Diaw vs. Jackson....

[Diesel]

Moving on along. Let's talk about some of the good things. The court vision of Diaw. Being that JT doesn't have much court vision and would probably play BETTER as off guard...

Also being that we just need more ball handlers on the floor. It might be time to baptist Diaw into the starting lineup.

The immediate question is who do you sit... Jackson or Glover.

Jackson provides 3 point shooting. When talking about Diaw, we're talking about a player who can play 30 minutes and bring home no points. SO, we must put him in with a squad who can score. Well, one advantage is that if we play Diaw... It Frees JT to be SG which he likes anyway. JT has made a career of deferring to other people to run the offense. Diaw has made a career of deferring his scoring to other people, it sounds like a match. For that Reason, I would play Glover over Jackson. I don't know how Jackson would respond to coming off the bench, but... Hmm...

Also, I feel that Glover is making big progress under new coaching. He might be a candidate for MIP.

So, the starting 5 could be:

JT/Diaw/Glover/SAR/Theo.

The only problem is Glover as Sf. Therefore, maybe we ought to allow Diaw to play against the oppositions best offensive player 3-1. And of course matchup in Zones like we did against Charlotte.

[dickaufan12]

There is absolutely no reason why Stephen Jackson should be a starter on this team. Diaw should start over him, hands down. Why? Jackson is a ROLE PLAYER. His success in San Antonio was based upon playing time in situations. As a starter, sure he can bring maybe 17 ppg, but he's also giving the other team the ball 6-7 times a game! That is obsurd! If Diaw can start and playlike he did Wednesday, he'll be fine. He's good at finding the open man, he can handle the ball, and he can move without the ball. Now if we could just get him to shoot...

[Playmaker0017]

Diesel,

I am a big fan of Diaw and a huge detractor of Jackson, but I do not believe Diaw is ready to start an NBA game.

Give him until December. Then we can look at it.

We also need to see if last night was an off-night for Jackson and the team. Making lineup changes this soon would be a real sign of weakness.

Everyone would be worried about their role on the team and might play poorly because of it.

Play.

[Weez]

One Inherent Problem ~ I'd love to start Diaw at sf (if he's read, and remember folks, we're one game in so I doubt he is) and put SJax at starting SG...but he'd have to play more under control much of the time...and JT would have to resist the temptation to defer to him very often (much like LeBron has to learn to do with Davis).

Many Hawks faithful remain on Dion's side...and he has improved...but he appears to have lost that athletic ability that wowed us when we drafted him/saw him at Tech. His skills have improved and he'd be a nice counter-part to Nailon off the bench...if he could maintain his confidence in this role (he could still easily get 30 min a game doing this).

But putting in my prefered lineup would depend upon the continued movement of Diaw along the learning curve and the settling down of SJAx. However, peopel need to recognize that his excitement and energy is part of what this team needs. It's frustrating at times, and he has to work on his handles and control, but many of the qualities that get him into trouble are what he adds to this team as well.

[Diesel]

I don't think tht the use of Diaw at Point needs to be held up. Seriously, he's had much experience in France. I say let him be "Baptized" into it. I look at Anthony, James, and other rookies playing and turning the ball over. I say it's good. First off, these guys are getting much needed experience. Secondly, these guys are getting confidence.

Let Diaw start.

He will make some mistakes.

But overall, he will become ready.

The faster he is ready to run the offense, the better for this team.

[Playmaker0017]

Diesel,

Starting him too quickly can completely shoot his confidence. Further, this team can ill-afford to start out slowly. We need a couple W's to prove to ourselves that we can win.

I don't think Diaw starting gives us that ability, yet.

Play.

[jjjohns3]

Jackson is a good fit for us at SF for now though. If Big Dog turns the ball over 7 times then we lose by 20+ instead of just barely losing by 5. Jax offsets his TOs with his defense. Do you guys really think that Knight didn't know how Jax plays????

~Peace

[Playmaker0017]

JJJohns,

Quite possibly.

But, whether he did or didn't, I don't think he had much choice in the signing. Jackson was pretty much the pick of the NBA leftovers.

The best thing about Jackson is an intangible... he plays with an intensity that NONE of our players currently play with. Hopefully it can be infectious, rather than the "Eyore" syndrome being passed on to him.

Play.

[emeans]

I am taking Jackson over Diaw this year. For one Diaw is a rookie and he is going to make a lot of rookie mistakes this year.

One intangible that you guys are not taking into account, that is not in the stats book and has nothing to do with turnovers or field goal percentages is INTENSITY, HEART and the will to win.

I was very impressed with Jackson when he was thrown out of the Orlando game during pre-season. He was fired up to play and win a pre-season game.

And it was obvious no one else on the Atlanta Hawks team came even remotedly close to the passion he had while he was on the court. He wanted to win at all cost. Everyone else was all lethargic and emotionless even when they were getting bad calls.

That in itself impressed me with Jackson. We haven't had an emotional player in years on this squad. A player who will get kicked out of the game because it isn't going his way. A player who argues with the refs and challenges other players on the floor. That is what he brings to this team.....forget the stats, he brings some passion and intensity to this lifeless squad.

Stephan Jackson was a very good pickup and he plays with more passion than anyone on this team right now. I wish we had more Stephan Jackson's on this team.

[Playmaker0017]

Emeans,

I echo everything you just said! I think Jackson is our biggest emotional leader.... and sometimes this can just brush off.

Can you imagine the intensity if Reef ever caught some of that fire? He has never played beside ANYONE with that type of intesity for any real length of time.

This could really boost him as well as JT.

I wouldn't mind the Hawks becoming the NBA "Thug Nasties" for a little while.

Play.

[Weez]

couldn't agree more. and we're paying him diddly for the time being.

[Traceman]

We definitely need someone with "heart" and he appears to have plenty of it. I really like the way he continues to go hard even after he makes a mistake. He doesn't get down on himself or sulk after the ref makes a bad call either. I'm really glad he's here. He's going to turn it over a bunch but he's going to play hard.

The thing that impressed me most about him the other night was the fact that he went STRONG to the hole when we needed a late bucket, got the foul and converted both free throws. I hope Reef and JT were watching that because I have seen them both (particularly Reef) "punk out" and settle for a fall away shot in that same situation. Jax went strong and that's what champions do. If Stotts lets them play, I think both he and Glove might be 2 of the most improved players in the league this year.