Atlanta Hawks point guard Dennis Schroder said he wants to have a meeting with Dwight Howard and head coach Mike Budenholzer to “get on the same page” after he did not play the majority of the second half in the team’s 119-111 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Monday.
Dennis Schroder ‘doesn’t understand’ why he got benched for leaving Steph Curry open for 3
Schroder scored 23 points in 24 minutes but was pulled in the third quarter after arguing with Dwight Howard over a bad pass.
Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
“We’ve got to figure it out, me and Coach,” Schroder said, according to ESPN.com. “I want to talk about it. Dwight’s got to be in there, too. Get on the same page. Then we’re going to be all right.”
Budenholzer benched his starting point guard early in the third quarter after an on-court argument between Schroder and Howard led to an uncontested Stephen Curry three-pointer. Schroder had scored 23 points in 24 minutes, including 19 in the first half, but got on Howard after a wayward outlet pass went out of bounds.
He was baffled by Budenholzer’s move to send him to the bench.
“I don’t understand Coach’s decision,” Schroder said. “Maybe I’m too competitive, I don’t know. I’m just trying to be competitive, trying to win games. But I don’t get that one.”
Budenholzer said little after the game, chalking up Schroder’s benching as a coach’s decision.
“We need to learn to play together and stay together for 48 minutes,” he said. “That’s something that’s very important to us.”
Schroder had a run-in with his head coach before
The Hawks suspended their point guard one game after he failed to report to the team on time after spending the All-Star break in Germany. He had an issue with his visa and was unable to return to the United States when expected.
Schroder said he was disappointed in the events and accepted his punishment. But the next game, he was late for the team’s bus to Orlando. Budenholzer, consequently, chose to bring his starting point guard off the bench, and Atlanta lost, 105-86.
“We continue to hold our entire roster, all of our players, accountable,” Budenholzer said, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Chris Vivlamore. “Our culture is important to us. Respect for your teammates is important to us. That’s our job and that’s our organization’s job is to continue to build on our culture.”
The 23-year-old Schroder is averaging 17.5 points and 6.2 assists per game in his first season as a Hawks starter. Maybe he just needs time to get through his growing pains.
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