- 18 hours ago
Atlanta Hawks Head Coach Quin Snyder joined the Steakhouse to talk about his team's run down the final stretch of the NBA regular season, and offers some sharp criticism for the way Jock Landale was injured by the Orlando Magic with no repercussions from the league office.
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00:00Yeah, there was a national title game in college going on,
00:02but I'm pretty sure most of Atlanta was tuned in to watch the Hawks last night
00:05and the Knicks.
00:07That's the kind of buzz this team has created.
00:09Joining us, the head coach of the Hawks, Quinn Snyder on Sports Radio 92.9,
00:13the game coach, thanks for being with us.
00:15Thank you guys for having me.
00:17Appreciate you, as you said, everybody tuning in last night.
00:21We didn't come up while we wanted, but I think we really competed,
00:25and that'll help us get better.
00:29It was, as somebody you know who is a freak for the NBA over the last 40 years,
00:35everything about it felt like a playoff game.
00:37The amount of minutes you played your guys, the urgency with every possession,
00:43the way every late game move seemed to mean more.
00:47Did you get that same sense that I had watching through the TV?
00:51Yeah, that was the plan going in.
00:54And we've looked at these last couple weeks heading into, you know, postseason
01:00and wanted to treat it like the playoffs, and it's gradually gotten further there.
01:06And something as simple and obvious as the minutes, you know,
01:10when you get into a playoff setting, you want your most productive guys out there
01:16as much as possible, and even a guy like J.K., who hasn't been able to play,
01:21whose minutes have gone up, and that impacts everybody.
01:24But I think our team's in a good place where guys understand that
01:29and are still going to have opportunities, and we're going to need everybody to contribute.
01:34Yeah, I mean, it was one of the classic back and forth.
01:37I'll tell you what the narrative was on the Peacock NBC broadcast,
01:40which really got tired to me, is that the New York Knicks have a closer
01:44in Jalen Brunson, and the Hawks are still trying to figure out how to end games.
01:47One team has that experience, another doesn't.
01:50As the guy that is in the huddle under two minutes, Colin Plays,
01:54who is our closer, and do you buy that narrative at all?
01:59I do, to an extent, because we've been together for two months,
02:05and they've been together for three years.
02:08But I think a part of this that people don't always understand,
02:15and referring to the broadcast, is, you know, we're best when we run,
02:19and there's going to be a time when the game is going to slow down like that,
02:24but we can't fall into playing a game where it's Jalen Brunson
02:30versus a singular player on the Hawks.
02:32So, you know, we have different guys.
02:34They have different match-ups at various times in the game,
02:39and frankly, Nikhil is a different player than he was a month and a half ago.
02:45So, you know, now he's in some closing actions,
02:48and that means Jalen has to be spaced.
02:51You know, match-ups, do you want O.G. Inobi on you or Jalen Brunson on you?
02:57So there's a lot more going on for us than just give one guy the ball.
03:02That doesn't mean that we can't close games kind of our way.
03:07But I think what we did see is their physicality went up at the end of the game,
03:13and it was less about who and what as much as how.
03:17And so being in that situation, and I'm actually going to share that with our team
03:23because I think they have to process it the right way,
03:26and I'd like to think we could be even better closing as we find that rhythm.
03:31But that's something that was really beneficial for us last night.
03:36We've been playing well, and we've been winning games in margins
03:40where we haven't been in those situations.
03:41And clearly the Knicks have, and clearly Brunson has.
03:45But I would point to, you know, us not being able to get a defensive rebound
03:50because that usually turns into a basket for us.
03:53And those are the things that we have to keep doing to take advantage of what is a team
04:00with a lot of balance and a lot of weapons.
04:02And that makes our challenge a little different than theirs.
04:10The physicality is something you referenced.
04:12But listen, the Knicks are bigger than you.
04:15You saw that when you played the Pistons.
04:17You saw it with Mitchell Robinson, who was a real problem last night,
04:20and Carl Anthony Towns.
04:22Not having Landale, how much did that affect you?
04:25And it felt like you put Tony Bradley in and realized, like,
04:30maybe not the time for him because I don't think he got back on the court
04:32or maybe he did for a second.
04:34So that felt to me like, and maybe reference how he got injured
04:38and how much you miss him.
04:41Yeah, there's a lot there that you just mentioned, and it's all very real.
