that whole year is remembered differently because of things that happened after it and the lazy interpretations they spawned. sort of like the malone/gp year, which everyone claims was some sort of abject failure when a) we made the finals, and b) had malone been healthy, we'd have both won the finals and been dominant in the regular season (we were killing everybody when he was in the lineup). in schroder's case, his turning down of the contract (the details of which still haven't been made public, btw), followed by AD's and lebron's injury issues that derailed our season, followed by schroder's disastrous FA and stint in boston have made it seem like he sucked here, but he didn't. he actually played pretty well and fit pretty well, which is why we offered him an extension in the first place. and he and his agent thought he was playing well enough to turn that down and look for more! anyway, he's a more than adequate backup guard and worth more than the vet min in terms of on-court impact. glad he got us a win without our big guns. a rare bright spot in the last couple of seasons.
This explains the Schroder/ Ham connection. I'm not sure what the backstory is on Darvin and Bev just yet tho. LOS ANGELES — After stepping on Bam Adebayo’s foot on a drive at the 5:41 mark of the fourth quarter, Dennis Schröder got up and limped toward the Lakers’ bench. Head coach Darvin Ham called a timeout to give his group a breather and allow head athletic trainer Roger Sancho to test Schröder’s ankle. Schröder, attempting to walk off the injury, wanted to stay in the game and push through it. ADVERTISEMENT With the Lakers already playing without their three leading scorers in LeBron James (a late scratch due to a non-COVID-19 illness), Anthony Davis and Lonnie Walker IV, as well as Troy Brown Jr. going down in the game with a left quad strain, Ham wanted to protect Schröder. Ham told him, “If I see you limping, I’m taking you out.” “No,” Ham recalls Schröder saying. “Leave me in the game. I’ll be all right, Coach. I’m good.” Ham, trusting his starting point guard’s judgment, replied, “Well, be good.” Schröder, sensing a moment to rally the undermanned group with the game teetering, said, “I’m not gonna be good, I’m gonna be great.” He backed up his proclamation in one of the Lakers’ best wins of the season, scoring a season-high 32 points — 14 in the fourth quarter — as Los Angeles beat the Miami Heat 112-109 at Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday. He added four rebounds, two assists and four steals in a game-high 40 minutes. The Lakers outscored the Heat by six points with Schröder on the floor. Upon staying in the game, Schröder stepped to the free-throw line and made both free throws, trimming the Lakers’ deficit to one point. On the next possession, he drained a 3-pointer, giving the Lakers the lead for good. “That’s why he’s here,” Ham said. “He was phenomenal.” Los Angeles improved to 4-1 over its past five games and 17-21 on the season. The Lakers are 5-5 overall since Davis’ right foot injury (6-5 including the game he exited early). Most important, they are now one game behind the Utah Jazz for the 10th seed in the Western Conference. Schröder has scored in double figures in four straight games and eight of 11 games overall as he finds the groove that made him so effective during his first stint with the Lakers during the 2020-21 season. He said his mindset didn’t shift much with James out of the lineup. ADVERTISEMENT “I mean, I got to be more aggressive anyway,” Schröder said. “Even when AD and Bron are coming back, I got to be more aggressive to open up stuff for them. And the road trip, the last couple of games, I’ve been more aggressive, and tonight, hearing that Bron is sick and AD is out as well, I think everybody is just giving a little bit more, and that was my approach before the game. “Just to be aggressive, help my teammates. Go drive and try to find my teammates, and I was aggressive in the first half and second half.” After missing the first 13 games of the season, Schröder played his way into the starting lineup by his fourth game. Since then, he’s been a fixture as a pesky ballhawk who, on the other end of the floor, constantly puts pressure on the rim with his speed and guile. He’s no longer the pure scorer he was during his first stint with the Lakers, but he’s been more efficient this time around (his true shooting percentage has increased from 54.3 percent to 57.5 percent) as he’s better at picking his spots within the offense. He’s shooting better on both 2s (from 47.6 percent to 49.3 percent) and 3s (from 33.5 percent to 35.9 percent) than in 2020-21. Wednesday featured vintage Schröder, whom the Lakers have seen in spurts. He scored nine points in the final 2:35 and went 9-for-9 at the free-throw line in the fourth quarter. “Just the tenacious little kid I fell in love with back in Atlanta in 2013,” Ham said of Schröder’s gutsy performance. Ham and Schröder both arrived in Atlanta in the summer of 2013. Ham, previously an assistant coach with the Lakers from 2011-13, had just joined Mike Budenholzer’s staff. Schröder was the No. 17 pick out of Germany and set to back up Jeff Teague alongside Lou Williams and Shelvin Mack. “You could tell he was gonna be special because he worked, he put the work in, he was competitive and he always shined in big moments,” Ham said. ADVERTISEMENT The two particularly bonded during the summer league of Schröder’s sophomore season, when Ham coached the team and emboldened his young point guard to be aggressive. “He just let me be me,” Schröder said. Through the years, when Ham was in Milwaukee and Schröder was in Oklahoma City, they’d make sure they’d go to dinner the day before playing against each other. The two would frequently talk about what things would be like once Ham became a head coach. Schröder said he wanted to play for Ham — to be his point guard. “And that didn’t change,” Schröder said, reflecting on the past few years. Schröder called Ham over the summer to tell him how proud he was that Ham finally got his opportunity to be a head coach. The two stayed in contact, with Ham’s familiarity and vision for Schröder playing a key role in the 10-year veteran signing in Los Angeles. Ham remains