New Hawks coach Quin Snyder does not have a ton of time to settle in before the team hits the court Tuesday night.
The Hawks and Snyder had their first session together at the team’s shootaround Tuesday morning, and the team came away ready to capitalize on his knowledge.
“For me, it’s his attention to detail,” Hawks guard Dejounte Murray said. “Obviously, he’s not like coming in right now trying to switch everything up, but he’s going off of his experience of being a great coach and his knowledge and what he knows.
“He’s already been breaking down film, since there’s been a conversation for him to come here, and just listening to everything from defensive personnel to the offense of focusing on getting more mismatches and everything we want to do just to come together and build toward being a great team.”
The Hawks introduced Snyder as their new head coach Monday, and he said his main focus this season was learning about his new team. The Hawks have 21 games left this season, and Snyder said he understands that he has plenty to learn from the players.
He said in his news conference that he planned to lean on the players and coaching staff as they worked on their partnership of building a solid foundation. At the shootaround, players got a chance to see him put that into practice, and Murray said the team has responded well.
“I mean, everybody’s responding well, because, like I said, his attention to detail is really well,” he said. “He’s making his voice be known, and he’s going after everybody, you know, he’s trying to teach everybody. And I feel like the vibe is great.”
There is still plenty of buzz in the air from the team’s past two wins, and they’re ready to capitalize on the stability that Snyder could bring. The team aggressively pursued Snyder to bring him aboard now rather than wait until the offseason.
Hawks guard Trae Young said he appreciated that Snyder’s earlier-than-usual arrival would allow the team to get ahead of the learning curve.
“Now, instead of waiting until the offseason, which we all appreciate because it is gonna take a learning curve and a learning process to get to know each other, and how we want to play,” Young said. “So, being able to come in now, rather than just starting the season on next year, I think it’s gonna be helpful for us.”
For Hawks veteran forward John Collins, Snyder brings some expert knowledge of the pick and roll that could help both him and Clint Capela be more indefensible.
“I’m hoping you know, that we can build on all that we have,” Collins said. “Obviously, I have two great guys that can give me the ball in the pick and roll. Obviously, we’ve seen Trae and I, and (Murray) and I are working and obviously still have some good chemistry already.
“But adding coach Quin in here is going to be very fun. Hopefully puts a whole new dynamic take or effort to just give us more options to be (difficult to guard), hopefully in that pick and roll as we all want it to be. So very excited.”
Snyder will be on the sidelines Tuesday night when the Hawks host the Wizards at State Farm Arena.
