After Dejounte Murray who had reunited for the first time with his former Spurs teammates and the AT&T Center in the previous match, it was the turn of Saddiq Bey to meet familiar faces again since the Hawks received his former team from the Pistons.
The winger celebrated this reunion by signing his first double-double with the Hawks (14 points, 11 rebounds in 20 minutes) and especially by winning (129-107), two days after sinking in San Antonio.
“It was great, because we were disgusted not to have offered the victory to Dejounte Murray in San Antonio”, thus recalled Trae Young (30 points, 12 assists) after the game. “I know it’s important for guys when they play against a team they played for. So it was important collectively to come tonight and win the victory. We also wanted to win for Saddiq. It added extra motivation.”
Killian Hayes left with his jersey
Saddiq Bey had indeed checked this match on his calendar, because as for Dejounte Murray, it is the only team for which he had played so far in the NBA. The emotion was there, and the meeting will remain as a good memory since the player also knew how to look good on the field.
After the meeting, the reunion was therefore warm, with in particular a sequence where Killian Hayes came to ask him for his jersey.
” It’s crazy. It’s the first time I’ve seen this. These are my friends. They played hard. These are relationships that will last a lifetime. It was good to see them again”, he confided. “It was Killian Hayes who asked me for my shirt. He’s my buddy. We arrived in Detroit together (in 2020). I believe he had already given his. It was great to see him again.”
Towards the right path
Not in top form at the start of the season when the leadership quickly swung in favor of Bojan Bogdanovic on the wing, Saddiq Bey continues to find his feet in Atlanta, who has also just changed coaches.
Even if he still showed waste in shooting (5/13), his match of the night against his old team was undoubtedly one of his best under his new colors, with also defense and rebound , to actively participate in the Hawks’ record in a game this season: 61 catches!
“I try to show different sides, and work on both sides of the pitch. Be present in attack, but also take rebounds, defend hard in order to help my team as much as possible. I’m glad we won. We played hard from start to finish. It was good to have done it for all four quarters.he added.
It’s another step in the right direction for a player who has the potential to become more than an adjustment variable within Quin Snyder’s roster.
| Saddiq Bey | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Crew | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2020-21 | TED | 70 | 27 | 40.4 | 38.0 | 84.4 | 0.6 | 3.9 | 4.5 | 1.4 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 12.2 |
| 2021-22 | TED | 82 | 33 | 39.6 | 34.6 | 82.7 | 1.3 | 4.1 | 5.4 | 2.8 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 16.1 |
| 2022-23 * | All Teams | 66 | 28 | 41.5 | 36.4 | 86.2 | 1.1 | 3.4 | 4.5 | 1.5 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 13.8 |
| 2022-23 * | TED | 52 | 29 | 40.4 | 34.5 | 86.1 | 1.1 | 3.5 | 4.7 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 14.8 |
| 2022-23 * | ATL | 14 | 26 | 47.6 | 45.3 | 86.7 | 1.0 | 2.9 | 3.9 | 0.9 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 10.1 |
| Total | 218 | 30 | 40.3 | 36.2 | 84.3 | 1.0 | 3.8 | 4.8 | 2.0 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 14.2 | |
