Andre Drummond was happy — very happy — last week. His school, the University of Connecticut, was securing a fourth straight national championship, its dynasty under Geno Auriemma continuing unabated.
The discussion this evening centered on the relative greatness of UConn’s latest legendary talent, Breanna Stewart, compared with the Maya Moores and Diana Taurasis and Rebecca Lobos that had come before. It was not the time to mention that Stewart finished her college career shooting 79.7 percent from the line, or that Moore shot .798 in college, or Taurasi .819.
It’s never really a good time to talk free throws with Drummond, the Achilles’ heel to what is otherwise an emerging, dominant game as one of the few true centers left in the league. Drummond made his first All-Star team this season, leads the NBA in rebounds per game (14.8), averages 16.3 points a game on 52.2 percent shooting and boasts the league’s sixth-best defensive rating (98) — all of which has helped lead Detroit to its first playoff berth since 2009.
He was one of Joe Dumars’ last Draft picks as the Pistons’ GM, taken ninth overall in 2012. At 22, Drummond is the team’s longest-tenured player, the indispensable man for coach and team president Stan Van Gundy, whose plans all are centered on getting Drummond signed to an extension this summer, the hub around which Reggie Jackson, Tobias Harris, Marcus Morris and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope will spin in the near future. Yet Drummond’s Kryptonite is in plain view — boxing his free throws. It’s been that way since college, when Drummond shot 29.5 percent in his one season at Storrs. (Yes. He’s actually better now.)
This year, he’s shooting just 35.6 percent (207 of 582) from the line, forcing Van Gundy to take him out of recent games down the stretch as opponents resorted to Hack-A strategy. It’s unfortunate, because Drummond is an affable, likeable kid who should be showcased in the upcoming playoffs as one of the league’s up and coming young stars. But that shot … awaits, the crucible of Drummond’s development.
Me: What is it like for you to finally be playing meaningful games this time of year?
Andre Drummond: I didn’t even know what it was like to play a TNT game! I didn’t know we played at 8 o’clock today … it’s the whole transition of things changing for us, and us building a team up. We’re playing in meaningful games and our playoff push, it’s been fun for me. I’ve really enjoyed it. Our guys have enjoyed the process as well. There’s a few guys who’ve been in the playoffs so they know what it takes. For the guys that haven’t, it’s a journey for us. So we’re excited for what’s to come.
Me: Does it feel different? Is there a different texture to it?
AD: Everything is just, it’s so uptight now. You’ve got to take every single play at a time, every practice at a time. You can’t look forward, because you start putting too much pressure on yourself, you start to feel it. So for us, we just take it game by game, practice by practice, take it step by step.
Me: How much has Tobias helped since he came here?
AD: Tobias has been great. He’s versatile. You can play him anywhere on the floor. He’s been a big help for me, too, spacing the block out. You don’t have to run him in the block as much because he can shoot the three as well. He’s a great defender as well, too. He’s been a great addition for us.
Me: Does he help you get to the offensive glass unimpeded as well?
AD: The four has to go out and guard him. It’s just me and the five, or whoever decides to come down. But most of the time it’s just me and the five battling for the rebound.
Me: At the start of the season, the thought was that you all would go as far as you and Reggie could take the team. How has that relationship developed over the year?
AD: You know, getting Reggie last season at the trade deadline, I didn’t know what to expect. He came off the bench for OKC. I didn’t know what he’d be like as a starter. When he came I spoke him, told him these are the different things that I’m going to need from a point guard. He embraced it. And he’s been playing great for us. He’s building, and we’re working together.
Me: But every relationship has its ups and downs. So how did you handle the down periods, while not getting too excited about the up periods?
AD: We all have learned throughout our careers that there are ups and downs in the NBA. Through 82 games, you’re not going to have a perfect season. You’re not going to be at the top of your game all the time. There’s going to be times when you lose a few. For us, we’re at a point in our season when we are playing meaningful games, and if we lose one we can’t get down on ourselves; we have to pick back up and try to win the next one. We just have a different focus now. It’s really exciting.
Me: What happened since that game in Washington in early March, where you guys got blown out? You look different since then.
AD: Yeah, we didn’t take that game too well. It sucked. That was not a fun game to be a part of. It was embarrassing. We took that to heart. We tried to make sure that didn’t happen again.
