Los Angeles Lakers: 4 Lessons in double overtime marathon over Pistons

The Los Angeles Lakers fans wouldn’t have let the site get away without talking Dennis Schroder!

The huge topic of discussion in the Denver post game articles was the debate about Dennis Schroder’s overall play. Even though he scored 21 points, Lake Show Life criticized him big time.

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Well some readers really pushed back. Here’s some of them…

McKinley Webb:

"Will have to disagree as we probably will all season, but that is the LakeShowLife…Is Schroder the best defensive player on the team? Hardly…but no one can say that he does not put in the effort…"

Slick:

"No Ron..I can’t let you slide with that Dennis the menace shade. That’s a bad take man, you should rewatch the game. Schroder played well in the first half on defense, I’m not sure what game you were watching… …but I have to point out, that Dennis is closer to 6 ft than the 6-1 he is listed. I’m not sure what you are looking for from him on defense. Tucker and Caruso are bigger guys, I expect them to give more resistance at the point of attack."

Guest:

"Its strange how the Professor seems to hate on Schroder and refrain to ever point the good in his game. As if he’s a non factor."

Now let’s look at the readers that had a different view of Schroder’s play that the Lake Show Life staff saw.

Tmax:

"Is Schroder’s contribution of speed worth an extension? I do not know. I do think THT and Caruso are the guys I would rather have on the floor in the 4th quarter with the game on the line."

Richard Parker:

"Now if we could get him to stop dying on screens the overall team defense would greatly improve. I’ve seen it a few times this season that he gets screened and he disengages from the action. When that happens everyone has to rotate and someone is going to end up guarding two guys at the same time. Great teams make you pay for that."

After watching the entire 40 minute performance of Dennis Schroder in this game, Lake Show Life asks this question.

Is it too much to ask Dennis Schroder to play two way basketball like this on a consistent basis?

Dennis Schroder played his best game of the season with a stat line of 22 points (7-9 shooting), 8 assists and 4 rebounds. On the offensive end, he knocked down his first six shots from the field and he went 8-8 from the free throw line. That should satisfy the pro-Schroder crowd.

But his defense overall was much improved and being more active with his rotations and his competing against bigger players satisfied the Schroder critics.

Dennis’ best contribution to the game was his playmaking in the realm of the offense. Fast forward to 50 seconds in this video.

His drive in overtime to set up Anthony Davis baseline for a slam dunk late in the game is exactly what this Lessons series has been asking for since the preseason. The difference was showed early in the game when Dennis hit AD with this pass.

https://twitter.com/SpectrumSN/status/1358255071302090753

Dennis Schroder could have easily gone for the layup here, but knowing it’s more important to the Lakers to get AD involved early, he made the pass and rewarded the big man for running the floor.

A combination of offense, competition on the defensive end and playmaking added up to 40 minutes in the box score. A coincidence? Nope.

There are loyal readers waiting to know why this game lasted about an hour longer than it should have. Read on to find out!