Dennis Schroder Starting to Follow Rajon Rondo's Blueprint to Stardom

The world is beginning to see something special from Dennis Schroder, the German point guard taken by the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the 2013 NBA draft after months of Rajon Rondo comparisons. 

Schroder struggled during his rookie season, barely finding his way onto the floor under Mike Budenholzer and failing to meet expectations once there. He averaged only 3.7 points and 1.9 assists per game throughout the campaign, shot 38.3 percent from the field and produced a putrid player efficiency rating of 5.8, via Basketball-Reference.com. 

But the 21-year-old floor general has looked like a completely different player in 2014-15. 

Schroder has played with an undeniable level of confidence and has even been given crunch-time minutes when his athletic exploits have helped the Hawks make a run. He's been a major reason the team has moved up to the No. 3 spot in the Eastern Conference and suddenly seems poised to make even more noise. 

In 17.3 minutes per game, Schroder has averaged 9.3 points, 1.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 0.8 steals, and he's done so while drilling 53.8 percent of his attempts from the hardwood. It's allowed him to improve his PER over threefold (20.2), and after earning minus-0.7 win shares as a rookie, he's picked up 0.8 thus far as a sophomore. 

But lately, he's been even better.

Over his past five outings, Schroder has posted 13.4 points and 3.2 assists per game with a field-goal percentage of 59.1. He was especially impressive during a Dec. 2 contest against the Boston Celtics, one in which he helped the Hawks erase a deficit in the 20s, remaining on the floor throughout the fourth quarter while Jeff Teague watched—and cheered—his ability to make one good decision after another. 

"It was just a little bit of a feel," Budenholzer said after the game, per AJC.com's Chris Vivlamore. "Dennis was playing well. I just stuck with him. We've done it with different guys at different times this year. I think Jeff has been unbelievable and he'll continue to be unbelievable. It's just kind of a guy feel. Dennis' defense and getting in the paint, just different things, I went with him."

It's tough to shake the feeling that the best is yet to come for this German point guard, especially as he followed up that impressive outing with a 16-point, three-assist showing on 6-of-9 shooting against the Miami Heat. 

All of a sudden, the Rondo comparisons are flooding back in. 

An Easy Comparison Before the 2013 Draft

NBA Photos/Getty Images

As Mark Murphy relays for the Boston Herald, Schroder is aware that he's sometimes viewed as a "Rondo clone" but doesn't seem to mind: 

"

In Germany, everybody compared me to him when I was growing up. Every time I was on the court people said, 'You play like Rondo.' Then I tried to look him up and then I saw it. I understood. I tried to compare myself to him.

When I was young I watched him a lot. Every day I tried to watch a game from him. Stayed up late. It's amazing to play against him now. I did it last year a little bit. This year I can play against him, and I try to learn from him.

"

It wasn't just in Germany where people were making the comparison. Prior to the 2013 NBA draft, it was tough to discuss Schroder without someone invoking the name of a certain All-Star point guard who wears a green jersey on the road.

First, here's Jay King for MassLive.com: 

"

That being said, it's entirely possible that Ainge covets Schroeder, a gifted 19-year old who has drawn comparisons to Rajon Rondo. Scouts see similarities between the two guards because of their athleticism, large hands, long arms and open-court creativity, but Schroeder shot 40.2 percent from deep and 84 percent from the line this past season in the top German pro league. Remember, long before Rondo became an All-Star, NBA decision-makers had plenty of questions about his game coming out of a Kentucky system that limited his impact. 

"

"Rondo is the best comparison because of the athletic attributes," international scouting guru Fran Fraschilla told ESPNDallas.com's Tim MacMahon. "This kid is a better shooter, but to say he's going to be Rondo is an obvious stretch. But the physical attributes are there. All he needs is more seasoning."

And finally, NBC Sports' Brett Pollakoff wrote, "Dennis Schroeder is an international prospect from Germany that has been rapidly moving up draft boards. The 19-year old point guard is listed at 6'2" with a 6'7.25" wingspan, and the speed and flair with which he plays is already eliciting comparisons to Rajon Rondo in terms of ability, body type and style."

Of course, there's plenty more. But the point is simply that this comparison isn't anything new; it's only being validated through Schroder's work as a sophomore on the Hawks. 

Defense and Passing

Brian Babineau/Getty Images

Rondo and Schroder aren't the exact same players. As you may have gathered just from reading those scouting excerpts up above, Schroder has more upside as a well-rounded offensive force, with an attacking mentality as a scorer and a promising outside shot, even if he's connected on only 26.1 percent of his outside tries in 2014-15. 

