CBS Sports critiques Andre Drummond’s rim defense
By Duncan Smith
Zach Harper of CBS Sports critiqued each NBA team’s rim defender, and Andre Drummond got his time under the microscope. Let’s see how he fared.
Andre Drummond is believed to be a good rim defender in some circles around basketball. Perhaps not among insiders or the more informed among us, but how could an athletic young big (really big) man not be good around the rim?
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Turns out it’s possible, and Zach Harper of CBS Sports has the numbers to back it up. For all of the carnage that Drummond can bring around the rim on the offensive end, it’s a bit of a mess on the defensive end.
Harper did a deep dive into the primary rim protectors of all 30 NBA teams, using advanced metrics to demonstrate each player’s value or lack thereof around the rim. The primary stats he focused on were defensive rating difference (the differential in defensive rating when on versus off the floor), defensive field goals attempted at the rim per 36 minutes, rim defensive field goal percentage, restricted area rate differential (the differential of shots taken in the restricted area when on versus off the floor), restricted area field goal differential and points saved per 36 minutes.
The metrics aren’t favorable. As expressed by Harper, Drummond’s defensive rating differential is -3.4 per 100, meaning that the Pistons give up 3.4 points per 100 possessions more when Drummond is on the floor than when he is off. Opponents attempt 9.3 field goals at the rim per 36 minutes when he’s on the floor, hitting 52.6 percent of those attempts. Opponents attempt 6.2 percent more shots in the restricted area when Drummond is on the floor versus when he is off the floor, and they hit 0.4 percent more of those attempts. Finally, his points saved per 36 minutes is -0.10.
In Harper’s words:
"Maybe this surprises people but Andre Drummond, despite his size and athleticism, is a poor rim protector. Just about every metric available paints him in that light. He doesn’t save points, he doesn’t protect the rim well, and the Pistons end up giving up more attempts in the restricted area when he’s on the floor than when he’s on the bench. Synergy has Drummond at 54 percent allowed at the rim too. Generally, he’s defending the pick-and-roll and he doesn’t show and recover to the paint all that well. Some of this could be conditioning. Some of this could be his workload on offense. Some of this could be he just needs more time under Stan Van Gundy to get better."
It’s not all hopeless for the Pistons on defense though. Harper goes on to say:
"This fully depends on how much Drummond improves as a rim protector. The scheme is good. The perimeter defenders are good. Guys like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Stanley Johnson can be terrors for opposing wings. But the Dwight Howard comparisons we threw on Drummond soon after SVG took over the Pistons end 100 percent on the defensive end of the floor. If Drummond makes the leap protecting the rim, this can be a great defense (13th last season)."
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Harper makes an excellent point, pointing out the benefits of the perimeter defense that the Pistons feature thanks to KCP and Stanley Johnson. If Drummond can improve his interior defense to the point where he’s no longer a weakness, the Pistons defense may improve significantly from fairly average to top-tier.