04:46Yeah, I apologize.
04:46The injury was just – no, no.
04:49Frankly, I've been holding back to talk about it because I don't want to make it
04:54about that.
04:54But it was a dirty play, and it's unfortunate because Jock's out.
05:01And he's one of the people that really helped us take a step.
05:04We really haven't had a backup center all year.
05:06And O's battling his tail off.
05:10But, you know, Tony is the only player on our team,
05:13other than Mo Gay, over six feet, six foot eight.
05:16And they're small forward, and Mikael Bridges and OG are the same height
05:20as our center.
05:21So we're battling, and we'll keep looking for some of that.
05:26I think Tony can provide some of that.
05:28I think Mo can as well, situationally.
05:31But we've gotten better playing to our strengths smaller and being scrappy.
05:38And Jock was a big part of that.
05:40So that's a big blow, and it's really unfortunate,
05:43particularly the way that it happened.
05:45And I wish it would have been taken more seriously than it was to get to a
05:49point where there's no penalty, there's no suspension, there's nothing.
05:54And, you know, I've been very, very measured on what I say about that,
05:59but it's wrong.
06:01Yeah, I don't understand.
06:02We're in a blowout.
06:04We're a playoff team.
06:05We're fighting for our lives.
06:07It's not a basketball play.
06:09You threw them down.
06:10You injured them.
06:11Could have been out for the year.
06:12Or what is the league looking to police if they're not going to police a play
06:17like that?
06:20Well, that decision, I don't understand it.
06:24The part of it that's even more concerning to me is we played them last year,
06:28and we were playing probably our best.
06:29We had a similar situation with the trade at the deadline,
06:33and we're playing really well.
06:34And we went down to Orlando, and two guys in our team were knocked out for the
06:38season, Larry Nance and Deet, both on dirty plays.
06:41So here we are, a year removed, and you could see it coming.
06:46You know, that's the game plan against the Hawks is to try to punk us.
06:50And you know what?
06:51It didn't work because we were tough, and we competed, and then it turned into
06:57that when the game was over.
06:58It makes me really, really angry.
07:01And you feel it.
07:03I think the reason I feel this right now even more, and I'm being stronger on it
07:09with you guys because I think you understand it, and I don't want to make it
07:13about that.
07:14No, no, but listen.
07:15You saw it last night, right?
07:17You saw it last night, and we're fighting for our lives here, and we're not a big
07:21team.
07:22We know our advantages, but you got a guy like Landale who comes in who is a huge
07:25body who can also step out and hit a three.
07:28You're having to play guys 40 minutes.
07:30It has a massive impact on the postseason and how healthy he is if you can't get a
07:35guy like him out there.
07:37Well, it does, and I tell you what, we're going to overcome it.
07:41You know, we're going to do different things that we have to do, and your game is a
07:45really tough matchup, and that's why I go back to running.
07:49You know, we've got to get out and mitigate some of that.
07:52You know, if you're down 30, 40 pounds and four inches on someone, like, it's like a
07:58boxing match, you know, you don't want to get stuck on the ropes, and that's something
08:02that our guys know, but it's, you know, sometimes it's harder to do it than it is for, you know,
08:08the two of us to talk about it, but, you know, we've got to keep grinding, and I think last
08:13night, although the result is really tough to, it hurts, because we know what a big game
08:19it was, and that's why it felt like a playoff game.
08:21They approached it that way as well.
08:23No doubt.
08:23You know, you can feel that, too.
08:24Yeah, you see their minutes.
08:25Finish it up with Quinn Snyder, head coach of the Atlanta Hawks.
08:29I think, to elaborate for just a minute on what you said about Nikhil, I mean, I've never
08:35seen anything where I watched a guy early in a year and go, wow, that's a nice pickup.
08:39You can play a little D, you can make a couple of shots.
08:41I mean, last night, it was like the coming out party, draining seven threes, defending on
08:48both ends, but I know you're-
08:49Off of one leg, he's draining threes.
08:50It's like Steph Curry, I couldn't get over it.
08:53So, like, I think you're referring to his offensive confidence more than the D, but boy, is he
08:59in a flow right now, and I'll take three guys that you want the ball in their hands.
09:03I think at the end of the day, we'll see that that's what's going to create opportunity,
09:06but talk about what you mean when he's a different player.
09:09Well, it's, I think it's, I'm glad you brought it up.
