Dennis Schroder, the Hawks backup point guard, is a star-in-the-making, and he has even drawn comparisons to Rajon Rondo. Dennis has played great coming off the bench this year. His role has improved throughout the season, as he only averaged 8 PPG in the first month of the season, and he now averages 14 points in the month of March. Dennis has played very well all season long, and he continues to get better. Dennis Schroder is going to be a star in this league due to his play in games where he receives a lot of minutes, his ability to improve his play, and the speed and quickness that he naturally has.
Schroder is in his second year in the NBA. His play for a 21-year-old second year player has been great. Dennis does not get to fly his wings a lot, but whenever the Hawks need him, he comes through. In Dennis’ first double-double of the season, he helped catapult the Hawks to a 127-98 win over the Cavaliers. Dennis has started in 9 games for the Hawks this season. In starts, he has averaged 14.1 PPG and 8.2 APG. Also in his nine starts, the Hawks are 8-1 with the one loss coming saturday night to the Hornets, according to RotoWorld.com. In that Hornets game Dennis, was not the reason the Hawks lost, as he had 17 points and passed the ball well having 11 assists. When Dennis gets to play good minutes, his team wins basketball games, and the Hawks look the same as they would if Jeff Teague had started the game. Dennis replaces Teague very well, and he plays great in games where he starts.
In games in which Dennis has played more than 25 minutes, he has played exceptionally well. Dennis averages 15.6 points in games where he has played plus 25 minutes compared to 9.9 PPG on the season, and he has 7.4 assists compared to 4.2 on the season. When Dennis gets to play a lot of minutes, he plays great. He plays better than most point guards in their sophomore season, and his potential to play at such a high level is there for him to do it every game.
Dennis Schroder has improved his scoring from last year. Last season, he scored just 3.7 PPG. This year, he has averaged 9.9 PPG. Those numbers also jump as the season has gone on, as he is now averaging 14.6 PPG, his best scoring of any month this season. If he is able to continue to grow as a scorer at such a high rate, Dennis will be averaging 18-20 points per game in an entire season in no time, and he will be a force to be reckoned with for every team in the league.
Another number that Dennis has improved greatly this season from last season, and as the season has gone on has been his shooting percentage. He only shot 38% from the field last year. This season, he has improved to 42% shooting. Dennis Schroder was not a three-point threat at all to start the season. As the season has gone on, Dennis has improved his shot greatly. Through the first two months of the season, Dennis shot just 20% from three. As the season has gone on though, he has been improving greatly. The past three months, Dennis has shot 43% from three. Improving his shot helps him tons, as he loves to drive the ball and make easy lay ins. When Dennis was not a three-point threat, defenders would just back off of him so that he could not drive. Now though, players have to be close to him or he will shoot. This helps Dennis to drive the ball to the hoop which he is very good at. Developing a solid jump shot is key for him to become a star, and he has been able to improve his jumper greatly.
Another area that Dennis has improved in is his passing. He averaged just 1.9 APG last season which he has improved to 4.2 this season. He has also been able to improve throughout his passing throughout the season. Dennis averaged about 3-4 assists through the first three months of the season, and the past two months he has been averaging 5-6 assists. He has improved greatly since his debut, and even just in this season. The ability to assist your teammates is key for a point guard because that is what a point guard is supposed to do. If Dennis continues to grow as a passer and average more assists, he will put up star player assist numbers and be an all-star.
Dennis Schroder has exceptional speed and quickness. The guy is faster than most players in the NBA. This helps Dennis drive to the paint with ease. Dennis is able to use his combination of speed and quickness to drive when he wants. He can get to full speed in just a couple of steps, and he is so fast that he will run right by a defender in the half court. Whenever he has an opportunity, Dennis will fly by a defender and make a layup. If a big man is able to get in front of Dennis though, he will either get his shot away from the big man using his long arms (he has a 6’7 1/2 inch wingspan), or he will dish it off to the likes of Paul Millsap and Al Horford who are exceptional from mid range, or he can pass to the Hawks deadly three-point threat, Kyle Korver. The speed and quickness of Dennis Schroder has helped him score lots of points at the rim, and it has helped him make easy passes to his teammates and rack up his assist totals.
This video is a Dennis Schroder highlight video from this season, and a lot of it shows his excellent speed and ability to get to the paint. Also, look at the difficulty of layups Dennis is making. Not many players can run right by any defender, maybe even two defenders, and make a lay up with a degree of difficulty like Schroder can. My personal favorite shot that Dennis makes in this video is at the 7:42 mark where he drives the lane and throws a ball up and it roles on the top of the backboard and falls in against the Heat. Also, the first play Dennis throws down a monster dunk against the Spurs right through the middle of their defense. He is like a blur running straight by just about all his defenders and making crafty layups over and around big men. Feel free to watch the video for as long as you would like, as it is nine minutes long.
