Drummond: I Don't Know Who Pope Is

[tykurez]

http://borgesblognhr.blogspot.com/

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Andre Drummond was asked about going up against Seton Hall's Herb Pope tomorrow night in Newark.

"I don't even know who that is," Drummond replied. "I'm not interested in who that is."

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Pretty funny stuff ... although I think Borges left a part out. According to Dom Amore, he was quoted as saying "I don't mean any disrespect" by the comment.

 

[Kitaman]

Very funny and innocent.

He may need to attend all of the NBA rookie classes though.

 

[Chin Diesel]

I'm sure that part of the quote is great lockerroom material for SHU. Andre will learn.

The full quote read in context is Drummond saying he doesn't follow other teams or players. Fair enough. Napier had a similar quote.

 

[TheChamps990411]

this is going to be a good measuring stick for AD and show how much he has improved. if he gives pope problems on the defensive end as is able to score and stay out of foul trouble his confidence will go up big time.

 

[Stinger92860]

Maybe Andre thought the question was about The Pope....

 

[Peacefrog]

Nothing really to take offense at there especially given the context but I'm sure Pope/SHU will play it up in the locker room. Andre will learn that it just doesn't make any sense to give your opponent anything to get fired up about although one would like to think playing a top 10 team would be enough. I think Pope is going to come at Andre hard and its important that he not get into early foul trouble. Conversely, if we can feed Andre, Alex and TO early maybe we can get Pope out of there and leave SHU castrated.

I get the whole, "hey I just focus on my team" thing. However, I think it makes more sense to study up on your opponent a little bit.

 

[tykurez]

Yea my only question is: shouldn't they have been watching tape and scouting these guys? At least considering it's the day before the game and Herb Pope is kind of a big deal.

Funny nonetheless. I think it really shows just how untapped this kid is.

 

[johnhuskies95]

According to Gavin Keefe they won't go over scouting reports until tonight.

 

[UCDaveD]

Andre Drummond @AndreDrummond03 20m

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Let me clear this up because ppl are twisting my words all I said was I wasn't sure who herb pope was because I never see seton hall play

 

[Chin Diesel]

Yea my only question is: shouldn't they have been watching tape and scouting these guys? At least considering it's the day before the game and Herb Pope is kind of a big deal.

Funny nonetheless. I think it really shows just how untapped this kid is.

I've seen several locker room shots on TV where the coaches are going over game plans. On almost all of them the coach referred to the opponents by number not by name- even players who were all-americans and were household names. I don't know why. Maybe its to keep players heads in the game and not get caught up in the hype.

On a sidenote it will be interesting to see if AD is more gun shy around some reporters.

Final thought. It takes a special kind of gg and a small person to be a sports reporter and not ask for clarification from college kids. Similar to Kemba's "first book" quote last year.

 

[ctchamps]

I think this says loads about the players. Unlike us obsessed individuals the players are focused on only two things - improvement in their skills and the next game on the schedule. They are not sitting around thinking about future teams or how they are playing relative to other teams in the country. They're too busy and focused.

 

[ASweet3781]

To me the key thing in Borges blog:

"I'm here to tell you that, as bad as what Drummond said looks in print, I truly don't believe he meant any disrespect. Drummond is not -- repeat, not -- a cocky kid. He's actually very respectful. He's honestly just completely invested in his own team and not worried about his opponents."

Ok than Dave. Than why did you and your colleagues immiedately run to your twitters and blogs to post the quote in an attention grabbing headline effort to make it seem like Drummond was intentionally dissing one of oppositions players? Certainly they know by doing that it doesn't make Andre look good and gives the opposition bulletin board material. Did anyone bother to ask Andre a follow up? Or do they all just sit there at practice hoping the players will hang themselves with their words so they can rush to their computers to stir the pot and get more blog hits/twitter followers?

Situations like this are why players should keep their contact with the media at an absolute minimum. They think they can trust these guys who cover the team because they show up at practice a lot and cover the team. You can't. The team just started preparing for SHU probably today. Drummond wasn't even going to college until late August. Seton Hall isn't exactly a team on TV all the time. And not all players are hoops junkies on TV watching unranked college teams in their spare time. I can barely name a player on their roster. It's not exactly far fetched to think Drummond won't know who Pope is until the team scouting report which is usually not done until the evening the night before the game.

But hey atleast the horde got to embarrass Andre and piss off a tough opponent we are facing. Hope the extra twitter followers/blog hits were worth that. I'd adopt a Bill Belichick strategy when answering questions from these guys.

 

[champs99and04]

Although this doesn't have anything to do with the actual quote, Herb Pope is a very good player. I don't blame Drummond for not knowing who he is, but I bet he has a much better idea by the end of the season. I think the kid is averaging like 19 and 11 for the season, very impressive.

I'm sure Drummond didn't mean this to be insulting, but it is likely Seton Hall will take this quote and run with it. Couple that with the fact that they'll be facing a top ten team, at home, coming off a beatdown @Syracuse and wanting to prove they belong on the national stage, I think this will be a really tough game and wouldn't expect the line to go much higher than three.

This is a game where Oriakhi will really have to come to play.

 

[NEforceUConn]

I don't care if he knows who he is, or what AD says to reporters. The kid can play, but please get a mean streak. It matters.

 

[majikman]

Borges is always one to make a bigger deal out of something than it is. Then they wonder why they get crappy access to the team. It is the one thing that Amore brings to the beat for the Courant. He spent time on the Yankee beat and if you pull that stuff down there, they shut you down pretty quickly.

 

[UconnDon]

I was of the assumption that pre-game scrimmages included 2nd team running next opponent's plays style and focusing on scorers, etc. Apparently there is no Herb Pope look-alike during intra-team practice??

 

[UconnDon]

Well, if anyone does the job on Pope like someone (Kemba?) did on Jeremy Hazell last year, we'll be in pretty good shape. Although, if memory is not too faulty, I think Jeremy may have done the job on himself with fouls and over-shooting.