09:13I think he's just worked and worked and worked, and his teammates believe in him, the coaches
09:19believe in him, and that confidence is coming from them as much as anything.
09:23And we've got, you know, I've mentioned this before, not to get off on Nikhil, but we had
09:28a guy that was the Eastern Conference Player of the Month in Jalen Johnson who's taken huge
09:33strides.
09:34So, there's a lot of guys, and I know our players are proud and supportive of one another,
09:40and they're beginning to bake that into how they play.
09:43You know, I think as guys grow and get better, you know, their teammates understand that and
09:49find them in different positions and, you know, becomes, you know, exponential.
09:55And what he's done, I mean, it's the work he's put in, it's a passion to improve, and I think
10:03it's also, you know, his teammates, you know, allowing him to elevate, guys understanding,
10:09you know what, he's got it going, I'm going to move the ball to him, and it's part of that
10:14selflessness that we've talked about, because everybody's capable, you've seen it, of having
10:19a big night for us.
10:21Why do you keep saying that this is a seven-game series, your final seven games?
10:25Is that because, well, is that about staying out of the play-in?
10:29So, you're really talking about finishing three, four, five, six, anything, is that what
10:34it is?
10:34Yes.
10:35Yes.
10:36It fit.
10:37When we hit 500, I looked at the schedule, and there was 14 games left.
10:41It was maybe a little after that, and it just made sense to me as a way to really focus
10:46on the finish, and it's not a perfect analogy, but you have seven-game series, seven-game
10:52series, we win those two series, whatever that means.
10:56Basically, what it means to us is you stay out of the play-in, and, you know, we've got
11:01three games left in this seven-game series, you know, and that's the way we've been focused
11:06on it, and we've won the first one, and, you know, that, to me, sometimes breaking things
11:12out in smaller segments like that helps our focus, and so that's the way I wanted to approach
11:17it, and that's been the message to the team, and they've grabbed onto it.
11:20Is there any element behind the scenes that you and your coaches say, we'd rather play
11:24the Knicks than play the Cavs, or play the Cavs than the Celtics, or play the...
11:27Like, do you have those discussions, or you don't have the energy to even think...
11:31You know what?
11:33Yeah, we've just been focused on us.
11:35I think there's some of that going on all the time.
11:38It's going on with other teams.
11:39You hear about it.
11:41I think for us, you know, whoever it is, like, we just want to be in that battle.
11:46You know, we want to be in that fight, and that's been our focus.
11:50Yeah, I mean, the Knicks are right...
11:52Cavs are right behind the Knicks.
11:53Okay, take on the Knicks, or take on Donovan and Cleveland, or whatever.
11:58I totally agree.
11:59Like, if we play the way we can play, share the basketball, and get these guys playing
12:04in flow like they are, why not take our chances with everybody in the East?
12:08So, that's our mindset.
12:09You know, yeah.
12:11I don't want to put a ceiling on this team, and at the same time, we know we've got work
12:15to do to get in that position.
12:16So, I think that's the best way to approach it.
12:19Before you go, did you hear Steve Holman's call the other night on the Orlando thing that
12:22went viral after the hit on Landale?
12:26I didn't hear it, but it was shared with me, and I think everybody felt that, and I'm
12:30glad he said it.
12:31But you did, somebody played it for you, or not?
12:33No, no, I was told about it.
12:36Someone shared it with me.
12:37I gotta tell you, I gotta tell you.
12:40It was epic.
12:40It was pretty epic.
12:41Dude, it was like everything you want of your local guy, who is just...
12:46Well, we know why...
12:47Yeah.
12:48We know why he's a legend, and I'm gonna listen to it later.
12:52You gotta listen to it.
12:53You gotta hear it.
12:54I know, you got a lot of work to do.
12:55I'm trying to focus forward, yeah.
12:56I know, and it just...
12:58Listen, for comedy...
12:59I'll tune into it, for sure.
12:59It's comedy purposes.
13:00Comedy purposes.
13:01The poor guy was having a stroke, literally, in his seat, so...
13:04And, you know, he's doing his walks every morning, but doesn't drink as much anymore,
13:09but God bless.
13:10All right, thanks, buddy.
13:11He's the best.
13:12He is.
13:12All right, guys.
13:13Take care.
13:14Quinn Snyder, head coach of the Hawks.
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