Hawks coach Mike Bundeholzer and point guard Dennis Schroder said they've moved on after Schroder was displeased after he was benched for the final eight-plus minutes at the Knicks on Sunday night.
“We talked about it,” Budenholer said at Hawks shootaround Tuesday before their game at the Cavaliers on Tuesday night. “I think he understands how important he is and everything he can do for us. I think he’s in a good place.”
Budenholzer removed Schroder from the game with 8:14 to play and the Hawks trailing 89-83. They went on to lose 111-107.
After the game, Schroder said he thought he should have been on the floor at the finish and that Budenholzer should have explained to him why he wasn’t. Schroder said Tuesday that, after the talk with Budenholzer, he’s fine with the coach’s decision.
“Of course,” Schroder said. “That was his decision. We almost won the game. We go into the next one. We need to win tonight. Just try to focus on that.”
After the Knicks game, Budenholzer said he liked the lineup that finished the game and called it a “coach’s decision” not to play Schroder. Schroder had a defensive lapse just before he was removed from the game, but also had scored seven consecutive points to finish with a team-high 22 points.
Asked in which areas he wants Schroder to improve, Bundenholzer said: “Everything.”
“We need more from our entire team,” he said. “We need to be better defensively, more efficient offensively. It’s not about Dennis. We need everybody to be better, including me.”
Schroder wouldn’t reveal what explanation Budenholzer gave him for the benching.
“We talked,” he said. “It is what is. At the end of the day, he made the decision. He’s the coach. Now we try to focus on the Cleveland Cavaliers and get (a victory) on the road.”
Budenholzer and Schroder have clashed in the past.
Budenholzer sat Schroder for a handful of games during the 2015-16 season after the two argued. The Hawks suspended Schroder for a game without pay last season when he reported late from the All-Star break, and Schroder didn’t start the next game after he was late for a team bus.
Schroder, 24, also faces a team suspension for his arrest on a misdemeanor battery charge in DeKalb County in October. The Hawks said they would make a final decision on discipline once Schroder's legal case is resolved.
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