00:00I don't know if Dyson Daniels played baseball down under because I know a lot of guys, you
00:03know, do follow baseball.
00:04Dyson, first off, great to visit with you, man.
00:06We haven't had a chance to talk to you since before the Knicks series.
00:09First off, how are you doing?
00:10How's your offseason?
00:11No, I'm doing great.
00:13Not much baseball for me down in Australia, but my offseason was great.
00:17I was over to travel a little bit and yeah, went overseas, went back home.
00:22I was in L.A. working out, so just thought it was a good offseason.
00:25Well, man, I just want to say we're just happy to get you back on.
00:28And John, just real quick before I want to get to your questions too, John, but I want
00:31to say I really do appreciate your attitude and your effort this year, man, especially
00:36in that Knicks series.
00:37But I just thought, and it's tough for some young players in that kind of atmosphere for
00:40the first time, and I thought you did what you're supposed to do, and I like the fact
00:43you weren't going to take any nonsense from Robinson or any of the Knicks.
00:47No, I appreciate that.
00:48Yeah, you know, they'll stand 10 toes down, so I like that aggressive side play, and obviously
00:54they got us, but I think it's a good learning step for our team going forward.
00:59Dyson Daniels, we got Hawks basketball coming up next week.
01:02We got the preseason basketball here on the night to time the game.
01:07We good?
01:09Yeah, yeah.
01:09Okay, I just want to check.
01:10Feeling good.
01:11So, feeling good about the, you know, the games coming up, obviously the preseason game,
01:15first one at home against Memphis, and, you know, we're actually in Nashville at the
01:20moment doing our training camp, so guys are getting ready, and guys are excited for that.
01:25But, yeah, we're just looking forward to another season.
01:28I hope everyone's motivated from last year, and we're having that next year, so where does
01:35it get out there and get going?
01:36Right.
01:37So, are you going to be shooting more threes?
01:38Are you going to be shooting more threes this year, Dyson?
01:40Yeah, definitely.
01:42We'll be letting them fly, which will be good.
01:46Well, I'm kind of curious to that point, to what Mike just asked you.
01:49You know, Dyson, when I was in high school, I wasn't a very good shooter, and my coach
01:53took a broom, and he held it in the air.
01:55I had to shoot it like 14 feet over the broom.
01:57That didn't really so much work, because I just didn't have natural talent.
02:00Do you have Jock out there standing in front of you?
02:02What do you do to try to, you know, create more arc and get better, just besides just standing
02:08there and, you know, firing away from the corner or something?
02:10Yeah, it's a lot of sequencing stuff that goes into it.
02:13You know, it's like catching, you know, loaded, ready to go, and having that power coming from
02:17the legs, and more of like a sequencing rather than like a disjointed jump shot, trying to
02:24keep the hand under for as long as I can, and then when I get to the shooting pocket, it's
02:30just about pushing up rather than forward, so there's a lot of little different details
02:34that go into shooting that I've been working on this offseason, and I'm happy, you know,
02:38it's worth that, so I'm looking forward to, you know, the season and letting more fly
02:42this year.
02:43Talking with Dyson Daniels, guys, in 25, he was the all-defensive team last year.
02:46He was second team, which I still think he should have been first team.
02:49He joins us here on Dukes and Bell.
02:50The message from Quinn Snyder, as you said, learning from the playoff experience, still
02:55a lot of new faces, too, on the roster.
02:57How does this all look?
02:58And again, you could argue that we're going to be even better defensively.
03:01What about the scoring?
03:02Where's that coming from?
03:03Yeah, no, obviously, we made a lot of changes this offseason, and a lot of new guys coming
03:08in, and I think we're a lot deeper this year.
03:10We've got much deeper into the bench, and we've got some young guys that are learning
03:16as well.
03:16You know, obviously, Asa was a rookie last year.
03:18He's had a really good offseason, so we're deep, you know.
03:21We are going to be really good on defense if we bring out a game every match, and, you
03:27know, I think we just have a lot of players that are versatile and can defend multiple positions.
03:32We can switch while we can pick up, so, you know, hopefully, cause teams having to come
03:36at him before, for sure.
