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Atlanta Hawks 2016-17 Player Preview: Dennis Schroder

By Tom Atkinson

Nov 6, 2015; New Orleans, LA, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Dennis Schroder (17) against the New Orleans Pelicans during the second half of a game at the Smoothie King Center. The Hawks defeated the Pelicans 121-115. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 6, 2015; New Orleans, LA, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Dennis Schroder (17) against the New Orleans Pelicans during the second half of a game at the Smoothie King Center. The Hawks defeated the Pelicans 121-115. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports /
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Apr 28, 2016; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas (4) and Atlanta Hawks guard Dennis Schroder (17) speak during the second half in game six of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 28, 2016; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas (4) and Atlanta Hawks guard Dennis Schroder (17) speak during the second half in game six of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports /

Weaknesses

Confidence and Mentality

Dennis Schroder has never, ever lacked confidence and confidence is vital to performance.

Now more than ever, Schroder has a reason to be confident in himself. After all, the Hawks were willing to move Teague to give him a starting position, and that is a significant show of support. Knowing the entire team is behind him will give Schroder quite a boost. But how is this a weakness?

Well, Schroder might be too confident.

Having been the best player back in Germany, Schroder’s self-confidence is considerable and that can be a bad thing. It can lead him to over-estimate himself against opponents (see above) and it can lead to poor decision-making. Often, the young point guard will try to do too much with the ball and, with that, comes turnovers. In fact, Schroder put up 4.1 of those per 36 minutes.

Schroder has also shown himself to be something of a hot-head. Sure, we all love competitors and that drive is what makes players great. It can go too far, though, and we have seen Schroder involved in a few battles on the court. We have seen him go ‘man-to-man’ with fellow hot-head DeMarcus Cousins as well as a very memorable confrontation between him and Isaiah Thomas (although he might be rightly aggrieved there).

Even if Schroder wasn’t initially in the wrong, he handled it the wrong way and got a technical foul as a result. He wasn’t even willing to let it go by the end of the game.

But he is still just 23 years old and has veterans like Jarret Jack and Tiago Splitter around him. That gives Dennis the Menace plenty of time to even out and find that middle-ground.

Three-Point Shooting

Although .322 certainly is not a bad rate from behind the arc, Schroder remains a wildly inconsistent long-range sniper.

It is not as much of a weakness as it is for, say, Rajon Rondo, but the German point guard still needs to improve. After all, three-point shooting is a crucial part of today’s NBA, especially for a point guard.

And Schroder’s struggles clearly hurt the offense. With his shooting as it is, opponents are not afraid to sag off of him and give him the space to shoot, which harms the spacing of a team that emphasises exactly that.

Sure, he can drive and his pull-up jump shot is improving. Sure, his three-pointers aren’t bad and we have often seen him use his freakish athleticism to find the trifecta. But still, Schroder’s three-point shooting is a weakness and, when he can improve it, his game will be infinitely better.

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