Van Gundy: Drummond Has Ability To Lead League In Rebounding And Blocks

By Ashley Scoby
@AshleyScoby

It's been a no-days-off approach to the offseason for Andre Drummond, and he and Pistons head coach Stan Van Gundy hope that attitude can add a little luster to the team's win column in 2015-16.

How Drummond can build off last season could be the most important component to the Pistons' season. And he has a solid base to build from: Last year, Drummond was second in the league in rebounding with 13.5 a game (although he was best in the league, with 21.2, when the statistic was adjusted to a per-48-minutes scale). He was in the top 11 in the NBA in both field goal percentage (.514) and in blocks per game (1.87).

Now, it's about reaching his full potential as a fourth-year player.

"I think for me I just haven't really took any days off since the season ended," Drummond said. "I've been going since May … I'm working around the free throw line, driving the ball and attacking. Working at the free throw line, and jump hooks."

Thanks to the Pistons hiring Dave Hopla as their shooting coach, Drummond has had more help in developing offensive moves he's never pulled out before. Hopla and Drummond go way back, according to Drummond, who said they shared a hometown and had worked together during the early stages of the big man's career. The two have been reunited in Detroit and work together twice a day now.

"I think Andre's in a good place," Van Gundy said. "He's put in more time this offseason than I think he ever has before. He's been committed to what's going on. It's still just a growth process; it's tough. The guy just turned 22 years old and he's been here now, going into year for, so you tend to look at him as older, but he's a young guy."

Drummond adding more offensive weaponry to his arsenal is the easy part, according to Van Gundy, but it's his defensive improvement that will be the most crucial. For a guy who Van Gundy says has the potential to be the best rebounder in the league (and he was close last year), Drummond's improvement will hinge on his ability to balance rebounding positioning with natural shot-blocking ability.

"It's not easy to do this, but he's a guy who's capable of leading the league in rebounding and blocked shots," Van Gundy said. "Not very many guys have done that because obviously, having to go block a shot in a lot of cases takes you out of rebounding position. … But Andre's got the ability to do both and I'd like to see him do that over the next couple of years."

It's no secret that, although Drummond is stellar with rebounding and has shown ability to score consistently, free-throw shooting is his greatest weakness. Last season he shot 38.9 percent from the line, which is consistent with his career percentage (.397).

Working with Drummond's mechanics at the line – as well as his mentality when stepping up to it – has been a focus point for the Pistons' offseason.

"You have to be realistic in that you're dealing with confidence issues and baggage when you've had years of not shooting free throws well," Van Gundy said. "A guy like a Jodie Meeks, let's say, a great free-throw shooter, he goes into the game and misses two, he's coming back the next time the same way. He's been close to a 90-percent free throw shooter for so long it doesn't bother him. But when you haven't been as good, even if you start doing well, as soon as you hit some adversity, it's tough to really have a deep-seeded confidence. So Andre needs to work both with the physical part of it and with the psychological part of it, and we're trying to help him in both dimensions."

How Drummond goes, so goes Detroit this year. He's one of the – if not the – most crucial cogs to the machine, and he knows how much of the team's success relies on him. And Drummond is tired of that team success being minimal: The Pistons haven't made the playoffs since 2009, when they were swept in the first round of the Eastern Conference Finals, and finished the season with a losing record of 39-43. Last season, the team finished 32-50.

"I hate losing. I can't stand it," he said. "It's the worst feeling. People laughing at our team – that's not a good feeling. I want to rub it in somebody's face that we're a great team."