The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Snyder focuses on offense, then defense in drills.
It has been a whirlwind of a week for Hawks coach Quin Snyder, but he hasn’t been timid about stepping into the new role.
Though the Hawks lost Tuesday’s game against the Wizards in his coaching debut with the team, Snyder got a full picture of what he has to work with. So, in the players’ two practices ahead of their matchup against the Trail Blazers today, Snyder said they would look to create a specific mentality.
“I feel like coach Snyder’s already, off of the Wizards (game), started to tweak some things, change some things up,” third-year center Onyeka Okongwu said. “He’s still trying to get to know us a little bit — he’s only been here, like, three days. So it’s still fairly new to him. So he’s trying to stay within that time and just try to help us as best as possible.”
The team focused on offense Wednesday and turned its attention to defense Thursday.
“I think one of the things that we talked about is creating a mentality,” Snyder said at practice Wednesday. “Not that you’re passing for the sake of passing, but you’re moving the ball to create an advantage. When we attack, we want to attack collectively. And sometimes, that’s something people have got to feel. The tape usually helps with that. And then we got on the floor and tried to do some of those things, little details, the accuracy of our passes, spac- ing, all those things.”
Hawks players have spo- ken of Snyder’s attention to detail. Ahead of the game against the Wizards, guard Dejounte Murray said the team responded to Snyder well. Now, though, the team needs to go out there and translate it to the court.
The last time the Hawks faced the Trail Blazers, they gave up 19 3-pointers and allowed seven-time All-star Damian Lillard to put up 42 points. Snyder knows the team has to improve on defense.
“We have to be solid, and I think that that base is what allows you to get better,” Snyder said Wednesday. “It’s hard to get better at a lot of things at once. So on the defensive end, you know whether it’s pick and roll, a lot of it for us is little things just being shifted. And that sounds like simply being in the right spot as the rent.”