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Andre Drummond - LeBron's Robin

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The problem throughout Drummond's career is having him not try to act like Jordan in his prime.

Maybe, seeing as he has a primary creator that is good for the first time in his career, he's willing to settle down and be the ultimate glue guy. And that's not a knock. With his physical abilities and rebounding prowess, he's a championship level player in that role.
 
Amherstcavsfan said:
The problem throughout Drummond's career is having him not try to act like Jordan in his prime.

Maybe, seeing as he has a primary creator that is good for the first time in his career, he's willing to settle down and be the ultimate glue guy. And that's not a knock. With his physical abilities and rebounding prowess, he's a championship level player in that role.
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I am hoping as he strings together some good games like last night, JB will use positive reinforcement through film on him. "Look how getting to the rim faster and screening help you Andre." etc etc. "You chose the pass instead of the 3 there, that was smart team basketball"
 
I think Drummond is driven to be seen as something more than a huge athletic dude. It seems clear the Ben Wallace type of roll does not satisfy this desire. I would focus on trying to get him to embrace the idea of being a "cerebral facilitator". He seems to have some natural ability as a passer, at least more so than as a skilled scorer, and this might satisfy his need to be viewed as a more complicated dude. It also fits within the culture Bickerstaff seems to be cultivating. Unless you help Andre fill this void he's going to continue to try to do so on his own via the scoring route.
 
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He was good. Should have been seeing hard screens though. Missed Thomson getting these guys separation tonight
 
Drummond had another nice game. He was huge in the 1st half and single handedly kept the Cavs in the game, but faded in the 2nd half. He looked tired. The NBA schedule this season is going to be grueling.

This team is going to live by the 3 pointer and die by the 3 pointer all season. I guess that's the way of the NBA these days. I miss the old NBA, but whatever....

The Cavs missed their first ten 3 pointers, and shot 22% from the 3 point line for the night. They fell behind by 19 early. caught up a couple of times, but could never take the lead. The shooters looked as if they had tired legs.
 
Strangely enough, 4 games is a pretty decent sample size in the NBA. After 4 games, we are beginning to get a picture of what Drummond’s season will be like.

He’s leading the league in rebounding again this year, for the 4th year in a row. He’s also leading the league in defensive rating, based on Basketball Reference’s calculations. He has stated publicly that DPOY is a goal of his. And if he stays healthy, I think he might make the All Star team again this year.

His scoring is up to a career high, and after of slow start, his FG% has climbed to 46%, but is still below his career 54%. His blocks, steals and assists are all at career highs. But unfortunately, his turnovers remain stubbornly high at 3.5 per game.
 
Drummond definitely has been playing at an all-star level. It is SO NICE to have 3 bigs who are credible paint defenders. It completely transforms our team defense.
 
Drummond has been the opposite of what I expected. I know it's only four games but he's been a monster on defense and a liability on offense.

Basketball Reference has him 1st in the NBA in Defensive Win Shares. He's 3rd in block percentage, 2nd in defensive rebound percentage, and 6th in steal percentage. Put it all together and he's the best defender in the league so far. He wasn't kidding when he said he wants to be the DPOY. He's actually on track for that.

Offensively it's a different story altogether. He's 345th in offensive win shares out of 403, so he's been one of the worst in the league offensively. He's 151st in turnover percentage and 172nd in true shooting percentage. He turns the ball over a lot, mostly dribbling, and misses too many shots and free throws. Combining offense and defense he ranks 77th in total win shares per 48 minutes. Considering there are 150 starters he's right on the average.

What hurt him in this small sample is the Detroit game where he was forcing up a lot of bad shots and went 7-for-21. He's shooting just over 50% the other three games. The last two games he's 18-for-31 from the field (58%) and has cut down on the ridiculous shots.

I believe that as the season progresses his excellent defense will continue and his offense will improve as he learns he doesn't need to dominate the ball and take a ton of shots on this team. Right now he's taking a lot of shots because Nance is in for Love and Nance avoids shooting at all costs unless he has a wide open 3 or an uncontested dunk. Also, Okoro is avoiding taking shots unless he is unguarded. When Exum is in he doesn't look to score. So right now Dre is taking a lot of shots, along with Garland and Sexton, who combined for 35 last night.

Once we get Love and Porter back on the floor and once Okoro starts asserting himself a little more Drummond's shot volume should decrease and his percentage increase. His turnovers should also decrease with fewer touches but his offensive rebounding will remain consistent or probably increase since he'll be shooting less and crashing the glass more.

In the last two games he's taking fewer shots and better shots. I think he's trending in the right direction offensively.

By the way, in Defensive Win Shares Drummond is 1st, Nance is 2nd, and Garland is 6th. Yep, 6th. I don't buy that. McGee is 18th and Sexton 25th. Kyrie is 14th. This is a stat I'm not too sure about.

Trae Young leads the NBA in win shares, offensive win shares, and win shares per 48 minutes. He's 8th in assist percentage and the Hawks are 3-0. Young is 22 years old.
 
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Love the way Drummond has been playing.. however the next time I see him try to dribble like he's Kyrie Irving will be too soon.
 
Drummond needs to focus on being the DPOY and on offense he needs to just play within the flow of the offense.

I do see times when the offense stalls so they just throw it in to Drummond in the paint where he proceeds to go one on three. When this happens we need to have guys spotting up at the 3 point line or making cuts through open areas of the paint, and get Drummond used to seeing those things so he starts to rely on seeing it and develops some muscle memory and trust for it.
 
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