Third defeat in a row – and even zero points against Denver: Dennis Schröder and the Sacramento Kings are currently having a hard time in the NBA.
The German basketball star remained without points in the 108:122 home defeat against the Denver Nuggets. In just under 21 minutes of playing time, the world and European champion only recorded three assists. It was the Kings’ third consecutive defeat in the North American professional basketball league.
Is Schröder threatening the bank?
After Schröder’s bitter zero number, the unpleasant questions were not long in coming. Should Germany’s basketball star, who is currently struggling with his form in the NBA, be better off on the bench? His coach’s answer leaves room for interpretation – and is likely to fuel speculation.
“We take everything into consideration”said Doug Christie after the loss to the Nuggets when he was asked whether veteran star Russell Westbrook could start for Schröder in the future. Not only had the German just been left without a point or rebound, he only hit one of 19 field throws in the last three games.
Third defeat in a row
And so Schröder is the face of the Kings’ decline, who had already received claps against the Minnesota Timberwolves (117:144) and champions Oklahoma City Thunder (101:132) before the clear defeat. Here too, with three and two points, the 32-year-old fell far short of what was expected of him – and also behind the performances he had already shown this season.
The point guard, who only arrived this season, is aware of this. “We just have to do a better job in defense. Of course that starts with me.”said Schröder after the Minnesota game. He doesn’t feel comfortable in his game at the moment. “And if I don’t have that, I’m not effective”he said, before taking the responsibility: “I always look at my own performance first. I have to get better.”
Schröder was applauded just a few days ago
How quickly things can sometimes happen in the NBA is shown by the fact that Schröder was being cheered in his new adopted home just a few days ago. At the beginning of November, he achieved his previous best in a Kings jersey with 24 points against the Milwaukee Bucks, and shortly afterwards he was even allowed to perform the “Light the Beam” ritual, which is iconic in Sacramento, after a win against the Golden State Warriors.
Less than a week later the world is different. The notoriously unsuccessful Kings, who have only reached the playoffs once since 2007, are with three wins and eight defeats where experts had placed them before the season – in the bottom of the table in the brutally strong Western Conference. Before the Denver game, Christie even felt compelled to give an incendiary two-and-a-half-minute speech in which he lashed out at unnamed “haters and hypocrites.”