Andre Drummond... Initial Thoughts

[Huskybass]

The first thing that jumped out at me is how well he runs/moves for a guy his size. My seats are lower 200 level and watching him in warm ups, it took awhile for me to realize it was Drummond as he was wearing a headband and running the floor like a guy who should be playing the 2 or 3. He truly has a centers body and the mobility of a wing.

I believe all 5 of his baskets came on dunks. The first one was a nice putback, the rest were all set up by nice feeds.

His free throw attempt was flat out UGLY. I suspect that he will improve greatly on FT's over the course of the season. He also doesn't seem to have any real low post moves other than throwing down thunderous dunks.

It was great to see Drummond and Daniels make their unofficial UConn debuts. Too bad Boatright couldn't suit up, he would have brought some excitement to a pretty dull evening overall. One more thing about Drummond. He seems very humble and happy to be part of something good, seems like a real good teammate and very coachable.

 

[high-post]

The first thing that jumped out at me is how well he runs/moves for a guy his size. My seats are lower 200 level and watching him in warm ups, it took awhile for me to realize it was Drummond as he was wearing a headband and running the floor like a guy who should be playing the 2 or 3. He truly has a centers body and the mobility of a wing.

I definitely noticed that as well. He should pick up tons of free baskets from that as the season moves forward. Not just in transition either. Once he figures how to use that to establish deep position in the paint...
The free throw issue is a little worrying. Sometimes guys will shy away from the ball on offense because of that. Josh Boone became a really bad example of that once he hit the NBA. Drummond's advantage is that he can finish through contact though, so any fouls should theoretically be like a bonus trip to the line.

 

[slumdog]

Free throws are just like anything else. Practice makes perfect. All depends on his commitment to that part of his game. I don't really get how anyone that's going to get fouled as many times as he is in the next 10 years, wouldn't want to become masterful, or at least highly proficient at them.

On the other hand, didn't seem to stop Wilt from setting dozens of scoring records. God, I loved those underhanded ones.

 

[toke]

he had a layup but he might have been able to dunk that too. the first couple times he touched the ball he seemed a little scared/nervous but then after he made his first basket he was like "LOL WAIT IM ANDRE DRUMMOND" and just slammed everything down everytime he got the ball close to the basket. you can tell once he gets going theres no way hes not gonna get like 2-3 dunks minimum EVERY SINGLE GAME. He will continue to get better and better as the season goes on I imagine he may improve more than just about any player in the country this season from beginning to end.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

Drummond will more probably then not be an atrocious free throw shooter for most of the year and possibly beyond. In other words a strong argument can be made he is an extreme liability down the stretch of games. Against top Big East competition the "and-1" will not be common place. Some believe his free throw shooting is not that relevant because of his other attributes that will develop over time (hopefully next year also).

Drummond has more potential then any player in America and it will be developed by Jim Calhoun and his staff. Be patient because with Andre it will take some time. He seems like such a great kid. Looking forward to the resolution and final verdict from the NCAA on RB. He is such an important piece to the UConn puzzle. All just my opinion for what its worth of course.