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Hardwood Paroxysm Presents The Replacements: Bench players we’re most excited to watch in the NBA Playoffs

By HP Basketball Network

Apr 10, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets forward Josh Smith (5) shoots a free throw during the second half against the San Antonio Spurs at Toyota Center. The Spurs won 104-103. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 10, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets forward Josh Smith (5) shoots a free throw during the second half against the San Antonio Spurs at Toyota Center. The Spurs won 104-103. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mar 25, 2015; Orlando, FL, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Dennis Schroder (17) drives to the basket against the Orlando Magic during the second half at Amway Center. Atlanta Hawks defeated the Orlando Magic 95-83. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 25, 2015; Orlando, FL, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Dennis Schroder (17) drives to the basket against the Orlando Magic during the second half at Amway Center. Atlanta Hawks defeated the Orlando Magic 95-83. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /

The 2015 NBA playoffs are all set to begin, the perfect coda to a rollicking season that featured one of the best teams in NBA history (the juggernaut… Golden State Warriors?), as well as one of the best conferences (the monster West) and one of the most hotly-contested MVP races in recent memory. On the season’s final day, there will still four Western Conference seeds up for grabs, and the final playoff spot in both the East and West was determined after 10 PM on the East Coast. The playoff bracket we wound up with features exciting matchups — Clips vs. Spurs in the first round sound good to anyone else? — and stars all over the place. But the stars will get enough attention, so today, the HP crew wants to shine some light on the players who may not get as move pub, but still matter, even if only to us. These are The Replacements, the bench players we’re most excited to watch in this year’s postseason. 

Seth Partnow (@SethPartnow) is most excited to watch… Dennis Schroder

A curious weakness for many of the top contenders for the 2015 NBA title is at the backup point guard position. Especially considering we are in a golden age for the position, finding a second competent player to spell a starter seems like it shouldn’t be that hard.  However, Cleveland is saddled with Matthew Dellavedova, Golden State falls off a cliff when Steph Curry sits and the alternative to Chris Paul for the Clippers is the coach’s son (aside from the first weekend of the NCAA tournament – I see you Bryce Drew and RJ Hunter – does the “coach’s kid” thing ever work well?)

Of the main title hopefuls, the Hawks don’t have this problem, with Dennis Schroder around. The second-year German gives them an almost turbo-charged version of starter Jeff Teague. Not only am I looking forward to Schroder torturing second-stringers, I’m also anticipating the night or two during which he goes full Dragic Game and takes over himself. In fact, my expectations for Umlaut are so high that I predict a wave of “I know Teague was an All-Star but should we get what we can for him and go with Dennis as the starter” sentiment to sweep Atlanta this offseason.

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