DISHEARTENING : Atlanta Hawks head coach Quin Snyder reportedly confirm dead at 56 from a fatal car accident 😢😭

During his time with the Utah Jazz, Quin Snyder won a lot of regular season games, but his teams were criticized for not being able to make deep postseason runs. He departed from Utah after the 2021-2022 season and it looked like he was going to sit out an entire year before possibly having options to coach somewhere else.

Then something strange happened. The Hawks fired Nate McMillan late in February and instead of waiting to see what kind of options would be available after the season, Atlanta moved quickly to hire Snyder, who took the job. Snyder did not have a lot of time to get familiar with the personnel and things were rocky at times,

But in the play-in tournament and in the first-round series vs the Boston Celtics (who were heavily favored), Snyder showed why he is considered one of the brightest basketball minds on the planet.

The Hawks had a problem facing the Miami Heat in previous seasons, including a first-round exit in five games the season before, but Snyder coached his team to victory over the eventual Eastern Conference champions and then had a daunting task against the Boston Celtics in the first round of the NBA playoffs. After Boston blew out the Hawks in the first two games of the series, Snyder had to go to the drawing board and find something that worked to help the Hawks avoid being swept and embarrassed in the first round for the second straight season.

Snyder made adjustments and the Hawks won games three and game five, setting up a huge game six at home. Atlanta battled Boston to the bitter end, but the Celtics depth won the game and the series. Despite the loss, you saw the coaching adjustments from Snyder and his early imprint on the roster. With a full offseason with the team, could the Hawks be ready to contend in 2023-2024?

The Hawks are not a contender and it has been a rocky road to get to where they are, but Snyder is once again showing why he is one of the best coaches in the NBA.

Atlanta has been one of the most injured teams in the NBA this season with Trae Young, Jalen Johnson, De’Andre Huner, Saddiq Bey, Clint Capela, Onyeka Okongwu, and rookie Kobe Bufkin being injured for large parts of the season. Bey is out for the year and the Hawks are still missing Young, Johnson, and Okongwu, three of the most talented players on the roster. The Hawks’ season could have cratered with all of these injuries, but Snyder has gotten the Hawks to keep playing well and that has not been more evident than this week.

After a tough road trip, Atlanta has won four games in a row, including two games against the Boston Celtics. Atlanta is now 34-39 and within striking distance of leaping over the Chicago Bulls for the No. 9 spot in the Eastern Conference, meaning they would host the first play-in game instead of going on the road to play the Bulls.

Last night after the overtime win vs Boston, Snyder talked about how his team has played in this winning streak and what they are doing well right now:

“Well, I think there’s been a focus on defending and, you know, that’s created offensive opportunities for us. And, you know, on the offensive end, you know, I think we’ve, obviously, I think I said it before pregame, I didn’t care how many shots you know as long as we’re efficient and we’re finding ways to do that. I think there was a stretch to where, you know, Hunt gave us buckets and a stretch where Bogi gave us buckets and those guys were all of them, you know, Clint – people been playing off each other and you know helping each other on the offensive end, you know, you end up seeing, you know, there was a number of shots, you know from DJ that we wanted to space and give him room and let him attack, but there are other situations where his teammates whether really in pick and roll as much as anything, I thought he and Clint were really connected.”

Do I think this is a flawed roster and that the Hawks will likely face an early exit in either the play-in tournament or the playoffs? Probably. Even if the Hawks manage to get everyone back, I don’t think this team is good enough to win a series vs their probable opponents, including the Celtics. I do know this though, whatever changes might be on the horizon for Atlanta this summer, Quin Snyder is still one of the elite coaches in the NBA and the right man for the job.