PistonPowered
Fansided

Detroit Piston player profile: Andre Drummond

By Jason Preston

Apr 24, 2016; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond (0) takes a shot over Cleveland Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson (13) during the first quarter in game four of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 24, 2016; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond (0) takes a shot over Cleveland Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson (13) during the first quarter in game four of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

 Andre Drummond has been nothing short of dominance, in his first four years with the Detroit Pistons. But the scary part, is that he is only just getting started.

Andre Drummond has been phenomenal with his time with the Detroit Pistons. Each year Piston fans continue to see gradual improvement with their star and franchise cornerstone.

Last season Drummond averaged 16.2 points, a league-leading 14.8 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game. Both points and rebounds were career high numbers for Drummond.

More from Pistons News

Drummond was looking like an early MVP candidate to start last season. He put up some remarkable numbers, piling up 20 point-20 rebound games. He started the first two weeks averaging 18.7 points, and 16.7 rebounds.

He won player of the week in both of those weeks and was the first player since Lebron James in 2011-2012 to win back-to-back player of the week honors. In this stretch Drummond had not one, but two games with at least 25 points and 25 rebounds.

Drummond also got voted into the All-star game for the first time in his career.

As the year progressed, Drummond regressed to the mean but still had impressive numbers. You also saw improvements in Drummond’s game that never used to be there.

Drummond developed a right and left hand sky hook that he would often consistently used when posting up, and it proved to be effective. Although his blocks went down from the season before, it was easily noticeable how much he helped the Pistons with his rim protection when he was locked in and focused.

Drummond’s fatal flaw is no secret around the NBA, and opponents used it against the Pistons with impunity. His free-throw shooting was catastrophic. Drummond shot a career low 35.5% from the free-throw line last season, opening the door for opposing teams to send him to the free throw line with relentless intentional fouls.

However, there may be good news in store for Piston fans. Both Drummond and coach Stan Van Gundy have expressed that they have found a solution this offseason that will help significantly with his free throw shooting.

The other major weakness in Drummond’s game is that you can see he is not always 100% focused. Sometimes he can be spotted moping on the bench when he is not playing well.

But yet again, maybe Pistons fans don’t need to worry. Drummond acknowledged that he is ready to be one of the Pistons’ main leaders at the press conference to announce his five-year $125 million max contract. He’s aware he needs to conduct himself as such.

Overall, Pistons fans should be very excited to have Drummond for the long run. Each year he has shown improvement in his game and he still is very young at only 23 years old.

Next: Detroit Pistons player profile: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

With an improved post-up game, escalating his free throw percentage to a respectable level, improved rim-protection and maintained dominance on the boards, the Detroit Pistons might be in store for something very special for years to come.

Home/Pistons News