“The way he does it is just something that I’ve never seen my whole career,” teammate and veteran Clint Capela said of Daniels’ defensive exploits.Daniels’ numbers have impressed this season, but how he has achieved them shows what an elite defender he is.
“He’s a unique player on the defensive end,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. “A combination of his size, his length, but as much as anything, his feel, his ability to anticipate.”
His strong read of the game has allowed him to get into passing lanes in a way that doesn’t take him out of a play. When he picks off passes, his hands usually already are in the air in attempt to cut off the vision of the opposing player. He’s able to time the wave of his hands to poke the ball away and get out in transition.
But Daniels always has his eyes on the ball, ready to pick the pocket of an opponent when their back is turned.
“Yeah, I mean, I say this all time, but everyone is different in how you do it,” Daniels told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “But one thing for me is I know where people have to bring the ball to get power to go up. So, a guy like Giannis (Antetokounmpo), for example, he got me a couple times (and) I missed it. But you have to bring the ball across your body to get your power. So usually, if someone gets past me, and there’s a big at the rim, and they try Euro step, they’re always going to bring the ball across their body to the left side. So, that’s when I can swipe it.
“Whereas coming down the lane, if I can absorb the first bump, that’s what I try to do a lot of the time, absorb the first bump, and then I can get my hand in there and dig it out because that’s when the ball is vulnerable on a bump as well.
“So it’s a little harder when people have you on their back and dribbling down, sometimes I can reach around and poke it out, but if they’re coming straight downhill and hit me in the chest, I’m able to absorb it and get a hand in there because I know the ball is going to be vulnerable. It’s not in a spot where they can keep it away from me. So there’s little things that I know an offensive player does where I can get the ball, and then there’s a lot of times like I’m just coming from behind people and just trying to make plays, as well.”
“I think, offense and defense are so manipulated to do the same thing every time,” Daniels said. “Offensive players know that a defensive player is going to try get in the hip and fight over a screen. I think just knowing little things, like sometimes I’m gonna play, on the outside hip and rather than try get through the screen, I’m going over the screen, behind him, kind of.
“And, if they make a really good pass, a bounce pass, where they can turn the corner, then sometimes I get in trouble. But that’s a hard pass to make. And if I’m able to stay close enough, I’m able to get a hand in there, and they just don’t expect you to be there as well. So that’s when I can come in and get those little tip balls and stuff like that. So I think it’s just about reading the game, trying to do different stuff that they’re not used to seeing, and confuse them a little bit.”
Who gets that money, not the players.
