Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham had a bunch of great things to say about veteran Dennis Schroder following last night’s 117-112 Game 1 road win vs. the Golden State Warriors (19 points/2 rebounds/3 assists/1 steal/5-10 FG/9-10 FT).
(via House of Highlights):
Reporter: “When you have Dennis scoring as well as playing defense, running behind Poole and behind Steph, how beneficial is that to you guys?”
Ham: “It’s huge, especially him showing up our second unit, him coming off. I tell him all the time, ‘Be aggressive, assertive, and make good decisions. Don’t think twice.’ All of our guys, they encourage Dennis, Austin, DLo, they all get encouraged by our two captains, LeBron and A.D., to come out and be assertive within the context of playing the right way. But Dennis was huge, man. He’s definitely a two-way player. He’s going to come out and give it his all on both sides of the ball, physical, scrappy, give multiple efforts, then push the pace and be able to get stuff done from the free throw line.”
Reporter: “To have someone like Dennis on your team who is making those two free throws in the last seconds, being so ice cold, this is so important. What are your thoughts about that?”
Ham: “He’s a big-time finisher. I’ve known the kid since he first came into the league. That’s my guy. That’s why we wanted him on our team. We know how he plays, especially in big moments. He plays the biggest. He’s not afraid of the moment. He asks for the ball to be in his hands, and our guys trust him having the ball in his hands late in the game. We know if he’s fouled or whatever, the play needs to be made, if it’s an open corner three, going downhill, attacking the rim, having to get fouled and having to step up to the line and hit free throws, he’s going to do all that as well as guard the other team’s best perimeter players. That’s exactly why he’s on our ballclub.”
