As the NBA regular season begins to wind down, with nine games remaining, the Atlanta Hawks look to solidify their postseason position and secure at least the seventh seed in the play-in round of the playoffs.
And while the jury may be considered out as to how well the Hawks will fare, one thing which seems to have already been proven, is Dyson Daniels’ case for Defensive Player of the Year.
“Every time I go watch him live, it’s like he’s in the middle of every single possession. He’s wreaking havoc for the other team,” Steak Shapiro said on Friday as he and Rusty Mansell were joined by Atlanta head coach, Quin Snyder.
In agreeance with Shapiro’s comments on Daniels, Snyder, in his first full season as the Hawks head coach, shared his thoughts on why the Hawks’ guard, dubbed “The Great Barrier Thief”, has solidified his place in talks for this season’s Defensive Player of the Year Award.
“He finds ways when they’re avoiding him to include himself,” Snyder said of Daniels, who leads the league in total steals with 208, steals per game average with 3.1 and recently became just the third player since the 2000-2001 season to record 200 or more steals in a single season. And while those numbers alone have placed Daniels in the conversation for the defensive POTY, Snyder shared a stat which places Daniels in great company and furthers his case for the regular season award.
“There’s a stat they call stocks and what it is, it’s really simply, it’s steals and blocks. So not only does he lead the league in steals, he leads the league in steals and blocks combined,” Snyder explained, noting “the last time someone did that, it was Michael Jordan,” Snyder said in giving Shapiro and Mansell perspective of how good a defensive player Daniels has been this season.
