The Hawks and Bucks face off for the fourth of five meetings this season on Tuesday night. But Bucks coach Doc Rivers believed that Hawks guard Dyson Daniels was the best defensive player in the league early in the season.
“(Our team) had an argument about him early in the year,” Rivers said prior to Tuesday’s game. “I made a comment, I said, ‘I think he’s the best defensive guard in the league. And our guys said, ‘No, he hadn’t proven that yet. I said, ‘Oh, he’s about to, you can just see it.’”
Daniels has shown that with how he has been able to sustain his defensive production from that first meeting against the Bucks on Dec. 12, where he had three steals, until now. He has had a 32-game streak with at least one steal, tying Dominique Wilkins (March 28, 1990 to Nov. 13, 1990) for the seventh-longest such streak in franchise history.
“He’s so strong, so stubborn,” Rivers said. “I think most great defenders are just stubborn human beings, like probably on earth. They’re just, that’s who they are. He can get scored on him and it doesn’t shake him. Someone can dunk on him and it doesn’t shake him. He’s just going to keep coming back. And that’s, that’s what he reminds me a little bit of. Alvin Robertson, if I had to put a player that reminded me a lot of him.”
The Hawks guard currently leads the NBA in total steals per game (170), as well as average steals per game (3.0), through 56 games. He has had at least three games this season with seven or more and leads the league in total deflections and deflections per game.
“You look at his numbers I don’t know, I’m not sure where he’s at now, but when you look at the steals and the deflections and where he’s at to everybody else in the league, he has more steals, I think, right now, than the person who led last year, all season,” Rivers said.
Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox finished last season at the top of the league in total steals with 150 in 74 games.
Daniels moved up in the odds for the Defensive Player of the Year Award following the injury to Jaren Jackson Jr. in the Hawks’ win over the Grizzlies at the buzzer on Monday night. The 21-year-old Daniels finished the night with three steals, his final one creating the opportunity for Caris LeVert to score a layup in transition.
“It’s just amazing,” Rivers said. “The steal he had last night, you know, it’s funny, it’s on SportsCenter, best play, and all they talked about was a layup. I was like, wait a minute, that was an amazing play that created that layup. ... His hands are absolutely amazing.”
When asked about whether it was possible for a wing to have a big enough impact to win the defensive award, Rivers said, “Well, I’m biased. I think it should have gone to many guards, not me, but I mean, I was a good defender. I was never a defensive player of the year or anything like that. But Marcus Smart. I think he’s the last one to win one. The fact that Jrue Holiday has never won a Defensive Player of the Year Award is laughable to me.
“I think in many cases, they have a bigger impact on the game. When you have a guy that pressures the ball and controls the ball, it spreads through your whole team and allows your team to do different things. But for whatever reason, that award is just kind of, it’s just like the MVP in football. If you’re quarterback, you win, in any other position you don’t. It’s the same thing with defensive player. You got to block shots, you know? So yeah, I do think is the answer is yes.”
About the Author
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
