OKC Thunder Dennis Schroder needs to upgrade his pass game

The OKC Thunder are being well served by their back up point guard Dennis Schroder. He still has some holes to close up in his game.

Dennis Schroder has been incredible for the OKC Thunder this season. His name is included in most Sixth Man of the Year conversations as he has simply been unstoppable. He is an integral part of the Thunder death line up which is essentially impossible to stop.

This line up includes the four best shooters on the roster being Schroder, Chris Paul, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Danilo Gallinari. The big man in the middle is Steven Adams to help out the shooters with offensive rebounding.

Schroder is in this line up because he is so hard to guard due to being a true triple threat. He is shooting the ball at 38.7 percent from deep, his mid-range game is solid, especially from a set play and he can blow by you using his incredible speed to get to the hoop.

Add to this Schroder is shooting 84.8 percent from the line where he is making 3.4 attempts per game. Put it all together and Schroder is having a year similar to his final year as a member of the Atlanta Hawks when he was a starter.

However, there is one aspect of Schroder’s game that needs some attention.

Schroder needs to pass the ball more.

Schroder has a usage rate of 27.3 percent which is the fourth highest in his seven-year career. However, he is averaging 4.0 assists per game which is the second-lowest of his career. Schroder has some incredible shooters around him, and he needs to use them more.

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Schroder’s usage percentage is also right down at 21.5 percent. His career percentage is at a solid 30.2 percent but this shows that Schroder is not passing the ball enough.

Part of this metric can be explained by the fact he is on the court with two quality guards most of the time.

However, when Paul is off the court, Schroder is running the point and needs to involve his teammates more. If he can do this the OKC Thunder will be even tougher to match up with, whoever they take on in the first round.

While Schroder is able to use his speed in the regular season, playoff defenses tend to be able to slow players down. If he is deprived of this avenue to the basket, Schroder’s ability to score becomes compromised.

By making the opposition wary of his passing game, he will still be as effective come playoffs.