Me: So what changed?
AD: We’re here to win basketball games, and we all have one common goal. That type of game is unacceptable for us. We can’t let that happen again.
Me: This is a team that’s going to be together for a while. Has there been any types of things happening off the floor — bonding-type outings or dinners?
AD: I took it upon myself to start doing a lot of team bonding events. I felt like in my years of being here, it wasn’t a thing that we really did. I would watch other friends that play for other teams and ask them what kind of stuff they did, and they were always with each other. So it’s like, well, obviously that would make sense, that you guys know each other if you’re always with each other. For me over the summer, I took the time out to do the UFC Training Camp, and we all had a lot of fun out there. Before the season we did a little bonding thing as well, and throughout the year, on different road trips, we do different things as well. You start building chemistry. You start building a real team.
Me: Who is the guy that nobody would know is a real leader on this team?
AD: Marcus (Morris).
Me: How so?
AD: He’s the silent assassin (laughs). He doesn’t say much, and when he does say something, everybody listens to what he has to say. He leads by example. He leads by his play.
Me: Has Coach Van Gundy talked to you about why he takes you out of games down the stretch? Do you understand it?
AD: Well, Stan knows what he’s doing. He has a very high IQ for the game, and he knows when certain things are going to happen, so he tries to beat it before it happens. For me, it’s something that I have to deal with.
Me: I have been clear that I hate the whole concept of Hack-A. But I wanted to ask you, because people on Twitter always come back at me with the same thing — ‘just work on your free throws.’ So, how many free throws do you shoot a day in practice?
AD: Only if you knew. I mean, countless hours. Sometimes I get off the plane and go right to the gym and shoot, all hours of the night. So, it’s not like I don’t work at it. It’s a work in progress.
Me: Does that frustrate you?
AD: For me, no. It used to. About a year or two ago, it used to upset me. People would foul me all the time. But now, it’s just like they’re starting to respect my game, and they’re trying to figure out a way to stop me from getting momentum. They say I have to figure out how to make it from the free throw line. Once I figure that out, it’s going to be a problem…it’s going to come. I’m not worried.
TWEET OF THE WEEK
— LeBron James (@KingJames), Thursday, 11:22 p.m., as he live-Tweeted. He continued with Tweets praising Karl Malone’s jumper, and comparing John Stockton with Chris Paul. (That’s a good comparison, by the way.)
THEY SAID IT
“If you would’ve said something about lasagna at that point, I would’ve kept saying ‘Lasagna.’ I was already on edge. I was already mad.”
— Allen Iverson, at last week’s press conference announcing his induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, recalling his famous ‘practice’ rant in 2002.
“It was hard when they left. I don’t think I really understood it yet. It was kind of like, ‘OK the Sonics are leaving.’ After that first year of them being gone, I think it sunk in for a lot of people. Everybody was like, ‘Damn, man, the Sonics are gone.’ And everybody’s still pissed about it now.”
— Celtics guard Avery Bradley, to the Boston Globe, on the impact of the Sonics’ move from Seattle to Oklahoma City in 2008 on Seattle natives such as himself and teammate Isaiah Thomas.
“I was answering the question. The question was would I change the way I get on people? Do I need to air people out more? Most of that is directed at the perception that I hadn’t gotten on people as much was because of the comment that was made after the NY game. It wasn’t a shot at Jimmy.”
— Bulls Coach Fred Hoiberg, dispelling Twitter rumors that he was criticizing his All-Star guard, Jimmy Butler. Before Saturday’s game with the Cavs, Hoiberg was asked if he’d be less patient next season with repeated mistakes, “maybe to the point of being louder and more direct?” Hoiberg answered that original question by saying the Bulls got off to a good start, and then “some things happened. I think most of that comes from the one comment that was made after the New York game by Jimmy.” Many interpreted the word “that” in Hoiberg’s comment as referring to the Bulls’ bad stretch after the good start, when he claimed it referred to the perception he wasn’t being hard enough on his players.
Longtime NBA reporter and columnist David Aldridge is an analyst for TNT. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter.
The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA, its clubs or Turner Broadcasting.
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Longtime NBA reporter and columnist David Aldridge is an analyst for TNT. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter.
The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA, its clubs or Turner Broadcasting.
