season and played 40.3 minutes per game while only missing one game. He finished 4th in the NBA in the MVP vote, even receiving one vote for first place. For context on how hard it is to finish in the top five in the MVP vote for any season, Carmelo Anthony just announced his retirement today and only finished in the top five in the MVP vote once, just like Peja. Finishing in the top 5 in the MVP vote is not something anyone just stumbles into. Peja was a GUY that year.
Are you thinking maybe the league had a talent gap in 2004? Think again. Finishing behind a 26-year old Peja that year in the MVP vote was a 25-year old Kobe Bryant, 31-year old Shaquille O’Neal, as well as Ben Wallace, Jason Kidd, Dirk Nowitzki, and a 19-year old LeBron James.
Was Peja better than all of those Hall of Famers? Of course not. However, at his peak, his name was in the same conversation with all of them. People forget that.
To listen to this week’s podcast on Peja, click here.
For the love of baseball, let Shane McClanahan pitch past the 6th inning.
Tampa Bay Rays flamethrower Shane McClanahan may very well be the best pitcher in baseball. At 7-0 through the first quarter of the season, Shane holds a 2.05 ERA and has struck out 68 batters. He has only let up more than two runs once this season and has seven quality starts in just 10 appearances. The only thing stopping him is Kevin Cash, the Tampa Bay Rays manager.
See, despite his success in almost every start this season, Shane has only pitched in the 7th inning once this year. He has pitched through the 6th inning on six separate occasions, yet is left in the dugout time and time again before the 7th begins. He has been allowed to throw over 100 pitches only once and has been removed before crossing the 90 pitch threshold on four separate occasions, despite having let up two or fewer runs. This even includes his only seven inning start this year, in which he only threw 83 pitches despite letting up zero runs. Let the man pitch!
Shane has yet to throw a complete game in his career and at this rate, he never will. As a fan of baseball, I understand the game has changed. Complete games are more rare than multi-homer games. Pitchers with a no-hitter in tact are now at times removed from the game before they ever give up a hit. The data shows that relievers have a better chance against the batting order the third and fourth time around, so why risk leaving the starter in?
I understand the math, but as a baseball fan, I would like to watch Shane pitch more innings. I still believe that some nights, when a pitcher has everything working for them and is it total control of the game, it is better to let them cook than bring in a cold arm from the bullpen. Let Shane pitch past the 6th. Let’s just see what happens.
Victor Wembanyama will soon get to check The Alamo off his bucket list.
Last Tuesday night, the San Antonio Spurs future changed forever. With a 14% chance entering the night of winning the #1 pick in the 2023 NBA draft, the Spurs were the last team left standing during the draft order reveal and will now get to select the French phenom Victor Wembanyama on June 22nd.
The hype around Wembanyama is endless. He has been called the best prospect since LeBron James. In a fictional universe where Victor and LeBron entered the NBA Draft in the same year, some experts say they would select Victor over LeBron. As ludicrous as that sounds, I get it. Wembanyama stands 7’4” in shoes and might not be done growing. If you watch his film, he plays less like Shawn Bradley and more like Kevin Durant. He pulls up for jumpers on the drop of a dime and can take the ball coast to coast on a fast break. His shot is fluid, he can take defenders off the dribble, and moves like a wing. In the top basketball league in France, he is leading the league in points per game (21.6) while sinking 1.4 threes per game. He is getting to the free throw line over six times per game and is sinking a cool 82.8% of his attempts from the charity stripe. Those numbers are wing numbers, not Rik Smits sized center numbers.
Despite the offensive data that indicate that Wembanyama could hang as a wing in the NBA, why would he when his shot-blocking and rim protection abilities are off the charts? He is leading the French league in blocks per game (3.0) and is agile enough to get his hands on anything near the rim. His reported 8-foot wingspan is six inches longer than Anthony Davis. That will be a problem for opposing offenses from day one.
When the Spurs select Wembanyama, he will join David Robinson (1987 NBA Draft) and Tim Duncan (1997 NBA Draft) as the Spurs third number one overall pick in franchise history. One doesn’t have to be an NBA connoisseur to know that the Spurs are a healthy two for two on first overall picks. Robinson and Duncan left a number of NBA championship trophies, MVP awards, and All-NBA selections in their wake. They left huge shoes to fill, but luckily for Wembanyama, he is a size 20.5.