Atlanta Hawks Team Awards at the All-Star Break
By Chris Guest
Most Valuable Player: Dennis Schröder
This was another difficult decision, as John Collins’ staggering first NBA season has opened eyes around the league and definitely vaulted him into contention for the Hawks’ Most Valuable Player at the All-Star Break.
It’s a shame that Coach Bud doesn’t play him more minutes, since his overall numbers would definitely give our eventual winner, Dennis Schröder, a run for his money.
In the end though, Schröd’s overall importance to the Hawks’ offense makes him a rather easy choice for this, though it could be argued that Dewayne Dedmon and John Collins are perhaps actually more valuable to the team’s winning ways on a game-to-game basis.
However, Shröder shoulders a substantial part of the team’s offense, serving as an offensive fulcrum at the point guard position. His blazing straight-line drives to the basket are much too fast for most defenders to catch, and he’s usually left alone at the basket for easy layups and finger-rolls.
DS17 is first on the Hawks in the following categories: Points per game (19.5), minutes per game (31.3), field goal made (7.5) and attempted (17.2) per game and assists per game (6.3).
In terms of his overall levels league-wide, Schröd is 10th overall with 353 made two-point field goals, 9th overall with 347 assists, 12th overall with a 30.4% usage rate and again 9th overall with a 36.4% assist rate.
Schröder’s stats are full of career-highs, and his importance on the offensive end cannot be overstated. Though sometimes he has a tendency to hijack games with some selfish and ill-fated shot attempts, the Hawks do struggle to put points on the board without his steady scoring abilities.
Sadly, Schröd’s three-point stroke has yet to improve, and he is actually shooting under 30 percent on the season from downtown. Dennis’s defense has also been hit-or-miss all season; if he truly engaged himself on that end, he would be a terrific on-ball defender, but the truth of the matter his attention wanes considerably on the less glamorous end.
That lack of defensive consistency is understandable for a player who’s carrying so much of the offense, but for DS17 to truly propel himself into the upper echelon of point guards, he needs to be a little bit better all-around.
Still though, his season has been laudable for Atlanta, and he has definitely been the Hawks MVP at the All-Star break.