As fomer coaches and teammates about Dennis Schroder and they will say he’s… challenging at times. If they are being polite that day.
It’s no different on the German national team, where he has already had a run-in with Maxi Kleber in the World Cup run-up (Kleber chose not to play for Germany this summer). Then, during Sunday’s game against Slovenia, Schroder seemed to be in an intense conversation with Daniel Theis when German coach Gordon Herbert cursed at Schroder and told him to sit down (in no uncertain terms), then pushed him in the back to try to get the guard to sit. Here is a video of the incident, but be warned the language used is NSFW.
Schroder — who signed with Toronto this past offseason — did not go back in the game immediately after this incident but returned to the court later. He finished with a team-best 24 points and 10 assists in Germany’s 100-71 thrashing of Luka Doncic and Slovenia.
After the game, Schroder spoke with Basketnews about the incident.
“I mean, basketball is an emotional sport,” Schroder told BasketNews. “It’s a game of runs, and you gotta stay cool. Me and Daniel go way back, I have known him since I was 12 or 13. We had those kinds of moments when we were young as well, but it always helped us to elevate our game.”
“That’s what happened today. We got into it, and I told him, ‘Listen, that’s what you gotta do, and you can tell me the same thing.’ Of course, he’s going to be pissed a little bit. It will itch a little bit, but he will give his all. I think that’s what happened.”
Germany will face Latvia in a quarterfinal matchup on Tuesday. The winner of that game will take on the winner of the USA vs. Italy.