While the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Chicago Bulls in a relatively mundane regular-season game, it represented a reunion of sorts for Dennis Schroder and Billy Donovan.
Now leading the Bulls, Donovan was Schroder’s coach for his two seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder. When Schroder was dealt from the Atlanta Hawks to the Thunder, he was subsequently moved to the bench, taking on a sixth man role rather than the starting point guard job he had with the Hawks.
He took to it very well, even becoming the runner-up for the Sixth Man of the Year last season. Schroder was traded to the Lakers as part of a complete tear down within the Thunder organization. Sweeping changes saw Donovan fired, leading to his move to the Bulls.
In their first meeting since their time with the Thunder, Donovan raved about his experience with Schroder, via Mike Trudell of Spectrum SportsNet:
Bulls coach Billy Donovan on Dennis Schroder, whom he coached the last two years in OKC:
“I thought he was incredibly valuable to us. He’s obviously capable of being a starter. Highly competitive, smart basketball player, continues to get better."
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) January 9, 2021
More Billy Donovan on Schroder: "Dennis is all about winning. He’s incredibly competitive.”
He added that “Dennis has great fight in him,” which made him mesh really well with Chris Paul, who’s clearly a top competitor/fighter.
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) January 9, 2021
While Schroder has had some issues during the early stages of his Lakers tenure — namely averaging a near career-high in turnovers — he has been a positive contributor on the court. He adds another layer to the lakers offense and has been better than advertised on defense.
That competitive spirit and love for winning described by Donovan will be a huge bonus in the playoffs, as the Lakers will be looking to repeat as NBA champions for the first time since 2009-10.
Frank Vogel empowering point guards in offensive scheme
Lakers head coach Frank Vogel spoke about the team’s plan offensively, emphasizing Schroder and other ballhandlers to assume plenty of control.
“We play with a lot of randomness and empower our point guard on the floor, whether that’s ‘Bron, Dennis or Alex to call the action with my ability to put guys in spots when needed,” Vogel said. “But we empower our group to play with good offensive concepts as much as anything.
“The spacing, the screening angles we want to execute, knowing each other’s strengths, whether it’s playing through Marc at the top of the key and knowing when he has the ball we’re speed cutting all over the place.
“Or if we’re going to play in the pick-and-roll game with Trezz, he has that ability to roll to the basket or throw it back to him in the post. We’re just learning each other, and that’s part of the randomness that we want. Guys seem to be getting more comfortable each game in that type of system.”
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