Dyson Daniels was the DPOY runner-up last season, and it really showed last night against Toronto.
Despite all the hype building around Atlanta leading up to tip-off last night, the team's defensive gates were blown square off the hinges by the apparent underdog Toronto Raptors, in no small part thanks to Daniels' early foul trouble.
The Great Barrier Thief picked up three quick fouls not too far into the 2nd quarter, forcing coach Snyder to give him an early rest. While Alexander-Walker proved his mettle time and again in his stead through a multitude of savvy drawn fouls and steals himself, it wasn't enough to stymie the lightning-fast Raptors from diving towards the basket at a scary frequency.
Thanks to Daniels riding the bench early on, Toronto's outside-in attack worked wonders. Hawks perimeter defenders continuously put their bigs between a rock and a hard place, accentuated by the elite spacing in the modern era.
Perimeter defense is vital in the current pace-and-space era
If fans recall coach Quin Snyder's strategic history, the idea of funneling ball handlers to a rim protector began to go extinct around the time Steph Curry began to rise as a superstar.
In years past, slower, towering bigs were able to serve as the last line of defense down low when their guards were beat off the dribble at the top of the key, safe in the knowledge that their matchup wouldn't be able to stretch the floor at an efficient level.
Today's game is the polar opposite of the historical standard — nearly every player in the league has a serviceable 3-ball (and if they don't, they're likely elite in every other facet of the game). Even bigs that don't possess a reliable deep ball (e.g., Jakob Poeltl) often have elite touch from extended mid-range areas.
This trend, in turn, forces bigs to make impossible decisions — help the guard who got beat, or let their matchup get an open look from range. This is exactly the situation Atlanta's guards put Porzingis and Okongwu in time and time again last night, made even more egregious by the lack of Daniels' presence on the court.
Without elite perimeter defense, the Hawks defense will quickly crumble. Fortunately for Atlanta, look for this to quickly improve - if Dyson can get his foul trouble in check, Alexander-Walker gains more time to build communication with his teammates, and Johnson can continue to get his sea legs under him after returning from a lengthy injury, the front line of defense should rapidly shore up.
Quin Snyder certainly has his work cut out for him after last night's game, but one point of emphasis is crystal clear - keep your elite defenders on the court through defensive discipline.