Wizards win......Hawks blowing out Mavs

[Admin]

Man we are smoking these guys tonight.........23 pt 2nd quarter lead as I type this.......I cant believe we are beating these guys like this. Sura and Jackson and JT are sure proving to be keepers and I hope that we find a way to do just that.

[KB21]

Stephen Jackson is evolving before our very eyes. At the start of the year, he was a guy who too often settled for the three point shot.

Now, he is a guy who is more than willing to drive to the basket. He's getting to the free throw line more often. He still shoots a high percentage of shots from the perimeter, but his all around game has picked up over the last 26 games or so.

This guy is making himself some money.

[Admin]

I hope that he is making money for himself here in Atlanta. I think that with he and JT and Sura we are pretty well off at the guard positions. This team needs a big time rebounding defending center and a power forward that can get up and down the court and defend and I think we are a big time playoff team. For all those who laughed at Jax for turning down San Antonios contract, he has definitely earned a much larger payday with his performance this year.

[f_town]

i still have the second half

:P

[Admin]

[cyman3]

everyone (esp ESPN) was laughin at JACKSON for not takin SPURS $10 million...

he could have the last laugh after all...

i hope we keep him... hes playing GREAT!

[Gray Mule]

Great 1st half -- Terrible 2nd half.

Add the two together and Hawks survive -- by one point!

Run and gun first half - Down and dirty second half.

Hawks blew them away in the 1st. --They clobbered us

in the second.

Two entirely different games.

Short handed, second game of a back-to-back. You could

feel the energy draining. Yet, they managed to hang

on. This group of scrub Hawks showed a lot of fight

last night.

Draft position may shift with every game. Still, the

luck of the draw will still determine where we fall.

I like the fight. I like the spirit. I like the scoring

ability. Now, if Hawks could keep whoever they wanted

to from the current roster, with a decent draft and a

free agent or two, we could be set for next season.

Alas, we don't even know who will stay and who will go.

Will Jackson and Sura move on? Will they stay?

So many questions. So few answers. Just enjoy the

ride for the rest of the season -- Sometimes it's

terrible, like last night's second half. Sometimes it's

great, like the first half.

[Blunt91]

I havde a good feeling Stephen will be with us next season. If we throw a 3year 30million or 4year 40million his way he will sign on. Oh yeah he is worth every penny.

[Nicholasp27]

I think 10mil/year is a lil much to pay for jax, at least for the hawks at this point

[JTFan31]

Jax is definitely a baller, he can shoot, drive and plays with tremendous heart and intensity. All of those that laughed when some of us mentioned that Big Dog was better than Jax, well who is laughing now, I will take Jax hands down right now over Big Dog. He played last night the entire game and all the way through he had energy, thats amazing. Jax is a keeper, we need to resign this guy long term.

Now is it just me or does this team look better and play a better brand of basketball now than when Reef was here. Not to take anything from Reef, but the game plan before was to dump the ball to Reef and let him go to work and play half court offense which we werent very good at. Now look at this team flying up and down the court, we all know JT flies, Jax, Sura can run with the best of them, so can CC and Diaw. Like Dolfan stated we need a center that can rebound and play interior defense and block shots and an ahletic PF (Dwight Howard) that can run with these boys and can also play a strong offensive game inside. We need a PF that can keep up with JT, Jax, Sura, Diaw and CC. This teams looks good, lets get Howard and also hopefully we can sign a big FA this offseason.

[CHORO44]

Stephen Jackson is not worth 10 million a year and anyone offering that is out of their mind. Making contract offers like this is what got the team where it is today.

[Wretch]

Good game. I'm not looking for the Hawks to win too many games down the stretch, but I can honestly say I was excited to see what they did last night.

It doesn't surprise me either. It is said that on any given night any team can beat any team in the NBA; it's because these guys are all professionals and the cream of the crop. As individuals and a team, they ball on such a high level. While the Hawks have sucked in recent years, it was never really for a lack of talent. These guys can score; JT and Jack are remnants of that. Throw in a madman like Sura, and a bunch of guys playing for contracts...and you've got a scrappy little team.

On another note, does everyone see what JT can do in the right system with the right compliments? His playmaking ability has been beat to death, but you rarely hear about his shot. When he puts it up, you can just look at it and you know it's going in. You can't give him sh#t wide open, and you better hope you got someone fast enough to guard him. In that open style of play, running up and down the court, with all that movement on the offense - guys just moving, passing, and spotting up - JT is perfect.

And I'm sure we're in agreement now that Jackson is a keeper. He's young, handles the ball, rebounds, and most importantly, he's tough. All great teams need a player like him and they will come knocking this off season. Good thing the great teams have little money to offer - 'cept San Antonio; that'd be ironic wouldn't it? We need to make him a good offer, but we need to keep our cap open so that we can pursue a couple of big tickets.

I like Sura too and I'm wondering how cheap we could get him back...

[chillzatl]

5-7mil per year.

[cyman3]

yea, 10 million is pushing it...

but i would go 6-7 million on him for several years...

[CHORO44]

I'd give him the mid-level for 4 years max.

[Traceman]

someone else will offer him the MCE. I'm sure a team like Cleveland would LOVE to have Jax at SF to compliment LeBron at SG. Jax's toughness, competitiveness and ability to hit big shots fits Paul Silas' coaching style to a T. If LeBron can go to CLE for the MCE (startingh at about $5.5M), we will have to offer him more to keep him. I think we will have to offer Jax a 4+ year deal starting $6-7M a yr to have a shot at keeping him. I think a 5 yr/$37.5M offer (starting at $6M a season)is a good starting point.