Andre Drummond: The Detroit Pistons’ Putback King
The Detroit Pistons are 1-9 for their last 10 and most recently lost to the tanking Philadelphia 76ers. The Pistons are a full 20 games below .500 and with 14 games left in the season seem sure to miss the playoffs for the sixth straight year.
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They aren’t mathematically eliminated yet, but with the Boston Celtics six games ahead in the win column for the eighth spot it would take a minor (perhaps major) miracle for the Pistons to make it in.
Part of the reason that the Pistons have struggled this year is because their offense ranks 20th in offensive rating and 21st in points per game. A big reason for their offensive struggles is that as a team they shoot 42.5 percent, bad enough for 28th in the league. The three-point shooting is a little better, but still poor at 33.4 percent, which ranks 22nd.
With those poor shooting numbers, it is surprising that their offense is able to make it all the way up to 20th.
The Pistons can thank their league leading 13.1 offensive rebounds per game for dragging their offense at least a little bit out of the ditch. Greg Monroe contributes to their prowess on the offensive glass with 3.4 offensive rebounds per game (good for eighth in the NBA), but Andre Drummond‘s league leading 5.3 offensive boards per game sets the pace for the team.
One Of The Best
Andre Drummond actually led the league in offensive rebounds last year as well. He grabbed 1.4 more per game and 109 more total offensive rebounds than second place DeAndre Jordan of the Los Angeles Clippers. This season, he is only leading Jordan by 0.5 offensive rebounds per game and 26 total.
However, Drummond has played two fewer games than Jordan and only averages 30 minutes per game compared to Jordan’s 34.5.
Despite it only being Drummond’s third season in the league, he has already posted two seasons among the top 20 all-time in regards to offensive rebounds per game. (It deserves to be noted that rebounds were not differentiated between offensive and defensive until the 1973-74 season.)
Since they began tracking them, there are only nine players that have ever averaged five or more offensive rebounds per game over the course of the season. Last year, at 20 years old, Andre Drummond became the youngest player to ever do so. As long as his average holds, he will join Moses Malone as the only 21-year-old to accomplish this feat.
Drummond is also the only second-year player to do so. If Drummond finishes the year averaging less than 30.6 minutes per game—currently at 30 even—he will have also completed this task in the fewest minutes per game ever.
Below is all nine players that have accomplished this feat since 1973-74 along with the number of seasons they averaged five or more and their stats from their highest single season.
| Totals | Per Game | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Player | Seasons | Age | Tm | Lg | G | MP | ORB ▾ | DRB | TRB |
| 1 | Moses Malone* | 7 | 23 | HOU | NBA | 82 | 41.3 | 7.2 | 10.5 | 17.6 |
| 2 | Jayson Williams | 1 | 29 | NJN | NBA | 65 | 36.0 | 6.8 | 6.8 | 13.6 |
| 3 | Dennis Rodman* | 7 | 30 | DET | NBA | 82 | 40.3 | 6.4 | 12.3 | 18.7 |
| 4 | Charles Barkley* | 2 | 23 | PHI | NBA | 68 | 40.3 | 5.7 | 8.9 | 14.6 |
| 5 | Andre Drummond | 2 | 20 | DET | NBA | 81 | 32.3 | 5.4 | 7.8 | 13.2 |
| 6 | Hakeem Olajuwon* | 1 | 22 | HOU | NBA | 82 | 35.5 | 5.4 | 6.5 | 11.9 |
| 7 | Larry Smith | 2 | 23 | GSW | NBA | 82 | 31.4 | 5.3 | 6.8 | 12.1 |
| 8 | Michael Cage | 1 | 26 | LAC | NBA | 72 | 36.9 | 5.2 | 7.9 | 13.0 |
| 9 | Kevin Willis | 1 | 29 | ATL | NBA | 81 | 36.6 | 5.2 | 10.4 | 15.5 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 3/20/2015.
This list would be much longer had the NBA kept track of the difference between rebounds when guys like Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Nate Thurmond, Jerry Lucas and Bob Pettit played, just to name a few.
