NBA: Schröder after Thunder debut: “Gives things that can be improved”

Dennis Schröder made a strong debut for his new team at the season opener of the Oklahoma City Thunder against the Golden State Warriors. After the 100:108 defeat against the champion, the German nevertheless sees potential for improvement.

“There were many positive things”, Schröder summed up to reporters after the match. “We performed as one unit. We did a great defensive job, played fast and moved the ball, but at the same time there are some things you can improve.”

This summary fits not only very well to the game of the Thunder in general, but also to the appearance of Schröder in particular.

All in all, the German made a strong debut for his new team, which had arranged a trade for him in the summer – a glance at the statistics sheet alone shows that Schröder finished the game with 21 points, 6 assists and 9 rebounds. The latter represents a new, personal maximum career value!

On the other hand, the 25-year-old can and must improve his efficiency even further. His throwing rate (7/19 FG, 2/6) does not look bad at first glance, but the 36 percent from the field are not particularly tingly.

But DS17 was not alone with the problems during the throw. “We had some good options. But if our offense is a little sluggish and we don’t move the ball, then we’re going to have to work hard on scoring,” said head coach Billy Donovan.

Just like Schröder, the Thunder team only sank 36 percent of their field casting attempts, which is too little in the long run. Especially with switches and the resulting mismatches, OKC has to attack earlier before the opponent can gather again, Donovan explained.

After all, the Thunder and Schröder understood very well how to make the game fast. This also helped Paul George to forget his relatively weak first half after the break. “Even after misses or hits, we found him in transition and unlocked him with screens,” Donovan praised his team.

George finally turned up the heat in the third quarter, bringing his team back into the game with a quick 12-point score shortly after the break tea. Thanks to PG13 and Schröder, the guests were at eye level with the reigning champion from this point on.

But in the final phase, the weakness of the throw was again apparent, DS17, for example, missed the opportunity to shorten the game again shortly before the end of downtown. The Warriors made good use of these slight weaknesses and finally secured the opening victory in front of their home crowd.

“There are no moral victories,” George said later. “But there were some things that were very positive that we could take out of this game.” The next chance for the first success in the new NBA season will be Schröder and Co. in the night from Friday to Saturday against the Los Angeles Clippers.