Andre Drummond has become arguably the NBA’s most dominant big man. He averages 17.6 points and 15.4 rebounds, and he’s a major reason the Pistons are four games over .500 and hold the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference.
So why did coach Stan Van Gundy remove him for a huge chunk of the third quarter on Wednesday night? Because the Rockets took advantage of a weakness in his game that is holding him back from reaching his peak, and making the NBA unwatchable at times.
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The Rockets fouled Drummond five times in 10 seconds to start the third quarter. They sent out K.J. McDaniels, who once was a promising player with the 76ers before they traded him to avoid improving too much, and he repeatedly fouled Drummond to get into the penalty. In 2 ½ minutes in the third Drummond was fouled a total of 12 times, and sadly proved the Rockets’ strategy sound. Drummond made only five of the 16 foul shots, and for the game went 13-for-36 from the free throw line. It was a wretched mark, but to be expected. Drummond is shooting 35 percent from the line this year, and is 38.5 percent for his career.
While Houston’s attempts to get Drummond out of the game were effective, they have their own hacking target. Dwight Howard is hacked often by teams looking to disrupt Houston’s rhythm or to force him to the bench. The Clippers deal with it when DeAndre Jordan is on the floor, as do the Kings with Rajon Rondo. No matter how many NBA observers yell that Drummond and his ilk should spend more time in the gym shooting foul shots, the NBA should consider doing something about this.
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The SWN proposal? Teams who have a player intentionally fouled off the ball should have the opportunity to nominate a free throw shooter for the first 10 minutes of every quarter. An alternative, less punitive idea would be to give the team being fouled the option of skipping the free throws, and simply taking an inbound and advancing the ball up the court (h/t Bill Simmons).
Whether the NBA chooses one of these paths, or a completely original one, NO ONE wants to watch Drummond hit everything but the basket on 36 free throw attempts. But they do want to see Drummond pulling down man rebounds and dunking. Let’s keep Andre Drummond on the court.
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