In his first season as a starter, Atlanta Hawks point guard Dennis Schroder has been playing better than expected.
Taking on an extremely demanding role of replacing an All-Star in Jeff Teague, the spry native of Germany is having himself a breakout season. With a current season average of 17.2 points and 6.3 assists per game, Schroder has seen improvement in just about every aspect of his game, most notably in his shooting.
The most concerning part of Schroder’s game has always been his jump shooting, with doubts that he would ever develop into a quality perimeter threat. He was shooting
32 percent for his career from three-point range heading into this season, making those doubts even more valid. Fortunately, Hawks fans have yet to need to worry about that skepticism, as Schroder has stood out as a jump shooter this season.
Shooting a career best 36 percent from deep this year, Schroder is on pace to make 110 triples at the rate he is at now; which would shatter his career best of 77. The improved jumper has led to an increase in his total field goal percentage (46.4 percent), percentage on two-point shots (50.2 percent), and effective field goal percentage (51.1 percent).
While it was a struggle at first, the overall improvement in Schroder’s game has led to increased confidence and a continuous rise in the effectiveness of his play, as the season has gone on. This has been evident in his recent play, over the past month.
In a 12-game stretch that has gone back to late November, Schroder has been averaging 21.8 points and 7.6 assists per game. This has included three 30-point performances, after having none in his career previously.
Schroder has, at times, been the backbone of this Hawks team, as point guards typically are. His recent play has shown that he can put this team on his back, which has undeniably kept Atlanta afloat in the Eastern Conference.
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Schroder has been hot lately, and inevitably every basketball player has fantastic stretches of play. Yet, Schroder’s play of late feels like more than just a stretch.
On the contrary, it would be fair to say that this is the Dennis Schroder the NBA will need to get used to seeing.
This is not to say that the 23-year old is invincible, and will never struggle again, but to assume that Schroder is simply playing on cloud-nine, and will eventually fall back down to earth, is rather ludicrous.
While Schroder is far from All-Star level, he is getting better and better with each and every game.
With each passing start, Schroder has gained valuable experience, and his confidence continues to reach new heights. He is playing the best basketball of his life right now for Atlanta, and you should only expect him to get better from here.
