Dennis Schroder's status remains uncertain, Tiago Splitter out against Knicks

Mike Budenholzer met with the media following Monday's practice and was met with plenty of questions about the team's point guard rotation. In particular, the absence of Dennis Schroder for each of the last two games. Schroder was Jeff Teague's primary backup in the first 33 games of the season but has been a DNP-CD in each of the last two with Shelvin Mack getting the reserve minutes. Budenholzer told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Matt Winklejohn that Schroder isn't in the coach's doghouse.

"No. He keeps competing in practice, doing what he's doing," the coach said. "Part of it is Shelvin's been busting his butt, working hard. I think to give guys opportunities and to develop all 15 guys is important. Dennis will get his opportunities."

Budenholzer went on to also say that there was no off the court incident involving Schroder that led to the rotation change. Schroder played 12 minutes in last Monday's loss to the Indiana Pacers but was replaced early in the fourth quarter by Lamar Patterson in what was a strange move and has not been seen since.

We talked about Schroder's situation on Sunday, but the decision seems odd given that the rotation had solidified during a recent six-game winning streak. It is reasonable for Budenholzer to reward Mack with some minutes but it just seems strange given Atlanta's up and down play to do so at this juncture.

Schroder was not made available to the media on Monday and has kept quiet although he did tweet this following Tuesday's win over the Rockets.

Tiago Splitter still out

Injured Hawks center Tiago Splitter did not practice on Monday and was ruled out of Tuesday's game against the Knicks. Budenholzer did tell reporters that the hope was still that he'd be able to return by the end of the week.

Tiago Splitter did not practice. Budenholzer said he doesn't think he'll be available tomorrow, but hopes he'll be ready by the end of week.

— KL Chouinard (@KLChouinard) January 4, 2016