Try to tell me those don’t already look like the highlights of an all-star player? The plays that Dennis is making are amazing, and they look like something Derrick Rose or Rajon Rondo would be doing. He is so quick with running by defenders, and he is so quick to get the ball out of his hands and in the basket on his floaters and shots over big men.
Speaking of Rajon Rondo, Dennis is often compared to him. Dennis even started his first game against Rondo, scoring 22 points and having 6 assists against his main comparison. Ever since his days in Germany, he has been compared to Rondo. He even said that he tries to play like Rondo and learn from him. Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald quotes Dennis saying after he scored his at the time career high 15 points in a Hawks win over the Celtics last season,
“In Germany, everybody compared me to him when I was growing up. Every time I was on the court people said, ‘You play like Rondo.’ Then I tried to look him up and then I saw it. I understood. I tried to compare myself to him. When I was young I watched him a lot. Every day I tried to watch a game from him. Stayed up late. It’s amazing to play against him now. I did it last year a little bit. This year I can play against him, and I try to learn from him.”
Clearly, Dennis is a Rondo fan. He carries the tag of Rondo clone well. He watches Rondo and tries to play like him. Rondo is a great comparison for Schroder because of their athletic abilities. NBC Sports’ Brett Pollakoff wrote about Schroder before he was drafted in 2013,
“Dennis Schroeder is an international prospect from Germany that has been rapidly moving up draft boards. The 19-year old point guard is listed at 6’2″ with a 6’7.25″ wingspan, and the speed and flair with which he plays is already eliciting comparisons to Rajon Rondo in terms of ability, body type and style.”
Pollakoff hit it spot on. Dennis and Rondo are comparable because of their speed and flair, but Dennis also has the same abilities as Rondo such as penetrating the lane and making layups, and finding teammates for open passes, they both have skinny frames, and they play with the same style of play, drive and dish. One thing that Dennis is better at is his ability to shoot the basketball. Dennis shot 40% in Germany, and although he did not shoot well his rookie year, this season he has been able to improve his shooting back to the way he shot in Germany. Rondo has only shot 26% from three in his entire career. Dennis also scores better than Rondo ever has, as he scored 25.3 points per 100 possessions, and Rondo only scored 19.6 PP100 in his best scoring season. Where Dennis scores better than Rondo though; he lacks the defensive numbers that Rondo puts up. Dennis has yet to average over 1 SPG in a month of his young NBA career as Rondo has averaged at least 1.3 in every season of his career.
The most comparable number is Schroder and Rondo’s assist numbers in their first two seasons. Through Rondo’s first two years, he played a bigger role than Schroder has now, but their assist numbers are almost identical. In Rondo’s rookie season, he averaged 3.8 APG, and his assists per 36 minutes number was 5.8. His AST% was 26.3%. Compared to Schroder’s rookie year, Schroder is on par with Rondo. He averaged a much lower 1.9 APG, but it was with less minutes so his AP36 was right there with Rondo at 5.1. Also his AST% was 22.0, which is very close to Rondo’s. This season, Dennis is even closer to Rondo. In the same stats as above, Rondo averaged 5.1 APG, 6.1 AP36, and his AST% was 28.2%. Schroder has again played less minutes, but his stats are just as good or better. Dennis has averaged 4.2 APG, he has done better than Rondo in AP36 averaging 7.7, and his AST% has also been considerably better than Rondo, at 35.3%. Dennis has passed the ball incredibly, and at the same rate as Rondo did in his first two years. It will be interesting to see if Dennis will develop as Rondo has. Rondo became a league leader in assists in his third season, and Dennis could do the same next year if he gets more playing time. Dennis is going to look to continue to play like Rondo, whom is a good player for him to base his game after. He is definitely playing like Rondo with his incredible speed and his ability to throw good passes to his teammates. If he is able to continue to grow as Rondo did and score at high rates like he has, Dennis will be an NBA All Star.
Dennis Schroder is a star-in-the-making in the NBA. He has been able to improve himself since his debut last year. Dennis has shot the ball much better, and he continues to improve his passing skills to his teammates as his assist numbers are on the rise. Dennis also has played very well in games where he has been able to play a lot of minutes or start. In games where Dennis has replaced Jeff Teague in the Hawks starting lineup this year, he has played very well, and the Hawks have been 8-1 in those games. Dennis also has racked up a total of 5 double doubles, which is impressive due to him coming off the bench. Two of those double doubles have come in the Hawks last two games. Dennis has also been able to use his quickness to get into the paint and make layups. He plays as a second coming of Rajon Rondo in how his style of play, physical attributes, and their abilities to pass the ball. Dennis Schroder will be a star in the NBA someday, and if you ask any Hawks fan like myself, they will tell you that they knew this all along. Lets also not forget that Schroder has a cool blonde spot in his hair that is hard not to love.
All statistics are from Basketball Reference.com
