ESPN Article on Building Around Drummond

[The Penguin]

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/70930/pistons-building-a-future-around-drummond


Nothing groundbreaking but ESPN wrote an article about Drummond being the clear building block of our team. Other than ESPN's obligatory attempt to start up the FA train ("That ultimately might not be enough to keep him -- though most teams retain their high draft picks through their second contract, there are always many factors players consider in determining the best place to play.") my biggest thought came from the reader comment on the article regarding his FT%.


Which brings up my question- Is anyone concerned about his (in)ability to shoot free throws? To me bringing up the FT thing with Shaq, then Dwight and now Drummond always feels like grasping at straws in an attempt to criticize. I know we'd all like to see him bring it north of 60%, but does anyone think the FTs is really going to alter his career trajectory in any meaningful way?

[ImHeisenberg]

Patrick Hayes writes for PistonPowered, he's technically not ESPN, just an affiliate.

Drummond's free throw shooting has to improve. There's a huge difference between a 40% FT shooter and even a 60% FT shooter, especially in late game situations.

[Moose10Fan]

I'd be ecstatic if he got to 50%

[The Penguin]

Patrick Hayes writes for PistonPowered, he's technically not ESPN, just an affiliate.

Drummond's free throw shooting has to improve. There's a huge difference between a 40% FT shooter and even a 60% FT shooter, especially in late game situations.

I agree with that, my POV is roster construction has changed dramatically in the last couple of years and there's simply not 2-3 big guys worth of fouls to throw at Drummond. The Will Perdue/Luc Longley bigs are largely a thing of the past, if teams are really willing to put fouls on the Noah's and Horford's of the world and risk losing them from the game, I will welcome it with open arms.

[joseph mamah]

The free throws in and of themselves arent that big of an issue to me, with everything else he does on the floor i can live with it. Plus he tends to step up and knock them down when teams try to bang the Drum. The fact that he doesnt go strong to the rim in fear of getting fouled and having to go to the line is the biggest problem, if he can get over it and start going hard instead of going for the hook shot every time he'll be fine, even if he never gets above .500 on his free throws.

[Ghost]

I desperately hope that he can get up and above 50% from the free throw line. I think it is a requirement for his career to end up as successful as we all want it to be. If he's just going to be a 30-40% shooter, I don't think he can be relied on consistently as a #1 superstar player. It may feel overblown but I am concerned about it.

[Cowology]

Let's be real, Shaq's FT shooting was an "issue" during his prime. Drummond will continue to be criticized and rightly so. It's a big deal and he needs to keep working on it. But will it stop anybody from throwing max money at him? He'll no.

[laploutocratie]

Shaq dominated and feasted despite shooting a low FT% his entire career. Drummond has the physical presence and skills to dominate without shooting the FT well. He can probably dunk the ball with desperate defenders dangling from his body.

It's a no brainer that Pistons should be building around Dre.

[Uncle Mxy]

Shaq never shot FTs as bad as Drummond.

Drummond needs to at least learn to split the pair.

[epheisey]

The free throws in and of themselves arent that big of an issue to me, with everything else he does on the floor i can live with it. Plus he tends to step up and knock them down when teams try to bang the Drum. The fact that he doesnt go strong to the rim in fear of getting fouled and having to go to the line is the biggest problem, if he can get over it and start going hard instead of going for the hook shot every time he'll be fine, even if he never gets above .500 on his free throws.

I guess I've never put that together as a reason why he doesn't just bully people around when he's close to the bucket, but it makes sense.

The thing is, getting the other team into foul trouble is sometimes just as valuable as the FTs themselves. If he can consistently put the other team's bigs on the bench early, it could totally change games, and that's something I remember Shaq doing on a regular basis.

[whitehops]

Drummond will be hampered by his free throw shooting once he starts to develop his post game.

last year the league average for team's PPP (points per possession) was 1.07. The best was 1.12 and the worst was 0.99. Drummond has to at least be able to get his free throw shooting to 50% otherwise teams will not hesitate to hack him if it looks like he is going to score. in shaq's best years he was shooting ~52% from the line. as bad as that is it still isn't terrible considering that he would be matching the league average of PPP on his trips to the line. that was more of a consolation for defenses when it was inevitable he would score than a legitimate and sustainable strategy. dwight was even better, believe it or not. he shot ~59% which was above league average efficiency for PPP.

for someone who is developing their post game I imagine it could be harmful to his confidence if he is getting hacked and sent to the free throw constantly - where is quite bad. if I was a coach I would tell my players to defend him like you would any other player but when it looked like he got the better of you and was going to score - foul him every time. obviously to the point where you avoid trouble...



