Atlanta Hawks: Is Dennis Schroder’s Breakout Legit?

The dreary, cold summer without basketball is over. The NBA is back and after a minor blip on the radar against a Detroit Pistons squad that actually looks pretty darn good, the Atlanta Hawks have returned to their winning ways. Friday evening’s win over the Charlotte Hornets brings them to 2-1 heading to into their matchup against, well, the Charlotte Hornets again. Over all the storylines the early season brings, one player has dominated my thoughts.

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I have a tendency to make hyperbolic statements. I’m a basketball romantic. I fall in love with teams, players, and coaches, letting the optimism cloud my better judgment at times. I was a bit worried that my basketball love sickness was making me feel things about Dennis Schroder and in turn making me overrate his abilities.

Sure, he looked great in EuroBasket 2015, but he had an extremely high usage rate on a Germany squad that needed him to create nearly all of their offense. I was saying things like “Schroder could be the Sixth Man of the Year” and “Schroder should start alongside Jeff Teague”. Was I going insane due to a long summer without NBA basketball?

Well, I’m about to sound insane again. Dennis Schroder is going to have a breakout season and become one of Atlanta’s top three leading scorers. Hell, he even might win the Sixth Man of the Year award I rambled about this offseason. It’s Schroder’s time and I’m heading for the highest mountain to scream my truth to the world. Yes, it’s a three game sample size, but the German blur just gets buckets.

Schroder made some headlines in the offseason by saying his goal was to start for a team in the NBA and that in the future that may have to be somewhere other than Atlanta. Some folks balked at that statement, but it’s completely understandable. Schroder is a professional athlete competing at the highest level of his profession. Why shouldn’t he want to be a starter?

So far this season, he’s playing like someone that deserves to be in the starting lineup (and he has gotten one start this season). Through three games Schroder is averaging 15.7 points, 3 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game with a PER of 22.16. He’s shooting 50 percent from the floor, but only 27.3 percent from three-point range. He had been shooting well from outside, but an 0-for-3 performance Friday night against the Hornets knocked his percentage down a bit.

The numbers show how good Schroder has been this season and so does the eye test. Schroder looks like a different player. He’s the upgraded version of the talented player that has shown glimpses of promise through two otherwise forgettable NBA season. We’re watching Dennis Schroder 2.0.

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When he comes off of a screen he uses his speed to get to the rim with ease. Only the quickest point guards in the NBA have the footspeed necessary to consistently stay in front of him. Yet, all athletic ability means nothing if you make poor decisions. Schroder has greatly improved his decision making.

His turnover rate is down to 8.7 percent (it won’t stay that way, but any improvement over last season will be helpful) and he’s shooting 54.4 percent at the rim. He’s also added a smooth midrange jumper to keep defenses guessing when he comes off of a screen. If the player guarding Schroder goes under the screen Schroder has shown a willingness to quickly pop off a three-pointer or dribble into a pull-up midrange jumper.

If his jump-shooting remains a reliable weapon that means defenders have to stick closer to him in halfcourt sets. That means Schroder gets to use his deadly speed to get to the rim and create plays for his teammates. So far the playmaking has trailed behind the scoring this season, but as the season progresses expect those Schroder mad dashes to the rim to turn into easy buckets for his Hawks brethren.

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  • Schroder’s recent play has led to an onslaught of trade rumors. He wants to be a starter and the Hawks can’t give him that at the moment. Jeff Teague is their point guard of the present and the future, it would take more than a few games of impressive scoring numbers to change that. Despite rumors and his lofty goals for his personal success, I feel confident that Schroder will stay a Hawk for the remainder of the season. His electric play off the bench is too important for the overall success of the team for this to devolve into a “this town ain’t big enough for the both of us” battle between he and Teague.

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    For now, Schroder will keep doing what he does best. Sometimes he’ll get a start, sometimes he’ll come off the bench. If The Hawks are racking up W’s in the standings and he’s getting his fair share of minutes will it really matter? It’s a long season. We’ll see where everything shakes out when the marathon is over.