I'm not so sure about that. Dennis is a high usage guy who needs the ball in his hands. He's in the same class as Ginobili, Jamal Crawford and Lou Williams who can provide exceptional scoring and a little bit of passing. There's a reason why those aforementioned 3 come off the bench, its so their pursuit for buckets doesn't hinder their stars (Duncan/Parker, Blake/CP3, Kawhi/PG). Manu was also an incredible passer and Lou Williams became a pretty good catch and shoot guy. So its on Schroder to adjust to AD/Bron. What gives me hope is that DS last year was 41% from 3 in catch and shoot situations so there's some promise there. Make no mistake Schroder is a bucket getter, he wants to shoot and he wants to score points. Scoring comes naturally for him and hes pretty good at it, its his first instinct. 2019 Thunder PG/Westbrook 20 FGs attempted per 36...Schroder is at 17. 2020 Thunder...Schroder had a higher FGA per 36 than CP3, Gallinari and Shai Gilgeous Alexander. But there's a pecking order..establish AD, Bron and then go get buckets. This is why I hoped he would come off the bench he would have virtually no competition for the ball. I'm ok with him finishing games because he's still has a lot to offer when it comes to shooting and playmaking...but those things need to come after AD and Bron eat. I don't blame Schroder for being aggressive last night AD totally phoned it in.
Schroder is a lot better than I thought - I believe he should be starting because yes it allows LeBron/AD to coast a little. LeBron and AD will figure out how to impose their will on the game though - I think they're just conserving their energy right now, which is fine. Schroder is going 110% right now and I'm good with that. We just need to adjust and play better defense and get easy buckets like we're used to doing. I'd like to see Schroder's 3pt % go up to around what it was last year...38%...of course he comes here and automatically drops to 30% on 3s lol
Yes agree he’s doing fine at the point starting like Alcindor said detailing the advantages .... nearly the same or better in some regards than what Rondo did on the floor at the same time with Lebron and AD. With the whole season to fine tune it. Vogel and staff will get it humming in time. Dennis really does allow James to rest at times on offense. Gasol too when the ball’s in his hands looking for cutters.
^ Check out this poll by NBA TV's Rick Kamla Also that follow up tweet shows how AD has far fewer touches when Schroder is in the game
Again Vogel and staff will work this out. Better than Bron full time PG like last year with Rondo injured reg season. Vogel can tell Dennis what he wants.
Random gut feeling I have that is admittedly overly pessimistic: I don’t trust his jump shot. It’s going in at a decent enough rate right now, but his form isn’t very inspiring. It’s like he’s willing in the shot with his legs. Seems like something that might be prone to cold slumps. But then again, we got him for DG who had pretty form but ugly results. And we don’t really need him to be a three point sniper, just hit the open shot when presented and otherwise be on the attack to the rim.
I love this guy and the way he plays. He doesn't miss many games either. Can score in many ways: penetration (great finisher around the basket!), mid-range jumper, three point shot, and he's a good facilitator too. I'd like him to be featured a lot in our offense to save Bron's legs as much as possible, while AD is obviously not feeling 100%. I'll be honest - when I heard about him wanting to start my first impression was "man, you just came to LA, you have to earn it first". But he's earned it right away, and best of all he can play heavy minutes, which allows Vogel to overlap him with Trez. Those 2 can play together very well.
If Vogel is going to experiment, might as well do a lot of Lebron/Schroeder PnRs in crunch time where either Schroeder is the ball handler or the screener. Lebron even if he has playoff gear still and is working himself back into shape isn't as explosive as he was say 4-5 years ago. The best comparison to a recent playoff "role" I have for Schroeder is Dragic. He just destroyed defenses that were trying to take away Butler and the shooters. AD's offense fluctuates a lot in the playoffs (he's amazing against one one coverage but struggles with double), so the Lakers feeling comfortable with Schroeder attacking defenses and him getting used to were the passing lanes are is critical. In addition, as Lebron's explosiveness wanes he can still be used off ball. He's turned himself into a good 3 point shooter (especially considering all his 3's are contested for the most part) and on cuts he can get more momentum
Can play off-ball Can make open threes Can create for others Can hit FT's Can rebound well for his size Can play decent defense but gambles too much for a steal Is relatively always healthy No complaints from me. He's shooting 50% from the field, near 40% from three, and has a killer midrange thus far.
Yeah, I think midrange is his bread and butter, it's simply not a popular way to score these days in the NBA. I like it though, I think it has its place.
I'm not ready to have him come off the bench yet. He has been pretty effective as a starter and we're five games into a season where he is playing with the two most talented players he's ever played with. It will take some time to find a good balance of getting his and feeding AD. I think he should still be starting. Now if 20-25 games from now we are having lots of Schroder 25 point outings while AD hovers around 18 points, then I might start to consider moving him to the bench.
Defense on Derozan was impressive. I'm glad he allowed Lebron to run the show in the 4th and DS pretty much played off ball. Nicely done
