Hawks guard Dyson Daniels has worked himself into becoming one of the NBA’s elite defenders this season. But for Daniels, who has played offense aggressively and is emboldened by the Hawks, making shots remains one of his areas for improvement.
This season, the Hawks have pushed their team along with the acronym L.T.F.F., which means “let that (expletive) fly,” which has instilled confidence in the players up and down the lineup. In fact, the Hawks want to take even more 3-point shots this season, as scoring across the league trends further from the basket.
Daniels has made 30.8% this season on a higher volume of 3.4 3-point attempts per game. He had a solid six-game stretch between Nov. 18 and Nov. 29 where he sank 42.9% of his 3.5 3-point attempts average. But as the season has progressed, he acknowledges that he sometimes slips into some of the old habits that lead to inaccurate shooting.
So, he got back to a little bit of the basics at practice this week. Following the team’s practice Tuesday, Daniels worked with Hawks assistant general manager Kyle Korver, who finished his 17-year career in the league shooting 42.9% from 3.
“There’s more working with Kyle,” Daniels said. “He’s teaching me about keeping my hips back rather than my knees folding in and then getting the ball to my right side and keeping it high. So just a few things that we’ve been repping out. And obviously, Kyle is one of the greatest shooters that ever played games. So it’s not many people you can work there with that are better than Kyle. So the more hours I can get in with Kyle ... the better I’ll be shooting the ball.”
As Daniels was coming into the league, scouts noted that he showed some hesitation when it came to his jumper and that his shot form could be robotic. That’s why Daniels has committed himself to getting in the gym to work on it every chance he gets.
Daniels gets into the gym every day because taking off a day or two puts him at risk for the old habits to slip back in. To make sure he carves that time out, he goes into a gym at night or gets to practice early. If he misses that window, he makes sure to stay a little later after practice to get those shots up.
“Whether it’s a off-day or something, just coming in, just shooting some free throws, just keeping the ball tipping over, keeping the body, adjusting to the new technique,” Daniels said.
But Daniels feels confident that he’ll get the right shot mechanics down.
“I think once I correct my left and right misses and keep them more short and long,” Daniels said. “You don’t want to miss short. But if I get more of my misses long, rather than left and right, I know that I’ve got the form technique down pat. It’s just about repping that out.
“And, Kyle, whenever I shoot with him, I feel good, like I get back to normal. It’s just about, you know, muscle memory, making sure I do that over and over. Keep doing that every day and not revert back to old habits.
“For me, it’s just a mental game. It’s a mindset, and making sure that in the game, shooting when I’m open, and teams are going to give me that shot. So, being able to knock that down is going to be a big benefit to my game.”
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