Detroit Pistons: Is There A Problem With Andre Drummond?

The Detroit Pistons were always going to be a work in progress this season, yet there was one guy who the fans and franchise felt confident could deliver consistently. Entering into only his third NBA season, 21-year-old Andre Drummond has a weight of expectation on his shoulders already.

Having come into the league as a promising young big, who was incredibly raw, Drummond showed a massive jump in both maturity and skill from his rookie to sophomore season, and as a result, had the title of “franchise center” almost universally bestowed upon him.

Following a summer spent with the successful USA Basketball squad, the only logical conclusion seemed to be that Drummond would kick on and take off further this season, yet early on that has failed to materialize.

With his play in the opening weeks of this season, in many ways, it has appeared as if Drummond has forgotten much of what made him so successful last season.

New Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy is still talking about trying to increase Drummond’s opportunities in close to the basket, yet judging by his current form that still doesn’t guarantee any success.

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Drummond’s problem hasn’t been that he’s been getting the ball in the wrong spots (as there’s only one part of the floor where he can truly get to work offensively), but more simply that he’s off his game overall.

Having averaged 13.5 points and 13.2 rebounds on 62.3 percent shooting from the field last season, Drummond’s start to this is year is put in sharp focus.

The former Connecticut Husky is so far playing just over two minutes less per game than he did last year, but his drop off in production at the moment is currently on pace to be much more significant than that.

Drummond’s rebounds may have dropped down to 11.7 a night, which is still an outstanding contribution, yet it’s some of the other drop offs that will really bother Detroit Pistons fans. Offensively, Drummond is averaging four points less per game, but that’s not due to a decrease in shot attempts.

The New York native is currently pacing towards a career high in field goal attempts, and yet it’s not a pretty sight.

After posting the second highest field goal percentage in the entire league last year, Drummond has started this new season in a severe shooting slump.

Averaging a really sub-par 42 percent from the field, Drummond hasn’t taken a shot from outside of the paint, which should be a positive, yet he’s still to make any shots from the left hand side of the rim through his first seven games.

With his defensive effort looking a little lackadaisical, it seems like Van Gundy has had little impact on Drummond’s game on that end so far, yet that won’t even be the big concern at the moment. Perhaps most alarming of all these early season Drummond stats is his knack for picking up a significant number of fouls though.

Averaging 4.4 fouls a night, Drummond is limiting his own opportunities, and while he remains in a slump, that will prove to be a big problem.

There seems to be very little chance that Drummond’s current form should have any long term bearing on his NBA career, but the longer it goes on, the greater chance it has of affecting his confidence significantly. Drummond needs to bring a touch of poise and control back to his game, and sooner rather than later, as the Pistons would like their franchise center back.