The World Cup winner is unafraid of the limelight
Back in February, when the Detroit Pistons acquired veteran point guard Dennis Schröder as part of a labyrinthine trade that orchestrated Jimmy Butler’s escape from Miami to the west coast, it was seen as a shrewd bit of business for a franchise unexpectedly finding itself in the throes of a playoff race, the rapid improvements from the destitution of the Monty Williams era far beyond even the wildest and most optimistic of preseason expectations (I had them 12th in the East ).
Schröder brought with him a reputation as a veteran ball handler capable of running an offense and providing a scoring punch when required. In Brooklyn, prior to his quiet and brief stint with the Warriors, he averaged over 16 points per game on 40% from three and 6.3 assists per game. The assists and three-point percentage were both career high marks for the German, who earlier in his career was known as a slashing, scoring guard, backing up All-Star talents in Jeff Teague in Atlanta, and Russell Westbrook and Chris Paul in Oklahoma City.
While his game has evolved to become more of a traditional floor general in recent times (his shooting splits with the Pistons are the worst of his career), what has remained is the fearlessness and the willingness to have the ball in his hands in big moments, not shrinking from the limelight. He was largely brought to Detroit to help Cade Cunningham by taking some of the ball-handling responsibilities off the budding superstar’s plate, especially following the injury Jaden Ivey suffered on New Year’s Day. The Pistons scratched around for a month with Marcus Sasser and Ausar Thompson as ball handlers before Schröder’s arrival.
That embracing of the moment was no more evident than in the final minutes of Game 2 at Madison Square Garden, where a hostile and partisan New York crowd was stirred into a frenzy by Jalen Brunson grifting the Knicks back into the game. The Pistons had shown their underbelly in Game 1, keeling over when the lights got too bright, a 21-0 Knicks run subjecting them to the franchise’s 15th straight playoff loss (an NBA record), and the Garden crowd circled like sharks in the water when the score got tied at 94.
Enter Dennis Schröder.
Cade Cunningham had done the heavy lifting for the first 3.5 quarters. The face of the franchise had 33 points, but it was beginning to tire as the Knicks began to surge, blanketed by physical defence from OG Anunoby, among others. It was times like these that showed Schröder’s true value as the release valve.
In the key possession, Cade brings the ball up the court and kicks it to Tobias Harris at the top of the key. Cade immediately calls for it back, but Anunoby shoots the gap and denies the pass, so Harris rotates left to Schröder, waiting on the opposite wing. The Pistons had cleared the entire right side of the court for Cade to operate on Anunoby, but once the ball was swung, the floor got re-balanced with Duren shifting to the right side, with Tobias as the screener and Malik Beasley in the strong side corner.
The Knicks were trying to hide Brunson on Schröder in this possession to lessen his defensive load in preparation for another key offensive possession. By swinging to Schröder, the Pistons got Brunson involved in an action with the pick and roll, forcing a switch to bring Josh Hart onto the ball, which isn’t necessarily what the Pistons would’ve wanted, but Schröder was able to use the Knicks’ scheme against them. If you go back and re-watch the play, Schröder dribbles back to the middle before crossing back left under a Tobias screen. Hart calls for the switch, and Brunson is late to react. That’s all the space he needed to fire off the eventual game winner.
The thing is, Schröder has been living in the spotlight for years.
Let me take you back to the 2023 FIBA World Cup, a disaster tournament for Team USA, who would end up losing the bronze medal game to an all-time performance from Dillon Brooks (39 points). Sure, the USA squad was weaker than what they’d normally send but beating the USA is the goal for every other nation, it doesn’t matter who’s in the jersey. You, dear reader, may not have watched a second of this tournament or even known of its existence, buried in the unfriendly American timeslot of being hosted in Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines.
But why was the USA even in the bronze medal match to begin with? Who beat them in the semi-final? Why, Germany, of course, led by Dennis Schröder and Franz Wagner. Interestingly, in that game, Schröder was only Germany’s fourth top scorer with 17 points (Andreas Obst had 24, Franz Wagner 22, and Daniel Theis 21), but he also had 9 assists and no turnovers.
Most importantly, though, was his fourth quarter, specifically the last minute of the game. The USA had drawn to within a point with 90 seconds left, after being down 10 at three-quarter time. Schröder assisted Obst on a three to bring the margin to four, before banging down a contested stepback midrange over Austin Reaves to increase the margin to six and effectively close the game out for Germany. Highlight plays? No not really. But hugely important steadying plays in a game Germany were every danger of being overrun? Unequivocally.
He would follow that game up with a 28 performance over a Serbia side inspired by Bogdan Bogdanovic (but admittedly without Nikola Jokic after his title run with Denver), en route to winning Germany their first ever gold medal and being named the tournament MVP. A year later he would act as a flagbearer for Germany at the Olympic Games and lead the men’s basketball team to the bronze medal match, where Jokic and Serbia would exact revenge, but Schröder’s personal performances would lead him to be named in the All-Star Five for the tournament.
The Pistons got Dennis Schröder to ice those key moments. In his short time here so far he’s made big shots to turn games, whether it be a critical drive through contact or a leaning banker, Schröder has owned his role as a leader of a young team and has embraced the dawg-pound culture it embodies.
Schröder has been moulded by the big stage. His MSG moment was merely the latest episode of his Broadway show.
Bring on Game 3.