Teams dare the Atlanta Hawks' Dyson Daniels to shoot. He found a way around his limitations against the Mavericks.
The NBA has been said to be a copycat league. It's entirely accurate.
If something works, why wouldn't other teams use it? There are no originality points in the National Basketball Association. Any strategy comes down to winning or losing.
So, there's a time-tested strategy for guarding non-shooters if they aren't big men - guard them with your big man. Teams will cross-match a big man onto a wing/guard and park them in the paint, daring the wing/guard to shoot.
It's a strategy that should hurt the Atlanta Hawks. Dyson Daniels is a prime candidate to be guarded this way. Luckily, Daniels is smart:
He seemed to poke some holes in the plan against the Mavericks in Tuesday's 12-point victory.
Dyson Daniels Solves Mavericks' Defensive Plan
The Mavericks tried to do this precisely recently, first in their matchup at State Farm Arena. Daniel Gafford was Daniels' primary assignment for most of the game. He stayed in the paint and dared Daniels to shoot.
It did not matter one iota.
Daniels attempted two threes. He missed both. That's barely a footnote in the run of a game. The 10 assists that Daniels found by using his runway to the rim and dishing the rock to teammates counted for much more.
Daniels proved a steadfast rule of basketball: Every counter can be countered. There's always a way to defeat a strategy:
Is his method available to everyone?
Atlanta Hawks Have A Unique Roster Structure
Not necessarily.
Having a floor spacing big man is a tremendous help. If the opposing big is guarding a wing, that means a wing is guarding a big. If that big man can shoot, being guarded by a (presumably) shorter assignment will always be an advantage.
That was the case for the Hawks against the Mavericks. Onyeka Onkongwu was 3-of-5 from long-range. From a pure math perspective, he makes up some of the three-point deficit that the Hawks get from Daniels.
Spacing big men are relatively abundant in today's NBA, but not everyone has one. For example, look at the Houston Rockets. Teams guard Amen Thompson the same way that the Mavericks guarded Daniels. If Alperen Şengün shot threes as well as Onkongwu, it would minimize the issue.
So, the Hawks should be grateful for their unique roster construction. That said, credit Daniels for his creativity. This wouldn't have worked if he didn't have such a tremendous feel for the game.
It may not be so easy for other teams to copy that.