This Drummond kid could be good

[dogpause]

He seemed to reach a new comfort level today. Also liked that everyone was looking to feed each other. Great all-around performance by the whole team.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Nadav Henefeld
Khalid El-Amin
Andre Drummond

The three Uconn freshman who played like fourth year seniors the day they walked on campus.

 

[Chief00]

Drummond is a great kid and great player. IMO the best player in the country. Who would you trade him for?

 

[TheChamps990411]

AD has had his struggles through his first 9 games but has still managed to put up 8pts 6rbs 3blks pg. alot of people here said the most we should expect from him his first year is 12-8-3 and laughed at some of us who expect AD will be around 15-10-4 by march. considering this guy is playing right now at like 10% of what he is capable of and improving i think its scary to think what he will be by the end of january.

 

[Danzz]

He seemed to reach a new comfort level today. Also liked that everyone was looking to feed each other. Great all-around performance by the whole team.

Lets not get too excited, Holy Cross was 1 level above a HS team. The real growth will come during the BE season.

 

[Rico444]

Lets not get too excited, Holy Cross was 1 level above BCU.

Fixed.

 

[businesslawyer]

Lets not get too excited, Holy Cross was 1 level above a HS team. The real growth will come during the BE season.

Well, Holy Cross was at least two levels above BC. So yes -- one above a high school team seems about right.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Drummond is a great kid and great player. IMO the best player in the country. Who would you trade him for?

You're wading in the gray area. "Best Player" and "Who Would You Trade Him For" can and should yield two different answers. I wouldn't trade him for anyone to play for Uconn but if I had a fantasy team and needed a #1 pick for a game tomorrow, I wouldn't pick him.

 

[TheChamps990411]

Drummond is a great kid and great player. IMO the best player in the country. Who would you trade him for?

hes not the best player in the country. he potentially ccould be but not right now. perry jones III is making the case as numero uno.

 

[UConn990411]

You're wading in the gray area. "Best Player" and "Who Would You Trade Him For" can and should yield two different answers. I wouldn't trade him for anyone to play for Uconn but if I had a fantasy team and needed a #1 pick for a game tomorrow, I wouldn't pick him.

Everyone should trade him for (a healthy) Sullinger.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Everyone should trade him for (a healthy) Sullinger.

To re-iterate what I said in my original post, I wouldn't trade him for anyone. In 10 games he has shown he can be dominant without being the focal point of the offense and has shown a great attitude and hustle. You can trade him for a healthy Rick Mahorn.

 

[champs99and04]

Nadav Henefeld
Khalid El-Amin
Andre Drummond

The three Uconn freshman who played like fourth year seniors the day they walked on campus.

I wouldn't put Drummond in that group. He's still very, very raw, although he looks less so with the mask off. Still, the kid gets lost on pick and rolls sometimes, can't hit 50% of his free throws, and could use some work positioning himself for rebounds, as well as with his post game, obviously. He's far from a finished product, and I think we all know that. As far as having the biggest impact for a freshman, Drummond might be in that group, but I do not agree that he plays like a senior. In fact, I don't even think he's the most mature freshman on the team (Boatright).

 

[Chin Diesel]

I wouldn't put Drummond in that group. He's still very, very raw, although he looks less so with the mask off. Still, the kid gets lost on pick and rolls sometimes, can't hit 50% of his free throws, and could use some work positioning himself for rebounds, as well as with his post game, obviously. He's far from a finished product, and I think we all know that. As far as having the biggest impact for a freshman, Drummond might be in that group, but I do not agree that he plays like a senior. In fact, I don't even think he's the most mature freshman on the team (Boatright).

Again, nitpicking, but for me that's normal for any freshman of Drummond's size and, true of most any college center. But, look at the last few games and look at the numbers and the body language.

Scary thing is, Drummond is 17-19 the past two games and hasn't done anything extraordinary to do it. His talent level, work ethic and drive makes it possible for him to put up those numbers in the flow of the game. He obviously won't continue at that level, but I'm willing to bet he shoots at least 60% for the rest of the year.

