The Hawks are looking to heat up after starting 0-2 against the Knicks and Hornets. They turned it around quickly, winning four in a row. Although it is close to a .500 start, there is a night and day difference between this iteration and last year’s Hawks. Here are some of my takeaways from the nine games of this NBA season:

Trae’s Improvement on D

The “Trae Young is a bad defender” narrative should no longer have any discourse, as he has shown more effort within his defense. The combination of him putting in more effort on the defensive side of the ball and buying into Snyder’s defensive philosophy has improved his defense drastically. He has become a better communicator on D, which gives him less work to do. Trae pre-switches with his teammates, giving him less work and mitigating the defensive mismatches. Furthermore, Trae is correctly rotating to cover for his teammates and correctly reading what the enemy offense gives him. His PnR defense has improved drastically as he puts more effort into navigating the screen. Trae is averaging 1.4 steals this season, which is a career-high for him. Trae is not a bonafide lockdown defender, but he is no longer a negative defender like his previous reputation shows he has.

Jalen Johnson continues to impress

Johnson has been impressive within the nine games the Hawks have played. He has usurped Saddiq Bey for the starting four spot in the lineup. Snyder trusts Johnson, as he is athletic, spaces the floor well, and is a decent tertiary ball handler from Young and Murray. He has a special connection with Trae Young, as Trae is constantly hunting for Johnson for an alley-oop or dunk. With his athleticism, Johnson has had a couple of monstrous dunks and alley-oops. In the pick and roll, Johnson has the vision as the roll man to create scoring opportunities when the opponents overplay Trae. He is also constantly running out in transition, where he gets most of his scoring opportunities. On the other side of the ball, Johnson’s athleticism and length bother opponents. He is averaging 1.3 steals and 1.1 blocks, becoming another reliable defender for the Hawks. Johnson will continue to improve as the season progresses, and I expect to see more athletic highlight plays from him.

Quin Snyder’s Impact

Snyder’s impact on the Hawks is undeniable. He has completely transformed this Hawks team on both sides of the ball. The Hawks are the only team with eight players in double digits, showing their firepower and offensive prowess. The Hawks have the third-highest pace, fifth in fastbreak, and fourth in offensive ratings. The Hawks look like a more cohesive unit, instead of Murray and Trae taking turns playing iso-ball. The team is shooting significantly more 3PTs, which is what Snyder encourages the team to do. On the other side of the ball, the Hawks look more cohesive. The players communicate and buy into the system, trusting each other. Snyder’s in-game adjustments have impressed me as well. The Hawks were down double-digit leads against the Minnesota Timberwolves and New Orleans Pelicans, but after halftime, they exploded, blowing the game open and winning out. They also held another impressive win against the new-look Milwaukee Bucks with Dame and Giannis. Snyder’s willingness to listen to his players and make the correct adjustments has won them close games where the Hawks would otherwise lose in the past. His challenges and timely timeouts also give the edge to the Hawks, often squeezing out a couple of extra points.

 Snyder’s coaching has deeply impressed me, and I am excited to see how the Hawks fare up against the other teams in the NBA. This iteration of the Hawks has a lot of potential if they keep this style of play up.