Surprise rookie Andre Drummond shows drafting is far from a science

[Clockshop]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/nba/news/20130404/andre-drummond-nba-rookie-detroit-pistons/

 

[HooperScooper]

Another tidbit from Jim Calhoun last night at the Boston Globe. Andre was at UConn this week (Pistons were in Boston last night which is probably why) and AD told JC he finally loves the game of basketball. JC said that's why he's going to get a lot better. JC said AD was kind of forced to play basketball when he was younger because he was tall. He was kind of awkward (probably grew too fast) and basketball was just something he did because he was tall but he didn't love the game. You do wonder how many kids get put into this position and people think they should be great because they are tall.

 

[Lefty2one]

Not exactly a pro-UConn article...

The unimpressive history of UConn big men in the NBA was also held against Drummond on draft day.

"Josh Boone wasn't terrible his rookie year," said a league scout who isn't quite ready to call Drummond a can't-miss star. "He teased people, he was running up the floor and doing stuff, [but] he couldn't make free throws."

Boone was also from UConn, whose run of national championships was built on a foundation of intimidating size in the paint. And yet the last five UConn big men to go in the first round (Emeka Okafor, No. 2 in 2004; Charlie Villanueva, No. 7 in '05; Hilton Armstrong, No. 12 in '06; Josh Boone, No. 23 in '06; and Hasheem Thabeet, No. 2 in '09) have failed to live up to the high expectations created for them by the draft.

Drummond arrived to the NBA with little understanding for terminology.

"It was as if he hadn't been to college at all," said a Pistons insider, who cites that deficiency as one of many examples of how far Drummond has come in a short time.

 

[Huskies4ever]

Not exactly a pro-UConn article...

I love that the kid had a reputation of being "unprofessional" and "uncoachable".

Unbelievable.

 

[msgordon]

drummond seemed as professional and coachable as any 18 year old could be at uconn. his 'lack of motor' seemed to bizarrely turn into 'character issues' leading up to the draft. if anything i think andre is too nice, seems incredibly genuine and down to earth

 

[Gurleyman]

I love that the kid had a reputation of being "unprofessional" and "uncoachable".

Unbelievable.

Not to mention that Josh Boone is somehow a canary in a coal mine because he wore the same college jersey. Every player is different. It is lazy scouting to infer that someone in a program for one season takes on the characteristics of his predecessors - good or bad.

 

[johnhuskies95]

Some of the things that were said about him by so-called "experts" leading up to the draft were almost slanderous.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Not that there are a ton of notable big men in the NBA, but it's hard to disagree with the assertion that our frontcourt guys have been disappointing to downright busts over the last 10 years.

 

[Gurleyman]

Not that there are a ton of notable big men in the NBA, but it's hard to disagree with the assertion that our frontcourt guys have been disappointing to downright busts over the last 10 years.

Compared to where they were drafted, sure. Fair argument.

Compared to where they were projected coming in to UConn, or even where they were projected after their freshman years, not hardly.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

All the lack of motor criticisms are because of Thabeet. The reality with Thabeet is that he just doesn't care that much about basketball. It doesn't make him a bad person, but it does limit his upside. The vast majority of NBA players work incredibly hard to be as good as they are, and Thabeet doesn't want to work that hard.

I think Okafor, Armstrong and Boone did not suffer from a lack of motor as much as they had pretty much maxed out by the time they left UConn. Okafor bulked up, but I wouldn't say he got all that much better. Boone and Armstrong just weren't good enough. I am sure both busted their asses in the NBA though.

Villanueva and Okafor have had good careers. I am not sure why they are considered under-performers.

 

[upstater]

Villaneuva doesn't even qualify as a big man, but Okafor has to love being in a paragraph about players who don't try very hard.

I also seem to remember that Cliff Robinson, Jake Voskuhl and Travis Knight did OK.

 

[johnhuskies95]

Emeka has averaged a double-double over the course of his career. It's not like he isn't good enough to be a starter in the league.

 

[3rdbass]

drummond seemed as professional and coachable as any 18 year old could be at uconn. his 'lack of motor' seemed to bizarrely turn into 'character issues' leading up to the draft. if anything i think andre is too nice, seems incredibly genuine and down to earth

It still seems like JC's last year was his worst coaching. He seemed to totally lose touch with the players maybe due to all the distractions going on. He should have retired after 2011 but I understand why he wanted to give it another chance with all the players coming back and AD.

PS. I just remember after he won the Championship in 2011 and was in the lounge in Houston for the afterparty how in peace he looked at that moment. It seemed like the perfect moment for him to retire.

 

[aceboon]

Emeka has had a good career but he's pretty much irrelevant as an NBA player and has been that way for quite some time. Calling him a bust would be crazy, but I think underacheiving would be appropiate when you consider the fact that his rookie year was his best year.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

Emeka has had a good career but he's pretty much irrelevant as an NBA player and has been that way for quite some time. Calling him a bust would be crazy, but I think underacheiving would be appropiate when you consider the fact that his rookie year was his best year.

I get what you're saying, but he's also only played for really lousy teams his entire career. He's averaged a double-double (or close to it) every single year, it's just that nobody is paying attention to the Bobcats, Hornets, and Wizards.

For comparison's sake, Tyson Chandler gets showered with praise, rightfully so, for his defensive and rebounding abilities. Is he that much better than Emeka?

 

[IMind]

Emeka's "problem" is entirely perception. It's because he's not quite the offensive player he needs to be an all star player and he's never been on a good team or in a big media market. Getting drafted right behind Dwight Howard hasn't help him in the least either. It's an impossible comparison. If he got drafted behind Kwame Brown for instance people would rave about him.

 

[aceboon]

I get what you're saying, but he's also only played for really lousy teams his entire career. He's averaged a double-double (or close to it) every single year, it's just that nobody is paying attention to the Bobcats, Hornets, and Wizards.

For comparison's sake, Tyson Chandler gets showered with praise, rightfully so, for his defensive and rebounding abilities. Is he that much better than Emeka?

I know they're stats aren't far from each other, but I just can't see taking Tyson out of the Mavs title team, plugging Emeka in, and getting the same result. Some side pieces changed but even when Emeka was in NO and David West and CP3 were all healthy at the same time the Hornets weren't as good as the Tyson Chandler Hornets at their peak.