I might be getting a little ahead of myself here because it looks like it's going to be at least a few more years before Drummond could be that dominant operating by himself.

[kurtis48239]

Iam pretty optimistic about his ft,his form looks good and hes calm when hes at the line,give him 2 yrs and I would bet hes at 50%.Like mamah said,he needs to worry about using his body and not worrying about the consequence.

[joseph mamah]

The free throws in and of themselves arent that big of an issue to me, with everything else he does on the floor i can live with it. Plus he tends to step up and knock them down when teams try to bang the Drum. The fact that he doesnt go strong to the rim in fear of getting fouled and having to go to the line is the biggest problem, if he can get over it and start going hard instead of going for the hook shot every time he'll be fine, even if he never gets above .500 on his free throws.

I guess I've never put that together as a reason why he doesn't just bully people around when he's close to the bucket, but it makes sense.

The thing is, getting the other team into foul trouble is sometimes just as valuable as the FTs themselves. If he can consistently put the other team's bigs on the bench early, it could totally change games, and that's something I remember Shaq doing on a regular basis.

Yeah, Shaq owned and pretty much embraced his bad free throw shooting, Dres still self conscience about it. Hopefully Van Gundy can help him grow out of it.

[hoophabit]

The free throws in and of themselves arent that big of an issue to me, with everything else he does on the floor i can live with it. Plus he tends to step up and knock them down when teams try to bang the Drum. The fact that he doesnt go strong to the rim in fear of getting fouled and having to go to the line is the biggest problem, if he can get over it and start going hard instead of going for the hook shot every time he'll be fine, even if he never gets above .500 on his free throws.

I guess I've never put that together as a reason why he doesn't just bully people around when he's close to the bucket, but it makes sense.

The thing is, getting the other team into foul trouble is sometimes just as valuable as the FTs themselves. If he can consistently put the other team's bigs on the bench early, it could totally change games, and that's something I remember Shaq doing on a regular basis.

Yes, there's that (other bigs getting in foul trouble) and the fact that everyone gets a chance to eat from the same table if you put a team in the bonus. Don't be shy about getting fouled big fella, it helps the team.

[mercury]

Drummoind just fired his agent Rob Pelinka... curious

[MotownMadness]

Drummoind just fired his agent Rob Pelinka... curious

I seen that yesterday, Not sure what thats about. Probably not doing a good job with endorsements or something, lol I have no idea.

[Damon_3388]

Drummond doesn't get to the line enough at the moment for his free throw shooting to be that much of an issue. It's only once you get into that Dwight/Shaq range of getting 8-10 FTA per game where it starts to become a real issue IMO. Drummond in drawing fouls right now at literally half the frequency those two guys have over their careers.

If he had a .600 FT% for his career, he'd have averaged 11.99 ppg so far, instead of 11.33 ppg. Not that much of a difference.

[cammac]

Bad free throwing doesn't matter for most of the game but at critical times like ends of quarters and the last 2 minutes in close games it matters. To have a excellent free throwing C mean a lot.

Dwight and Shaq couldn't close important games or were exploited because of bad shooting from the line. While I think Drummond will become a very good C he definitely is never being in Shaq's area code nor a prime Dwight.

They one thing he lacks is a killer instinct and yes right now his defense isn't the best but will improve.

Looking forward to the 1st meeting of Drummond and Jonas tomorrow night a good test for both.

[Lucidity]

Iam pretty optimistic about his ft,his form looks good and hes calm when hes at the line,give him 2 yrs and I would bet hes at 50%.Like mamah said,he needs to worry about using his body and not worrying about the consequence.

He's improved a bit this year, I think he is capable of getting to around 55ish% in time & I don't think We're being crazy to think that.


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[Lucidity]

Drummoind just fired his agent Rob Pelinka... curious

So I'm the last guy to overreact or say something based solely on emotion...

Losing Andre Drummond should be a concern after the Greg Monroe colossal failure. That changed things..


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