NBA: Schröder: How’s it going as a star on trial?

The Atlanta Hawks are expected to be one of the worst teams in the league. But that doesn’t bother anyone as long as the players develop – above all Dennis Schröder. How is the German doing in his new role as best player and leader of the team? It’s time for a first résumé.

With a 3-14 record, Atlanta leads the table “from below”. There are few people who are surprised by this, after all, the off-season 2017 was marked by the rebuild. The departures of Paul Millsap, Tim Hardaway Jr. (both in the Free Agency) and Dwight Howard (Trade) threw the team from Georgia into the race for the No. 1-Pick 2018 before the first jumping ball of the season, the term “Tanking” made the empty places of the Philipps Arena even lighter.

Thanks to Dennis Schröder, who is currently the only player with a serious starter format in the complete roster, it is still worthwhile to keep an eye on the development of the team from a German point of view. The 24-year-old is in a key season that could define his future career.

A rebuild also serves as a test run for a franchise. Young men, who would normally be typical role-players due to their characteristics, act as starters with responsibility in order to evaluate whether there is more slumber in them. Taurean Prince may serve as an example here. Others have to prove that they can lead a team more or less alone – and that’s where DS17 comes in.

The Hawks have now played 19 games, 15 of them with Schröder, who missed the others with an ankle injury. According to Mike Budenholzer, he is supposed to be both the primary scorer and playmaker, i. e. he is supposed to be practically what he pulls off in the national team. One could describe his status as a “star on trial” in Atlanta, whose front office observes whether the future is to be built on the shoulders of Brunswick.

It shows a lot of light, but also shadows. First of all, the fact that he has reduced the number of ball losses from 3.3 to 3.1, although he plays more assists than last season and the opponent’s defenses are very focused on him.

Schröder looks especially good when his team meets opponents who prefer a fast ball. Even if the Pace Atlantas is only slightly above average, the open field is much better for them. In that case, Schröder benefits from his speed when he is able to take on unsorted defences to the drive and, in the best case, can attach a kickout pass to protect.

Thanks to Prince, Kent Bazemore or Marco Belinelli, all of whom hit 40 percent of their long-balls, the Hawks rank second in the league in terms of the threesomes. In this respect, Schröder fulfils the playmaker aspect more than satisfactorily, and he is also a good performer with a 55 percent throw rate from the rapid attack.

However, this is not the only way to win games. This was demonstrated, for example, by the duel with the Celtics, in which the Hawks started well and quickly and were in the lead several times – also on a high level. We are a very young team and still have to learn how to win the fourth quarter,”Schröder explained the dilemma to DAZN.

Unfortunately, most opponents also know that the Hawks – as strong as they are when allowed to run – have glaring weaknesses in the semi-field game. This is no wonder, since there is no serious post option and Schröder is the only ball handler who has the ability to create for himself and others.

In most cases it does this from pick-and-roll, even though the frequency has dropped from 50.3 to 44.3 percent since the Howard and Millsap exits last season. Due to the missing quality of the dispenser, Schröder tries it himself more often than in the previous year, but his increase from 0.84 to 0.87 PPP (Points per Possession) is not very groundbreaking.

Meanwhile, the fact that its turnover frequency as a pick and roll handler has risen from 16.1 to 18 percent can be classified as a “normal” consequence of the lack of support. If you need a comparison: Kemba Walker – a player with whom DS17 will have to compete sooner or later – will reach 0.99 PPP and a turnover rate of 9 percent.

The number of Schröder-Plays, which are preceded by insulation, has increased by almost 10 percentage points to 20.6. This may not be in the sense of Budenholzer, who preaches ball-movement and spacing, but it is also not an all-purpose weapon, which is why the classical one-on-one must be used.

And here’s the point: Schröder has increased his productivity by improving the pull-ups from the half distance, which every defender has to take seriously by now. Through skillful delays, he knows how to force his opponent to take a wrong step in his drives like hardly anyone else, and then to walk past him – or to squeeze him off. 1.10 PPPs from isolation are a strong value that James Harden (0.97) for example, can’t get close to.

Page 1: Schröder’s Role as Scorer and Playmaker

Page 2: Criticism of Schröder’s free-throw yield and his defense