03:38Well, you know, somebody had to pick you up and take you under your wing, Dyson.
03:42Do you feel that kind of same responsibility for, say, Kingston Flemings?
03:47Yeah, I think, you know, I'll be a big part of, you know, just being in his ear and helping
03:51him with guiding him the right way, and Kingston's a very mature rookie, you know.
03:56He's coming in, and he's been really good during the preseason, and he's a very good learner
04:00as well, and definitely want to take him under my wing, along with a few other older guys
04:06showing him the right way, and, yeah, like I said, he's very polished as a rookie, and
04:11obviously he's got a lot to his game, and, you know, still a lot to improve on, but looking
04:16forward to him and his rookie, he's going to help us a lot.
04:19Talking with our man Dyson Daniels, guys, about the Hawks.
04:21Yeah, I was out there the other day at the facility and ran into Zuby Ejafor, and he
04:26looks like kind of a guy that can do almost anything.
04:28Dyson, I saw him in St. Johnson College, but it seems like he can play both ends of the
04:31floor.
04:33Yeah, he's very physical, he's athletic, he blocks shots, he's shooting the ball really
04:38well, so, like I said, he can do a bit of everything.
04:40So, his natural position, I'm probably the father of the ball, but he can really do it all.
04:47You know, Mike mentioned something, Dyson Daniels, that I'd like to explore a little
04:52bit, and not that you care about these so-called experts and their rankings, but there was one
04:56this week that ranked the 10 best defensive teams in the NBA, and they ranked the Hawks
05:019th, and I went, okay, is there really kind of like a source of pride on this team, you
05:07know, especially given the fact that this is what you do so well, but when you go out
05:11and you make the changes and you get the players that you get in, and, you know, guys like
05:14Dorton and whatnot, to be even better defensively, to become, I don't know, maybe aiming to become
05:20the best defensive team in the NBA?
05:23Yeah, I know, we feel like we can be the best defensive team in the NBA, and like I said,
05:28we've got a lot of different guys that can defend a lot of different positions, and yeah,
05:32we don't get caught up in the rankings and what everyone has to say, and everyone's got
05:36their opinion on something that's different all across the world.
05:40So, all we can do is come in every day and work, and work on our defense, work on our
05:45offense, and yeah, have each other's back, and I think as we do that, we'll come out
05:49here and have a really good year.
05:51More on what's going on with the Phillies and the Braves right now, we're talking with
05:54one of the best defensive players in the NBA, the great barrier thief.
05:57I guess the plunder from down under never really took.
06:00But anyway, Dyson Daniels is with us.
06:01Another thing, Dyson, in addition to your toughness, I thought you showed a lot of poise and a lot
06:06of team vibe in the playoffs last year when the minutes and the rotation kind of switched
06:10a little bit, Kaminga got more minutes.
06:12You didn't pout.
06:13Did you talk to Quinn Snyder about that, or just simply about the team effort?
06:18No, it's all about the team.
06:20Obviously, there was a few games that I didn't finish during the series, but we had Kaminga
06:25who was playing really well.
06:26He was out there.
06:27He was a game changer for us.
06:28So, for someone like him to come in and be able to change a game like that, he has to
06:33be out there at the end of the game.
06:35So, credit to him coming in and changing the game.
06:40I don't take that personal at all.
06:41It's just about me going out there and working.
06:44For me, if I want to be out there at the end of the game, then I've got to be
06:47out there
06:48having an impact during the game.
06:53Obviously, Kaminga's not with us anymore, but like I said, you want the players that
06:57are playing the best to finish the games.
07:00Hey, man, before I let you go, brother, are you enjoying Nashville?
07:02I mean, that's a parting town, brother.
07:04Yeah, I am.
07:05I was actually just in a damn Broadway getting some food right now, so it's a pretty cool
07:09city.
07:10Do you know any country music?
07:13I've got no idea.
07:14I have no idea.
07:15I'm a little out of place here.
07:16I'm out of my depth on that, too, but I mean, it's okay.
07:18Brother Matt, we always appreciate spending time with you.
07:20I give our best to Jock and everybody else, and hopefully we'll be talking to you during
07:23the season, man.
