Dyson Daniels - Two Way Monster

[Jamaaliver]

Read on Twitter

[Jamaaliver]

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

[HMFFL]

Keep shooting the three ball at 27%. Attempting 3-6 per game doesn't seem to be working so maybe he should attempt 10.

When we don't have shooters at the 1 and 2 positions we won't win games.

Sent from my SM-S928U1 using RealGM mobile app

[Jamaaliver]

[Jamaaliver]

We're getting the true Dyson experience:

Otherworldly effective defense. Inconsistent offense.

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

[HMFFL]

We're getting the true Dyson experience:

Otherworldly effective defense. Inconsistent offense.

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

I look forward to seeing Dyson on the floor with Bogi and/or Hunter more. They're the more capable three point shooters and Dyson can be more selective.


Sent from my SM-S928U1 using RealGM mobile app

[Jamaaliver]

Read on Twitter

[jayu70]

Read on Twitter

[Jamaaliver]

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

[jayu70]

Read on Twitter

[Jamaaliver]

Read on Twitter

[Jamaaliver]

Read on Twitter

[Jamaaliver]

For the archives:

Spoiler:

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

[tbhawksfan1]

Only normal that DD gets a sticky. Man got glue on those hands

[tbhawksfan1]

Watch on YouTube

Nice video on DD

[Jamaaliver]

It is interesting that we all agree Dyson is an elite perimeter defender, yet so many scoring wings have had big time output in games against Atlanta. (LaMelo, Cam Thomas, Cade)

Spoiler:

Read on Twitter

[jayu70]

Read on Twitter

ATLANTA HAWKS
Hawks not taking guard Dyson Daniels for granted

Dyson Daniels' defensive efforts against some of the league's top scorers (here against Knicks guard Jalen Brunson) has been a bright spot for the Hawks this season. (AP Photo/Jason Allen)
By Lauren Williams
20 hours ago
With each passing game, the Hawks’ return from a big trade last summer looks better.

That big trade with the Pelicans landed Dyson Daniels, Larry Nance Jr., a couple of other bigs - as well as a pair of first-round picks - in exchange for Dejounte Murray. Twelve games into the 2024-25 NBA season, the Hawks have capitalized on the skills of Daniels and Nance, in particular.

The Hawks’ 5-7 record doesn’t reflect how much Daniels has upgraded the team’s defense. The Hawks still rank in the latter half the league defensively, but they’ve cut down on the amount of points allowed in the paint and have been better at getting back in transition. There’s still room for improvement.

With Daniels in the rotation, the Hawks have a much higher chance of slowing down an opponent’s top scorer, forcing other teams to ensure their second, third, fourth and fifth options must contribute.


Credit: AP

New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, right, goes around Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels, left, during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Jason Allen)
The 21-year-old has been relentless on the defensive end, holding the likes of Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (who has averaged 24.3 points this season) to just seven points on 48.9 partial possessions. It led to some moments of frustration from Brunson during the Hawks’ 121-116 win on Nov. 6. Over two games against the Celtics, Daniels held forward Jayson Tatum to 16 points across 16 minutes.

What makes Daniels all the more unique is that the Hawks can truly match him up against opposing players, up and down lineups. It’s created an opportunity for the team to attack their defensive schemes with more versatility, especially once several rotational players return from injury.

Even shorthanded, the Bendigo, Australia native has injected a level of energy that the Hawks struggled to have consistently last season.

The Hawks are 5-5 with Daniels in the lineup and it’s because he’s everywhere on the floor without sacrificing the play. In 10 games, he leads the league in deflections per game, averaging 7.6. He’s seventh among guards in contested shots per game, averaging 5.6.

“Deflections are reflective of his activity,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said prior to last week’s game against the Bulls. “And the thing, I’ve said this, what’s impressive to me about that is, usually when you get that many steals, it’s because you’re gambling. You take yourself out of a play. And rarely is he taking himself out of the play. He may not steal the ball, but he’s still in position. He’s calculated with that. He’s just, he’s so focused. And, it’s unusual. You don’t take it for granted that he brings it every night.”

Daniels has 36 steals this season, becoming the first player in the league with 35 steals in the first 10 games of a season since Baron Davis (37) and Allen Iverson (36) in the 2003-04 season. According to former ESPN analyst Zach Lowe, Daniels’ league-leading 3.6 steals per game is only 0.1 shy of the all-time record (minimum: 1,000 minutes) of 3.7 per game by Alvin Robertson in 1986, 12 years after the NBA began to record steals during 1973-74 season.

