Everything from Quin Snyder Following the Loss to the Knicks
It was not the home opener that Hawks head coach Quin Snyder envisioned last night against the Knicks.
The Hawks offense played better than it did on Wednesday, but the defense could not get enough stops and both Jalen Brunson and RJ Barrett had good scoring nights.
Snyder spoke with the media after the game on Friday night and talked about the defense and everything else about this game.
Opening Statement
"I think you can point to a lot of things, but kind of the umbrella for me is the lack of execution in a lot of different situations. Things that I know we have talked about and we worked on and we have to be more focused in the course of a game and we have to communicate with one another in order to do those things. It was not just one or two things, it was a number of things and still, we put ourselves in a position where we have a chance to win. Obviously happy with the way that we battled back in the fourth quarter. But we made too many mistakes relative to execution and the game plan, contesting a shot. I thought that we did some of those things and we saw some success. It is just a question of doing it all the time."
1. On if he is seeing the lack of communication and other negative things in practice:
"No, no, we have had, I think just keeping that in the front of our minds when we are playing and competing in the course of the games. You are going to have some breakdowns, but you can't have as many and you have to limit them. It is not something that we don't know is important or believe in, it is just a question of execution, and that has to get better. As far as practice or anything, we have been talking and working and you are seeing different things that we can't simulate in practice when we play an opponent, you can't simulate all of that. We just have to improve."
2. On how to close out shots better...
"Well, I mean, there is some when you are in help situations that guys are going to get some looks but regarding the ball, we have our hands down, just simple things like that and we have to have the discipline and there were stretches where we started doing it and they made some of them but you have to do everything you can to make that shot harder and I think our guys are aware of that and they know that we need to change and we want to. Again, execution is a funny thing. Sometimes you are not able to do it and the other team sometimes makes it hard but it has to be in the front of your mind and you have to be focused on doing it."
3. On how he feels about the rotation after three games...
"I think I have said this... I don't know that our rotation has kind of jumped out, our rotation has been different on both nights> We brought Jalen (Johnson) back to matchup on Randle for a little bit, Hunter was in foul trouble a little bit, we put Hunt on Brunson for a little bit, he was in foul trouble early and we couldn't make that cross-match, but as far as our guys playing together and gelling as you said, I think that is happening, we just need to execute and that is not a question of rotations, that is a question of everyone."
4. On not being able to get over the hump and take the lead over the Knicks and if things would have been different...
"I don't think so. I think you have to execute not matter what the score is, it does not matter if you get that big basket to get momentum. Maybe... but I feel like it is something that if we turn it into that and someone hits a couple of shots and you are behind, you're ahead, your execution has to transcend that."
5. On if they should have shot more three-pointers...
"We passes some up. We passed some up and we have to take them because generally what happens against a good defensive team that has really shifted is you pass it up and you try to create a shot for yourself when we have already created a shot and we have to keep pounding that and keep doing it. We also had some really good situations where you don't have to shoot it every time, you have to make a quick decision. DJ had a number of situations where he shot some and he had a great quick move where he read before the catch and got to the rim. Yeah, we can't pass them up but I would have to see the tape but it felt like we had some.
6. On what he thinks about the offense's progression since Wednesday against Charlotte...
"Well I mean that was two days ago. I thought we were better tonight, we were more organized with some of the stuff that we are doing, we shot the ball better, we did not shoot it great and we played a team that shot it really well so we have had kind of on the other end of that but that is why I was talking about execution regardless of how you shoot or if you are at home or on the road, everyone in the game that is wearing a Hawks uniform has to really stay focused on that and block out the shooter and things like that, that is probably the most obvious and we know how do that."
7. On how the team can best learn from the missed opportunities tonight...
"A lot of the stuff that I am talking about I think... find the areas, I think that guys have an idea on certain thins and their feeling. We have a team that really cares and is competitive and we just need to keep focusing on the things that we need to do to have success and I think that is true in every game, not just... we are going to be doing this the whole season and finding things against every team. When we go to try and hit Randle, we can't let him split us, we are trying to do the right thing, we just have to get better at doing those things."
8. On leaving De'Andre Hunter in with two early fouls...
"As a general rule, different people have different philosophies and I don't... In an NBA game, six fouls, whether it is two early in the first quarter or three early in the second, I felt like you let guys play and adjust a little bit and that is not always the case. Like I said before, but you can adjust the matchup to help him have success, but I thought he was locked in and competing and I wanted to keep him in his rhythm and leave him in the game."
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