07:24Have a great year.
07:25I appreciate it, fellas.
07:27You got it, man.
07:27Dyson Daniels, one of our favorite guys.
07:29And again, all the things we just covered there, you know, the toughest.
07:31Remember, he gets the gate, guys.
07:32We're getting blown out.
07:34We're down by, what, 50 in game six?
07:36And Mitchell Robinson tries to step over, but he's like, no frigging way.
07:39He gets in his face.
07:40And John, I mean, it's one of those things, you know, I don't want to put words in his
07:44mouth because there's nothing he can really say about it, but hopefully Jalen Johnson will
07:48be challenged by the coaching staff, by Quinn Snyder, to not shrink in those big moments.
07:53You know, when you got Josh Hart deeing you up, take his butt to the hole.
07:57You know, things that, you know, I hope are going to evolve and be learning experiences
08:01from what was a very tough series.
08:03Remember, though, we took the Knicks farther than anyone else did in the entire playoff.
08:07Yeah, we did.
08:08I mean, they did.
08:09They won two games against them, which nobody else did, which I guess is a good thing in
08:14a way.
08:15It's just kind of a sour taste of the way the last two games went because it was non-competitive.
08:19But then again, I don't know that anybody's really competitive at the level the Knicks were
08:22playing at the end of the year last year.
08:24So I am curious as to see, you know, what this team can achieve this year.
08:28The East is so loaded with good teams.
08:30Oh, my God.
08:31I mean, there's so many good teams in the East.
08:35Just fighting to get to six like they did last year is going to be a challenge just because
08:40of the depth of the conference.
08:41It's not that the team isn't good.
08:43It's just that the conference is so bloody good.
08:45Right on.
08:45So Dyson Daniels, back with the new look Hawks team, guys.
08:49Again, if you didn't miss it, the NBA had their media, every team did their media days as
08:53as they would be like in the NFL or in college ball.
08:56And again, you talked about it with guys like Lou Dort added to the squad, Aaron Wiggins.
09:00I guess, John, the one debate is, you know, a lot of defense, tremendous defensive posture,
09:05but you really need that rotation.
09:07McCollum, Gnaw, Dyson Daniels, Jalen, and Akongu.
09:10By the way, did you have any vibe on the Jalen Duren trade rumors?
09:13Because my first reaction was, there's no way Russ is going to spend that money.
09:17And a lot of our listeners are like, look, that guy disappeared in the playoffs against
09:20the Magic.
09:21And anybody dumb enough to say no to $200 million guaranteed, what do you think he's going
09:25to look for here in Atlanta?
09:27Yeah, I don't know that that's where they're going.
09:30I mean, they could.
09:31But, you know, I think you get a sense that, at least I get a sense that what Ansi wants
09:36to do is a little bit more, not on the fringes, he has an idea of where he's going with
09:42the
09:42team.
09:42And the last thing he wants to do is bring in a player that's not going to be kind of
09:47part of whatever his grand scheme, they're very tight-lipped over at Steve Farm, we know
09:51this.
09:52And so we don't know what his grand plan is, but his grand plan, you know, once they moved
09:56away from Trey Young, they developed a plan that they wanted to build on.
10:00And we saw, you know, some of the results of that last year, and I think we saw some
10:03of the results of this, and I think the first indication was the Lou Dort trade, the Lou
10:07Dort deal, rather.
10:08And I think when they did that, I said, okay, I see where they're going.
10:12That's why we both ended up asking Dyson about defense, because I think that's kind of where
10:16they're headed.
10:17And, you know, losing, you know, Vester for the year is probably not, even though obviously
10:22it was going to be somewhat limited, but you don't want to lose a seven-footer, is that,
10:26you know, they want to be in a situation where they can be.
10:30You know, more of a defensive team, because, you know, they've got guys who can score,
10:34but at times, they do kind of lack, we saw them go into kind of scoring funks at times
10:39last year.
10:40Though, there was a period, let's not forget that there was a period in the second half
10:43of the season where they were as good as any, in January and February, they were as good
10:47as anybody in the league.
10:48And so whatever they're doing, I think there's some right there that they can build on.