one of Schröder’s biggest supporters, encouraging him to look for his shot more to keep defenses honest against James, Davis and Russell Westbrook. “He keeps telling me to be aggressive even when Bron and AD are there,” Schröder said. “‘Be aggressive and do your s—;’ that’s what he always says. So, I’m going to keep being aggressive, keep finding my way.” It’s unclear when James, Davis and Walker will return. But the Lakers now have to worry about Schröder’s health too. Schroder said his ankle is “pretty sore right now” but added that he’s going to get treatment on it Thursday and plans to play Friday against Atlanta. “Kid’s just a fireball of a competitor,” Ham said. “And he showed that tonight.” Zooming out, this was an incredible win for two reasons. First, Miami has been healthier and jelling recently, winning eight of its past 12 games. At full strength, the Heat are still one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference and the league. Beating this Heat squad — a group that often had the two or three best players on the floor at all times on Wednesday — is impressive. ADVERTISEMENT Second, Lakers lineups without James and Davis have been slaughtered this season. The Lakers have been outscored by 13.9 points per 100 possessions with their two superstars off the floor, according to Cleaning The Glass. The Lakers have struggled to play .500 basketball with James and Davis this season. Without them, they are massive underdogs against most teams — even the bottom-dwellers. But they improbably dispelled that notion, if only for one game, with their spirited play, which was spearheaded by Schröder and his grit. “I got to shout out to (Darvin) that whatever he said before I came here, he lived up to it,” Schröder said. “So, I love him.” Related listening (Photo of Dennis Schröder: Gary A. Vasquez / USA Today)
In general I'm just happy for Dennis after a game like last night. I don't think anyone here wanted our FO to pay him that massive contract two years ago, but the amount of crap-flinging and laughing at his misfortune quickly became idiotic. He made mistakes and took his lumps, and now he's really hooping. Stellar game by him last night. That finish reminded me of Tony Parker
Great get Slick …. does explain “everything” with regard to Schroder. No way Darvin would drop him to the bench unit at this point. Gotta hope they can move Bev for a good piece cause he clearly likes playing them together and after last night’s gutty inspiring win it even looks like the team is gelling with them there somewhat in its play and gritty identity. From the guy who has been hating it. Give it a game and any bad loss due to midget effect and he’ll “be back” like Arnold though.
hmmm...i wonder what he's specifically referring to. maybe ham was the one who convinced schroder to sign here. i know folks hate him and all, but i thought he was a great get at the vet min, like, super great. and i think he's been that in general, not just because he won us the heat game. i never disliked him, either (check the receipts). i felt bad for both us and him that he turned down the extension because i thought we'd both get burned by it (and, imo, we both did). i hope he can continue his redemption tour here.
I’ve teased him pretty mercilessly because I thought his turning down our offer was idiotic (and it was). I was also bummed we signed him this year as I didn’t like how things ended with him and I was already sore because we traded for BevMo who I hate. But he’s been really good so far this year and for vet min he’s hugely outperformed his contract. I have to admit he’s won me over and I like him again as I did in OKC and Atlanta. I’m rooting for him now. Just get rid of Bev and Nunn.
Oh, he's definitely worth more than vet minimum. For that $$, he's outproducing his contract. He gets, what... 12/3/3 and a steal, shooting around league average for 3? Yeah, that's quite alright.
That was a hell of a performance, especially the in clutch time after his ankle went sideways. It's nice to have guys on your roster that can go out there and get 30. He's right though, he has to be more aggressive when we have a healthy roster. I think the key is to have him in that Russ role where he runs the 2nd unit, but I don't think Ham is benching him and I don't think we're moving Russ. Also wanted to give props for his D on Herro. Made him a zero. He's a great value for the min, just needs to be put in better positions to succeed nightly. Either not next to Bev and/or in the super 6th man role.
He's been frankly awesome last few games. As noted I felt he had been playing well for awhile but he's it's taken a leap. Beverly sucking for so long may have shifted the confidence and hierarchy on the team to Dennis. You can feel possessions are suppose to go through him over the last 2 games unless Lebron wants it
LOL did you see LeBron watching Nunn after him not getting the ball to Bron at the top of the 3 circle late in the game … go one on one for about 6 seconds before thankfully putting a floater in from the left baseline? I expected he was going to get the stink eye but I don’t think he did. LeBron should appreciate the way the scoring load is being lightened off his shoulders and that was a possession he could just watch. Had Nunn not made the shot maybe there would have been stink eye. And yes Dennis and Russ too are playing good ball. These guys all starting to play to their capabilities and the roster starts looking a heck of a lot better.
The 3 ball falling for him has been a big boost. I liked the one play where Bron forced him to take the 3. DS gave it up to Bron and Bron immediately hot potato'ed it back because Dennis had a big on him who was giving him space.
Another big night for DS Fox torched him but no one on the court played defense tonight. I think Fox was going to do that in the 4th against anyone.
Well, props to Dennis. Excellent game once again. Now, Ham, listen up! Dennis is NOT a PG. Don't play him at PG. Don't ask him to create for others, he CAN NOT do it. He is what he is -- an undersized SG. Use that when you can and play Lonnie and AR when you can't.
This man turned into Steph Curry. Also CLUTCH again on those Ft's. He should be taking every single one down the stretch.