Daniels has had four or more steals in five of his first 10 games. He recorded a career-high seven steals in the Hawks to the Pistons on Nov. 8 and followed that performance with six steals a piece in the last two games.

“Yeah, for me, and I see people get ball,” Daniels told reporters in Boston after the Hawks’ 117-116 win. “I was chasing the ball around, my whole junior career and that’s what I did play defense. So, for me, it starts on team defense, keeping a man in front, making him take tough shots. When they turn their back, that’s when I like to go for those steals and stuff like that.”

The NBA Global Academy alum has also taken an aggressive approach to impacting the Hawks on the offensive side of the ball. Prior to Tuesday’s win over the Celtics, Daniels averaged 12.8 points and 2.4 assists on 45% overall shooting .

But without Trae Young, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Kobe Bufkin, Vit Krejci and De’Andre Hunter, the Hawks needed scoring. He dropped a career-high 28 points on 12-of-21 shooting from the floor, along with seven assists.

Even when the Hawks’ injured players return to the lineup, they’ll look to keep capitalizing on Daniels’ game. His ability to cut and drive into the paint will continue to open the floor for some of Young’s elite playmaking.

“Coming here was just was so good for his confidence, both offensively and confidence defensively,” Nance Jr. told reporters in Boston. “He’s taking some more gambles now, and obviously they’re paying off. So, I truly could not be happier for a guy that is so deserving of the praise and the opportunity he’s gotten.”

[jayu70]

It is interesting that we all agree Dyson is an elite perimeter defender, yet so many scoring wings have had big time output in games against Atlanta. (LaMelo, Cam Thomas, Cade)

Spoiler:

Read on Twitter

He's not going to shut down elite scorers, his job is to make it difficult, while making it easier fir the rest of the team to focus on their assignments.
It would be interesting to see when those players are scoring their points. When Dyson is on bench? Or he is picked off in a switch, or he goes to help and rotations are late, etc? It's not always a 1v1 matchup.
Our spot in the standings has a lot to do with our inability to guard the ept line: helping when not necessary, helping off the wrong guy, too sloow/low effort on closeout, over rotations etc. Compound that with having to play a 3rd string guys as 2nd unit group. It's OK if it's one guy...but having a trio of Wallace, GMat, Roddy as a unit is tough.

[jayu70]

Read on Twitter

The steals, deflections, and general disruptiveness at the front of the defense mean more even still because Daniels carries out his defensive responsibilities within the context of the team's overall scheme.

"It's a unique thing about the way that he plays defense is that he's able to guard his man and still make plays without taking himself out of position," Head Coach Quin Snyder said.

As Nance noted Tuesday, this season is the first where Daniels has been counted on to carry this sort of workload. Nance and Daniels both arrived in Atlanta from New Orleans via trade in the offseason, and both came from a team that had a rotation loaded with wing defenders in Herb Jones, Trey Murphy, Brandon Ingram, Jose Alvarado, and Naji Marshall. Daniels averaged just 22.3 minutes per game.

So what makes Daniels' performance even that more impressive is how he sustains his effort over the course of a 48-minute game. Now averaging 33.1 minutes per game, Daniels plays every defensive possession with the same intensity, poking and recovering non-stop, never letting the opposing ballhandler rest easy without having to worry about the ball getting taken away.

"That's a strength: his concentration," Snyder said. "It's really what it is, and obviously you've got to have a level of conditioning to do that. So physically he's able to do it, but I think he's very disciplined mentally in those situations, and it's harder to do that the more that you play."

Daniels described his tactics with the efficiency of someone who likes to get from Point A to Point B with haste.

"For me, you know, it's 'See ball, get ball.' I chased balls around for my whole junior career and that's what I did: play defense," Daniels said. "So for me, it starts with team defense, keeping our man in front, making them take tough contested shots – and when they turn their back, that's when I like to go for steals and stuff like that."

The Hawks get a bonus on nights like Tuesday, when Daniels scored a career-high 28 points, breaking his previous high by 10. Without Trae Young in the lineup, the Hawks ran a significant portion of their offense through him, and he responded with a barrage of floaters and layups.

But to keep the main thing the main thing, Daniels just needs to continue playing defense at a high level. If he does, the Great Barrier Thief should earn some league-wide recognition at season's end.

[jayu70]

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter