The Atlanta Hawks Make No Sense: A 2016-2017 Season Recap

After that, Atlanta entered what I’ll be calling the “Dennis Schroder Shenanigans” portion of the season. After the All-Star Break, Dennis Schroder did not make it back to practice in time. He had issues with his passport and could not return from Germany. Dennis was suspended for one game, and the Hawks lost by 18.

Okay. Lesson learned right? Wrong. The NEXT DAY Dennis would be late for the team bus, and he was benched for the first quarter of the following game. The Hawks were down ten before he ever got into the game, and would lose by 19 for their second straight blowout loss. Dennis shot 4-for-17 from the field.

So, coming off a suspension and one of the worst games of his life, the Hawks headed up to Boston. Dennis and Isaiah Thomas have a well-noted rivalry and in their previous match-up in Atlanta Thomas scored 28 points to Schroder’s 4.

Naturally, Dennis played one of the best games of the season, scoring 21 points on 9-for-14 shooting and holding Thomas to 4-for-21 shooting. Thomas’ record streak of games with 20+ points was also snapped at 43 games.

A few games later the Dennis Schroder Shenanigans era hit arguably its high point. The Golden State Warriors came to Atlanta and, as usual, Dennis came to play in a big game. Dennis scored 19 points in the first quarter, only missing two shots. He finished the first half with 23 points shooting 7-for-9 from the floor.

That sequence in and of itself is enough to warrant the game making no sense, but things would get even crazier. In the third quarter, Steph Curry was left wide open on an inbound play and hit a three-pointer. As a result, Dennis was benched for the rest of the game. The Hawks would go on to lose by eight after leading by 15 in the first half.