Nevertheless, Schroder should still use Rondo's two primary skills in order to carve out a larger role for himself: defense and passing.

The young 1-guard is overmatched some nights. His skinny frame can easily be overpowered by a bigger defender, and he doesn't always make the right rotational choices. The Hawks have actually been slightly worse at preventing points when he's on the court, according to Basketball-Reference.

But the tools are there, which is vitally important for any 21-year-old with so little experience on this side of the pond. Schroder has big and quick hands that allow him to swipe the ball away from the opposition, and his video game speed lets him recover after he makes an ill-advised gamble.

He's only going to improve as he continues learning the fundamentals of NBA defense.

Ned Dishman/Getty Images

And already, he's earning some solid reviews for his effort on the less glamorous end of the floor. Remember Budenholzer's quote about sticking with Schroder down the stretch? He specifically mentioned his defense and ability to work his way into the paint. 

The passing comparison is even easier to see. 

Rondo has developed into the league's premier assist maestro, but let's not forget that he once filled a more minor role for the Celtics. His first two years are quite comparable to Schroder's, though he did spend significantly more time on the floor for a C's team that really wasn't all that competitive during his first go-round: 

Player/Year	APG	AP36	AST%
Rookie Rondo	3.8	5.8	26.3
Rookie Schroder	3.7	5.2	22.0
Sophomore Rondo	5.1	6.1	28.2
Sophomore Schroder	2.9	6.0	28.2

It wasn't until his third season that Rondo broke out into one of the league's best distributors, averaging 8.2 assists per game during that 2008-09 campaign. Schroder is already at the same level his Boston counterpart played at during his second campaign, and it's easy to see even more improvement coming. 

After all, both were playing out their age-21 seasons as sophomores, but Rondo already had two years of experience playing at Kentucky, whereas Schroder was fighting for minutes in the professional ranks of Germany. It's the current prospect who's making more adjustments and therefore could experience a similar burst of production in the near future. 

Look at the willingness to make the extra pass at 0:28. Watch for the quick first step that allows him to get into the paint and finish. Notice the knack for distributing off the bounce, even if he only does so once in that video while driving into the lane. Finally, the last play is vintage Rondo—playing the wolf, creeping behind a player, ripping the ball away and finishing the sequence with a fancy transition pass for another dime. 

If the players had been wearing green and the footage were a bit more grainy, there would be no reason to suspect it wasn't a young Rondo out there. 

The System

Rocky Widner/Getty Images

It's not enough just to have a few promising games and a favorable comparison to an All-Star. Plenty of players have flamed out in similar situations, which is why it's so important for Schroder to continue actively developing in Budenholzer's offense. 

Rondo wasn't thrown into too difficult a situation too quickly. Quite the opposite, in fact. 

When the point guard left behind the Wildcats, he filled a relatively minor role on a struggling team. One year later, when Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett came to town to complement Paul Pierce, he was a full-time starter but a clear-cut role player behind the trio of superstars. He had a specific job to do—pass, rebound and play defense—and had to adhere to those requirements if he wanted to make the C's hum as much as possible. 

It wasn't until later that Rondo became the All-Star who's now so feared by opposing players at his position. 

Schroder obviously isn't faced with an identical situation but does have the luxury of playing in a system designed to maximize the talents of the players in it. Ball movement is prioritized under Budenholzer, and while the Hawks offense allows for some isolation work from Schroder when he's on the floor, he still has to play within the confines of the structure.

It's the system that replicates the superstar talent of Boston's "Big Three" in this situation. He may not be surrounded by stars whose presence force him to hone his primary skills, but he's in a system that will end up doing the very same thing.

USA TODAY Sports

Plus, just as Rondo learned from Doc Rivers and his Ubuntu teachings, the German point guard is quite clearly playing under a coach who trusts him—and many on the roster—immensely. 

It doesn't take many viewings of Schroder this season to realize he's working toward something special. Playing with undeniable confidence on a team that seems well-equipped to further his level of production both in the near and distant future, the floor general has taken the first few steps toward validating the Rondo comparison, lofty as it may be. 

"How he talks to his players, leads the team and reads the court," the point guard told Murphy regarding the elements of Rondo's game he's tried to incorporate into his own. "Every time someone's open, he passes it to him. I try to do the same thing. He is an amazing player. He won a championship. He's an All-Star. I'll try to be like him one day."

That day may arrive even sooner than we thought.