Pistons Drummond struggling to find rhythm

Pistons big man, Andre Drummond, has struggled to say the least in just the first nine games of the season. What many people expected to be a breakout season for 21-one-year-old has not come true, through the first nine games at least.

At times during the season, Drummond has been nonexistent offensively, including back-to-back games where he scored just two points in losses to the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards.

Drummond is averaging 8.7 points per game, 11.3 rebounds, nearly five fouls per game and just a PER of 11.85 and has shot above 50% in just three of the nine games.  Compared to the first nine games of last season where he only shot less that 50% from the floor, once. He was also averaging four more points per game and nearly a foul and a half less per game.

Defensively and on the boards, there is not much of a drop-off; both stats nearly mirror each other.

Even with the slow start, Drummond is not panicking just yet, telling the Detroit Free Press:

“It’s not an individual game and everybody has their streaks of shaky moments. It’s an 82-game season. I’m not getting down on myself. Just gotta continue to play, and I’ll continue to do the right things, and things will start to fall for me.”

It was assumed at the start of the season that Drummond would be the focal point under new coach Stan Van Gundy, but it has not worked out so well. It’s still very early in the season and it’s not panic time in Detroit but it’s not too late to wonder if Drummond is ready for such a great responsibility.

Before, Detroit didn’t know what to expect out of their big man and to their surprise, got more than what they expected.

Since Drummond is still very underdeveloped offensively, it won’t get easier as the season progresses, which could be bad news for Detroit, especially if Van Gundy wants him to be the focal point.

Going from put-back dunks and alley-oops to developing an efficient back to the basket type of game is something that won’t come easily or quickly to Drummond.

Time is what is needed with Drummond. The talent is there but he’s still very raw and certainly is not used to posting up and demanding the ball the way Van Gundy wants him to. Expecting him to go from developing big man to franchise player in a season is a bit unrealistic and it’s safe to assume the coaching staff knows that.

It’s something that Pistons fans don’t want to hear, but that’s the reality. Developing a big man takes time.

Pistons fans would like for him to develop into a dominant big man on both ends of the floor in the blink of an eye but, it does not work that way. There is certainly potential for Drummond to be the franchise/captain they have lacked since Billups, Hamilton and the Wallace boys were around, but, it’s not going to happen right away.