Has Dennis Schroder Figured It Out In The Playoffs?

In the Atlanta Hawks’ 106-101 victory over the Washington Wizards last night, 21 year-old German PG Dennis Schroder played another great game coming off the Hawks’ bench: 14 points, 8 assists, 4 rebounds and just 2 turnovers.  Dennis’ performance in Game 4 follows up a valiant effort in Game 3 where Schroder nearly took a reeling Hawks team to victory in the fourth quarter: 18 points, 5 assists and 0 turnovers.  After being out of sorts in the Hawks’ first round series with the Brooklyn Nets, Dennis seems to have fallen back into mid-season form against the Washington Wizards.  Has Dennis Schroder figured it out in the playoffs?

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Part of what makes Coach Bud and his staff so special is that their player development is unlike anything this Atlanta Hawks organization has ever seen.  Youngsters are growing with each minute played on the court.  What the Atlanta Hawks’ reserves did to erase a seemingly insurmountable deficit in the fourth quarter of Game 3 might be the turning point of the series.  No longer do Dennis Schroder and Mike Muscala look apprehensive playing big minutes in playoff games.  They both can play confident now knowing that they almost did the impossible Saturday evening.

I feel like the game has slowed down considerably for Schroder these last two playoff games.  While he still attacks the paint as he has all season, his vision has improved.  He’s not trying to solely draw contact from Marcin Gortat or Nene when he drives to the hoop.  Dennis is now looking to find guys that have a more open look at the basket than him.  His awareness at the top of the arc gives the team composure when Jeff Teague is not on the court or dribbling the basketball.

I can see that something has clicked for Dennis Schroder in the playoffs.  Thank goodness that it happened when it did.  Somebody in the Hawks rotation needed to come up big in this Hawks-Wizards series.  Pero Antic was the man against Brooklyn.  If the Hawks want to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals at least one reserve player is going to have to elevate his play to that of a starter.  In the remaining games with Washington, why not Dennis Schroder?