Regardless, Drummond has shown himself to be one of the better offensive rebounders the game has seen and certainly the best in the league today. Battling for boards at the same rate as Moses Malone, Dennis Rodman and Charles Barkley is a sight to behold.
After a win versus the Indiana Pacers in January in which Drummond grabbed 10 offensive rebounds, head coach Stan Van Gundy had this to say about his ability:
From Perry Farrell of the Detroit Free Press,
“It’s not easy to do,” Van Gundy said. “It’s pretty amazing to do. He had nine at the half. He’s an outstanding offensive rebounder. Very quick off his feet and doesn’t need to gather. That makes him different than most people.”
“I just know it’s one of those things you really can’t teach. Guys either rebound or they don’t. You can’t drill that.”
Putbacks
Grabbing all of those offensive rebounds and getting extra possessions for your team is one part of the equation, but being able to score from an offensive rebound is another. Andre Drummond leads the NBA in points via putback. He has scored 95 more points on putbacks than any other player in the NBA, averaging 4.6 of his 13 points per game on second chance opportunities.
Most of Drummond’s offense is either from those tip-ins, lobs on hard rolls to the rim and cuts. The video below is from a Pistons’ win against the San Antonio Spurs in which Drummond finished with 20 points and 17 rebounds and showcased all of his best attributes on the offensive end.
As Van Gundy said, Drummond benefits from not having to “gather” and bend his knees much before he jumps. This gives him a quickness advantage over his opponents.
He also has a quick second jump to use on tip-in opportunities. He has admitted to putting the ball up on the boards without the true intention of making his first attempt if he is tightly guarded, knowing that he can get the rebound and then put it in.
From Vincent Goodwill Jr. of the The Detroit News,
"NBA Hall of Famer Moses Malone made a living out of throwing the ball against the glass, just because he knew he could retrieve it and score better and quicker than the opposition.Drummond has picked up that tactic.“Yeah, I’m not gonna lie,” said Drummond with a guilty smile. “I do it from time to time because I know I can get it. I have a quick second jump.”"
“Missing” a shot on purpose to then gather the rebound and score may be part of the reason that Drummond is shooting a career-low 50.2 percent from the field. That is 10 percent lower than his rookie year in which he shot 60.8 percent and 12.1 percent lower than he shot last year.
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 3/21/2015.
Drummond is scoring fewer points on more attempts. Some of that may also have to do with his 49.6 percent shooting on tip-in attempts, which is quite a bit lower than the 50 to 60 percent range the other top performers are converting at.
It is hard to find stats to prove it, but the lower shooting percentage on tip-ins may be due to more one-handed tip attempts, leading to multiple attempts for a single basket.
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Last year, he shot 54.5 percent on tip attempts. A few intentional misses and a couple “volleyball” offensive rebound and putback attempt combinations could lower his shooting percentage significantly.
He is also posting up more, but that part of his game is a work in progress. During the 2013-14 season, Drummond attempted a total of 35 hook shots and shot 54.3 percent on those post-ups. This season, Drummond has already attempted 108 hook shots, but is only shooting 44.4 percent on those hooks.
While the extra post-ups and hook shots might be hurting his efficiency in the short-term, if Drummond is ever going to become more than just a finisher of lobs and putbacks, he has to develop a post game of some sort.
Drummond is still only 21 and it is a perfect time for him to stretch his offensive game with the Pistons looking towards the future. Making mistakes now could lead to making big plays later on. At 6-foot-10 and 270 pounds, Drummond has the size and athleticism to be a load on the block. He just needs to develop the footwork and skills to go along with it.
It would help if he could become at least respectable from the foul line as well.
Whether Drummond develops into a more well-rounded threat or not remains to be seen. He is already the best offensive rebounder in the game and is second in overall rebounds per game, despite playing the least minutes per game of any player in the top 10. One day he might be on top of more than just the offensive glass.
For now, Drummond is king of the putback.
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