 

[selles]

Lets not get too excited, Holy Cross was 1 level above a HS team. The real growth will come during the BE season.

There's some truth in that, but what was mind-blowing about today was just how far he's come since the start of the year and the absurd potential he showed. Certainly there will have to be more growth once he starts facing Big East physicality. There will be moments where he's taken to school early in the conference season. Frankly, I think JC is counting on that to anger AD and unleash the "tiger".

But I don't care what team we were playing, you couldn't watch today without thinking that we are blessed with a freak of nature.

 

[champs99and04]

Again, nitpicking, but for me that's normal for any freshman of Drummond's size and, true of most any college center. But, look at the last few games and look at the numbers and the body language.

Scary thing is, Drummond is 17-19 the past two games and hasn't done anything extraordinary to do it. His talent level, work ethic and drive makes it possible for him to put up those numbers in the flow of the game. He obviously won't continue at that level, but I'm willing to bet he shoots at least 60% for the rest of the year.

Yeah, I'm definitely nitpicking, all I'm saying is that the kid is only begginning to tap the surface of his potential. Even if he weren't to get a lick better the rest of the season, he's still one of the best players in college basketball. The pick and roll between him and Shabazz is boarderline unstopable, because if you hedge too far out on Shabazz it is an easy alley oop. And of course is defensive presense is invaluble. Looks like he's just the most recent in a long line of UConn shot blockers.

 

[selles]

Everyone should trade him for (a healthy) Sullinger.

We'll see how it works out, but I wouldn't make that deal.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Yeah, I'm definitely nitpicking, all I'm saying is that the kid is only begginning to tap the surface of his potential. Even if he weren't to get a lick better the rest of the season, he's still one of the best players in college basketball. The pick and roll between him and Shabazz is boarderline unstopable, because if you hedge too far out on Shabazz it is an easy alley oop. And of course is defensive presense is invaluble. Looks like he's just the most recent in a long line of UConn shot blockers.

And to think until we had Jake Voskuhl we were consider (at least by one blow har) a donut team that had no inside presence. And then we had Jake, Emeka, Josh, Charlie, Hasheem, etc.

 

[Chris]

Is this that overhyped kid?

 

[mets1090]

Remember the thread comparing him to Fab Melo after like 4 games?

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Wait, Drummond is the best player in the country? Right now? He might have the highest ceiling of any player in the country - you can make a case for that. But he's not the best player in the country right now. He's not in the top 10.

 

[Rico444]

I need to see a little bit more of a sample before i'm convinced it was the mask holding him back, but if it isn't, then it's a hell of a coincidence that he's busted out big time in these last two games.

This kid could easily be the best big man in the country by march. If he starts consistently hitting that foul line jumper, he will be unstoppable.

 

[cohenzone]

The kid was impressive. But as has been pointed out, this was Holy Cross and they had nobody to contend with him at all. As far as playing like a senior goes, personally I think Boatwright comes closer. Not a bad little group of frosh.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

Gotta love the highs and lows of The Boneyard. Uconn has played 10 games, most of which against teams that have a zero percent chance of making the NCAA tournament, and we're calling Andre Drummond the best player in the country. Not too long ago, he was called a complete bust. He's somewhere in the middle. Can he just have one Big East game where he puts up 24, 8, and 5 before we start saying we wouldn't trade him for a healthy Jared Sullinger. Do we think a healthy Jared Sullinger would struggle against Holy Cross?

 

[UConn3432]

He's no Brittney Griner

 

[ctchamps]

I'm excited by his potential but tempered by his current skill set. The question most of us realistically are asking is if he can put all his abilities together with an understanding of the game, and if he can do this, just how quickly will that take place.

I think there is a little ego in all of us that wants to pump our chests and say we discovered Andre first or we knew about him before others figured it out. That little bit of showmanship aside, most of us are sitting back and hoping his development continues and it progresses sooner rather than later. But most of us recognize current development is no predictor of future development.

Anything can happen, but from my perspective Andre is not a top ten player currently. He has the makings of being the top player. Again when will that occur is anyone's guess. My guess is it will be in 20 minutes.