The short-handed Atlanta Hawks have dropped back-to-back games, and fans are coming after head coach Quin Snyder over the most recent.
The Hawks dropped a 122-114 affair against the Brooklyn Nets – owners of the third-worst record in the Eastern Conference and a three-game losing streak entering the night – on Sunday.
Snyder brought back Georges Niang with 2:51 to go and the Hawks down by 5 points.
The Nets went on a 7-2 run to end the game, prompting fans to chide the coach, who some claim also cost the Hawks against the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night. At any rate, the Hawks are 32-36 and Snyder’s record as their head coach is 78-93.
“Blaming quin snyder and niang,” one fan posted on X after questioning who to point the finger at over the loss.
Hey why are we closing with this guy Quin Snyder im just asking pic.twitter.com/nh4lzy6imx
— Josh✌🏽 (@ZorosWaves) March 17, 2025
Another fan first simply said, “Fire Quin Snyder,” before expounding.
“How many leads must Quin Snyder blow for us with his s*** coaching style?” the fan said in a separate post.
Snyder subbed out Terance Mann in favor of Niang down the stretch. Mann was a minus-15 for the game whereas Niang finished as a plus-1 even after the Nets’ game-sealing run after his return to the floor.
Perhaps most confounding was rookie No. 1 pick Zaccharie Riacher’s playing time.
“Quin Snyder’s brain needs to be studied,” said yet another fan. “Risacher played a great game and he played 1 minute in the 4th quarter.”
Niang was 4-for-14 from the floor and 2-for-9 from beyond the arc. Risacher had 16 points on 53.8% shooting. He also shot the ball poorly from downtown, connecting on two of his eight looks. Risacher was also a minus-12 on the night.
Snyder notably called out the Hawks’ defense – a weakness of Niang’s – postgame.
Quin Snyder calls out Hawks' poor defense vs Nets
“We didn’t start the game well, and then we played well the rest of the first half. And I thought, with the – I think they scored 66 in the second half? Just – our defense was the issue. We just didn’t get stops on possessions we needed to,” Snyder told media members after the game on March 6.
“Had some great looks during the stretch, and they didn’t go in, and that’s when we need to get more stops.”
The Hawks are tied with two other teams for the 13th-best defensive ranking on the season. But they are No. 22 since Jalen Johnson has been out. The Hawks were 27th in defensive rating in 2023-24.
Trae Young would be the easy scapegoat.
However, not only does he have the best net rating on the team among the healthy rotation players, but he also boasts the fourth-best defensive rating among that same group.
Dominick Barlow was another scapegoat. He finished as a minus-17 in 15 minutes of playing time versus the Nets. The Hawks also shot 29.7% from 3P as a team while the Nets connected on 48.6% of theirs; 50% in the second half, including a 6-for-11 mark in the third quarter.
For fans, Snyder was the easiest mark of all.
Making matters worse for the Hawks, the Orlando Magic beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, cutting Atlanta’s lead for the No. 7 seed down to one half-game.
“Seriously, wtf is Quin Snyder’s line of thinking? Why are you sitting Zacc in the 4th in favor of Vit and Mann? When do you plan to expose him to high pressure situations?” said a different fan. “This is really frustrating the hell outta me.”