Dyson Daniels reveals the Victor Wembanyama problem that led to Hawks’ loss

ATLANTA, GA – If nobody knows by now, then they’re not watching: Victor Wembanyama is a problem. The Atlanta Hawks had just come off a tough loss against the Charlotte Hornets and had to come back in less than 24 hours and face one of the most unique players in the NBA. Even coming off the bench, Wembanyama was able to affect everything the Hawks did in just 21 minutes of playing time.

The shots in the paint had to be higher. The defense had to be more locked in. Even when he was smothered and covered, it still wasn’t enough. By the time the Hawks looked up at the score, they were down 20 points. To end the game, the Hawks had lost 126-98.

“He’s the best shot blocker in the league,” Dyson Daniels said after the game. “When you’re that tall and long, you can affect shots in different ways. When you’re going in [the paint], you want to have eyes out, and I have to start making some shots to so he respects me more. We didn’t really have a good shooting night as a team, so when you play against guys like that, it’s kind of getting in there and finding shooters.”

The Hawks shot 40% from the field and 25% from the three-point line, and they weren’t going to win the game like that. As dominant as Wembanyama was, it was the entire team that put pressure on the Hawks, from the beginning of the game until the end. They scored 60 points in the paint, and whether it was Wembanyama making it look easy or their guards getting downhill, everything was working for them.

“We weren’t able to keep them out of the paint,” head coach Quin Snyder said. “That was really the biggest thing. Defensively, we have some things that we’ve been committed to, and know what we need to do to compete against a team that’s playing at a very high level.”

Hawks don’t have enough juice against the Spurs

The Hawks had 11 turnovers in the first half, and the Spurs were able to capitalize on just about every one of them. Add that on to the missed shots, and the Spurs making their shots, and it was a recipe for disaster.

“I thought we just tried to thread the needle too much tonight,” Daniels said. “Sometimes it’s better to make the easy pass rather than making the difficult one. We turned it over a lot, and that hurt us a lot.

“We were a step slow. We gave up too many drives. When they have Wemby down there, he’s a big focus for us. They played fast, we turned the ball over a lot, so they got out in transition. For us, it’s about getting good shots, getting the right shots, and from there, when we make shots, it’s easier to defend, but we didn’t tonight.”

The good news for the Hawks is their next four games are at home, a place they haven’t played a lot so far this season.

“We just need to come ready,” Daniels said. “We’ve had a bit of a slippage the last couple of games, but we’ll be ready for Sunday. Guys will be fired up. We don’t like losing these games. Chicago is a good team as well, so it’s going to be tough, but we know what we need to do and how we need to play.”

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