Drummond

[CallMeBruce]

I'd say an equally big difference is their skill level. Gasol is about as skilled a big man as you're going to find. Andre is not. They're used in much different ways but I think you're underplaying Gasol quite a bit.

Are we talking about Marc or Pau here?

 

[Walker11]

Marc is IMO the most skilled center in the league. His only problem is that he defers too much. He is primed for a monster season now that he is better shape, and he was damn good before.

 

[BUConn10]

Cousins and Jefferson are definitely centers, and there's no way that Hibbert or Gasol are as good as Drummond.

I would say Cousins is more of a PF to be honest.

 

[CallMeBruce]

I would say Cousins is more of a PF to be honest.

He's listed only as a center and has been every year since college. He takes a decent number of long 2's, but I don't think that makes him a forward.

 

[superjohn]

Marc Gasol is much more skilled than Drummond on offense, Drummond is a much better rebounder.

 

[BUConn10]

He's listed only as a center and has been every year since college. He takes a decent number of long 2's, but I don't think that makes him a forward.

The position listing in college means nothing as any guy over 6' 8" usually plays the 5 spot for most college teams. As for his time in the league, he is listed as a C often because thats his role on the Kings, they havent had a true center the entire time he's been there so thats his role. I say hes more of a PF due to his preferred faceup game as well as his tendency to play farther from the basket/outside the paint and attack. In addition, he is a subpar shot blocker and rim protector making him a more natural PF defensively.

 

[Gurleyman]

The NBA has deviated from its traditional position roles more and more in the last few years. Adrien has actually mostly played center in the NBA, where he rarely if ever played in college. He's usually been used as the backup to someone (Al Jefferson in Charlotte, we were hoping Dwight Howard this year), just to play physically against the other team's center for a few minutes and grab some boards. NBA teams tend to go small (LeBron or Durant at the 4, etc.) more than they go big.

 

[CallMeBruce]

The NBA has deviated from its traditional position roles more and more in the last few years. Adrien has actually mostly played center in the NBA, where he rarely if ever played in college. He's usually been used as the backup to someone (Al Jefferson in Charlotte, we were hoping Dwight Howard this year), just to play physically against the other team's center for a few minutes and grab some boards. NBA teams tend to go small (LeBron or Durant at the 4, etc.) more than they go big.

The game has evolved to the point where skill and quickness are much, much more valuable than size. Or maybe it was always this way and people screwed it up too much. In either case, guys usually play up to the biggest position they can credibly play, rather than down to the quickest/most skilled position they could play like in the 90s.

I always wonder if Donyell would have fared much better in the NBA if he'd gone into today's NBA. He could shoot and handle well enough to play the 3 (though not enough to excel there), so the 1994 NBA tried to make him a 3. When he played the 4 full-time, he was a much, much better player, and that's definitely where he'd go coming out of college now. To a lesser extent, I think the same could be true of Cliff playing center full-time in the NBA.

 

[RipCity]

For those worried about Drummond, he's currently posting:

10.8 PPG
10.5 RPG
44.2 FG%
10.8 FGA per game

His career averages:

11.1 PPG
10.8 RPG
61.2 FG%
8.0 FGA per game

His FG% drop stands out most. Severely doubting he's actually regressed at all, pure regression to his career mean would put him at 14 PPG. He could easily surpass that as well for several reasons including Greg Monroe's inevitable falling back down to earth (he's had a hot start), a potential trade of Monroe/Smith, and simple improvement with age. He'll definitely be fine.

 

[Huskyforlife]

There's more to the game than the stat sheet. Guys like giffey taught me that

 

[aceboon]

There's more to the game than the stat sheet. Guys like giffey taught me that

You realize there's guys on here that watch the NBA right? Its very early, but Drummond hasn't been that good. Nothing to be concerned about because its only been 4 games, but he definitely doesn't look like the "best center in the NBA" or anything close to that.

 

[Kembacity]

You realize there's guys on here that watch the NBA right? Its very early, but Drummond hasn't been that good. Nothing to be concerned about because its only been 4 games, but he definitely doesn't look like the "best center in the NBA" or anything close to that.

Exactly, some common sense, last night he shot 2-7 for 7 pts. He had 13 boards and 2 blocks, but still! He's not dominating just yet, and I think he'll have more bad shooting nights as he will be used more as an option than the garbage man who plays great D and gets rebs and putbacks that he was last year

 

[CardiacAndre7]

I don't know whats up with Andre so far. He looks 100% disinterested during the games, looks like he has a bad attitude right now. I've watched nearly every pistons game so far. It may be that he doesn't get the ball enough on offense, but he needs to stop fouling so much, learn and develop his post-up game because right now it is non-existent, and play with some heart, it's getting hard to watch him.

 

[Cheeky]

I don't know whats up with Andre so far. He looks 100% disinterested during the games, looks like he has a bad attitude right now. I've watched nearly every pistons game so far. It may be that he doesn't get the ball enough on offense, but he needs to stop fouling so much, learn and develop his post-up game because right now it is non-existent, and play with some heart, it's getting hard to watch him.

Gotta agree. His head is not in the game. It almost seems as though he's not willing to work as hard for mop up points as he was last year, and is not as hungry, whereby he is settling for lower % shots. I hope he pulls out of it.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

If i was Van Gundy i would honestly consider starting him on the bench for a couple games to help make reality set in that he is not above the other players, and this is coming from one of Drummond's biggest fans.