Atlanta Hawks Exit Interview Notes and Quotes: What Did Onsi Saleh, Quin Snyder, and Others Have To Say?

The Atlanta Hawks season came to a crushing end last night against the New York Knicks in a game six blowout loss.

While a tough moment, it should not overshadow what the Hawks were able to accomplish this season. They had to navigate serious roster changes on the fly and went 20-6 after the All-Star break to finish 6th in the Eastern Conference. There is still a lot to be proud of, considering all of that, but this is going to be an interesting offseason for Atlanta.

On Friday, the Hawks held exit interviews where each player, head coach Quin Snyder, and general manger Onsi Saleh spoke with the media.

Notable quotes

Onsi Saleh talked a lot about development heading into the offseason and how the Hawks are not just one player away:

"We are not one player away from this, the best iteration of this team is going to be through development and our players currently getting better. We're really excited about the future and what holds there, from the draft to the flexibility moving forward, all that stuff. We're in a good place, position set up moving forward, and our coaching staff has just been remarkable this year."

Saleh also gave lots of praise to head coach Quin Snyder:

“He has been an unbelievable partner in all of this, and it has been so nice, just having a partner who you're so aligned with. It makes it easy. I understand the types of players that work for him and understand the types of guys that make sense for us as an organization, and we always have healthy dialogue. We talk every day. He's unbelievable.”

Jalen Johnson reflected on Thursday's loss to the Knicks:

"It just sucks. I think that's the best way to sum it up. It sucks. It's a terrible feeling. It's not the way you want a series to end, of course. It's just a lot of fuel going into the next season, a lot of fuel going into the offseason for everybody. We're going to make sure this never happens again. We never get this type of feeling again. It's just a sick feeling to our stomach, so it's been tough for sure."

Jalen Johnson on what he learned about himself this series:

"Yeah, there's plenty of stuff. I'm going to take a couple days to decompress, and then I'm really going to dive back into the film session, as hard as it is going to be to watch. It's something I need to continue to grow and continue to be the best version of myself. I'm going to take a lot away from this, just growing wise, and I'll be better moving forward."

Zaccharie Risacher talked about learning from Buddy Hield...

"I feel like we have a bunch of great guys that you can learn from, talk to. I feel like I spend a lot of time with Buddy, working on my game, especially at the end of the season, and it's been great for me. He's a person that's easy to talk to, so even in the locker room, he's always like... We had those talks, and he always have great advices. So, yeah, it's been great for me to be able to talk to a guy like him with his experience and his vision."

Risacher also talked about adjusting to his role on the bench...

"I feel like I just, like, kept working, you know. I had to stay ready no matter what. And that was, I feel like, the biggest adjustment for me. And like I said a little bit before, like, fighting through adversity is a part of the job. And, yeah, just, yeah, that's it."

Dyson Daniels talked about what led to his scuffle with Mitchell Robinson which got both players:

"Yeah, I mean, there was just, you know, over the series, there was a few elbows thrown, and he kind of does this thing on the... free throws where he like puts his elbows really high and he got me with like two or three of them throughout the series and on the free throws so I gave him one back and then yeah he didn't like it I didn't like it so it kind of just boiled over a little bit yeah I thought it was just gonna be a tech and we move on but probably went for a little too long so that just threw us out plus we got 50 as well which probably you know went into it so yeah it was a silly play I shouldn't have done it, but also just trying to stick up for myself as well."

Daniels also talked about what he has to do to improve his shot:

"I think it's all mental. I've never really been challenged this way my whole career and it was kind of the first time I've ever been through something like that. I think... You know, I've been working with, you know, one of our shooting coaches out here that I think has really helped with my technique. It's just about, you know, being confident in myself to go out there and take it. I mean, I know, like, my shooting workouts, they're fine. Like, I can shoot the ball, you know, 70%, 75%, like, on my own. But when it comes to the pressure environments, it's a lot different. And that's when you've got to trust your work, you've got to trust yourself. I mean, I'm not going to lie. Like, you go out there and... you're struggling in front of 15,000 people every night, it's a lot different to shoot on your own. Like I said, I'm glad that I was challenged that way because there's a lot of mental barriers that I overcome that I can take with me heading into next season."

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