{"id":68402,"date":"2024-03-16T05:00:27","date_gmt":"2024-03-16T09:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=68402"},"modified":"2024-03-16T05:47:12","modified_gmt":"2024-03-16T09:47:12","slug":"lakers-darvin-ham-reacts-dangelo-russell-dennis-schroder-take","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/03\/16\/lakers-darvin-ham-reacts-dangelo-russell-dennis-schroder-take\/","title":{"rendered":"Darvin Ham Reacts to D\u2019Angelo Russell\u2019s Dennis Schroder Take"},"content":{"rendered":"

As he restores his reputation with more than respectable performances, Los Angeles Lakers guard D\u2019Angelo Russell<\/a> is using the same media that scapegoated him to vilify a former teammate<\/a> in veteran Dennis Schroder<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Decrying the relationship Schroder had with Lakers head coach Darvin Ham, Russell believes it lended itself to the role that he played during the 2023 NBA Playoffs. A role more akin to the one Derek Fisher<\/a> had with L.A. than the aggressive scoring role that he prefers.<\/p>\n

Darvin Ham Reacts to D\u2019Angelo Russell\u2019s Dennis Schroder Take<\/h2>\n

In any relationship, and in all walks of life, it takes time to build rapport. Or, as Ham says, to build a relationship. Nonetheless, he believes that his relationship with Russell is \u201cin a great place<\/a>\u201d (per The Athletic\u2019s Jovan Buha).<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have great conversations,\u201d Ham explains. \u201cGreat text exchanges after games. During the game our in-game conversations. \u2026 It\u2019s tough. That\u2019s why the phrase is called \u2018building a relationship.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t hit the ground running [smooth] all the time\u2026 Trying to figure things out on the fly.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201dAnd yeah, [Schroder] is someone I love and care about,\u201d he admits, responding directly to Russell\u2019s insinuations. \u201c[Schroder] is a [heck of a] player. But just trying to learn [Russell] on the fly and figure things out.\u201d<\/p>\n

History Leads to Chemistry<\/h3>\n

Ham and Schroder\u2019s relationship goes back to at least 2013.<\/p>\n

At time, Ham was entering his third season as an assistant coach. However, it was his first with the Atlanta Hawks. Schroder had just been selected 17th overall in the 2013 NBA Draft by the Hawks.<\/p>\n

They would remain with Atlanta for five more seasons before going their separate ways. Ham headed to the Midwest to join the Milwaukee Bucks as an assistant coach. Schroder was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Carmelo Anthony<\/a> and a first-round pick.<\/p>\n

In that half a decade stretch, the two had plenty of opportunity to establish the type of bond that Russell coveted. Schroder had played 386 games and went on four playoff runs with the Hawks. He\u2019s played 452 games and went on five playoff runs with Ham coaching him in any capacity. For comparison, Russell has played 95 games and had one playoff run under Ham; a fifth of the experience\u2019s that he had with Schroder.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Just the Way the Cookie Crumbled<\/h3>\n

His familiarity with Schroder not withstanding, Russell\u2019s role with the Lakers last postseason was less a byproduct of that than the result of having multiple on-ball playmakers.<\/p>\n

LeBron James<\/a> and Austin Reaves<\/a> were both excelling with the ball in their hands, limiting him to a tertiary playmaker. However, as the most reliable 3-point threat, Russell could make an impact felt in more of an off-ball role. At least theoretically.<\/p>\n

Yet, Russell was noticeably uncomfortable playing passively. Not getting the shot attempts he was accustomed to, his performances were routinely subpar.<\/p>\n

Inefficient in limited shot attempts, his numbers looked as poor as anyone\u2019s on the team. In fact, he shot 31.0 percent from 3, a playoff career-low. His numbers on catch-and-shoot 3s (33.3 percent) were a bit better<\/a> but not much.<\/p>\n

Schroder, who playing a role not dissimilar to Russell\u2019s, struggled as well. However, he made 33.3 percent of his 3s in the postseason. 25.2 percent of his shot attempts<\/a> in the 2023 NBA Playoffs were \u2018wide open\u2019 3s, of which he made 38.5 percent.<\/p>\n

Staying Focused<\/h3>\n

Ham and Russell agree on at least one thing and that\u2019s the idea their relationship is in a better place because they\u2019ve improved their communication.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen, for him, the beautiful thing about it I think that caused the difference in where we were then and where we are now is our ability to talk and be honest with one another. And our ability to really take accountability with one another.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201c\u2026 It\u2019s two grown men [who] both caring about winning,\u201d Ham says. \u201cBoth trying to help one another figure this thing out. And who both want to get to the level we know we can get to.\u201d<\/p>\n

In regard to the 2024 NBA Playoffs, the Lakers are still on the outside looking in. Just ninth in the West, Anthony Davis<\/a>\u2019 belief that L.A. can beat any team<\/a> in a seven-game series may prove irrelevant if they have to play in the single elimination play-in tournament.<\/p>\n

In any case, the Lakers need as little off court drama as possible. It\u2019s a positive sign that Russell continues to ingratiate himself with the team. Especially after hearing his name<\/a> in the trade winds. Nonetheless, it\u2019s imperative that he stays focused on the task at hand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As he restores his reputation with more than respectable performances, Los Angeles Lakers guard D\u2019Angelo Russell is using the same media that scapegoated him to vilify a former teammate in veteran Dennis Schroder. Decrying the relationship Schroder had with Lakers head coach Darvin Ham, Russell believes it lended itself to the role that he played […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":68405,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26,1608,62,3],"tags":[307,3839,252,596],"class_list":["post-68402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lakers","category-basketball","category-nba","category-news","tag-dangelo-russell","tag-darvin-ham","tag-dennis-schroder","tag-nba-playoffs"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68402"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68402\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}