Andre Drummond thread

Hey Lee, welcome back.

As for Andre, no weight training before now...surprised me. Always good to read about Arnie's insights.

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Macklin. Should have played a lot last year. Instead of JJ ever a minute at power forward. In talking to one person here, I could not think of who our other big has to be - assuming Drummond is not ready for major minutes and Ben Wallace plays a limited role, we only got so many bigs. And no, I don't for a second count JJ as one. He should be playing backup to Tay. As I have often said before, we all started liking JJ exactly when? When he was starting at small forward when Tay got hurt. For him not to stay at small forward then to be Tay's backup was simply non-sensical.

So, in all, I can see only Monroe playing major minutes up front this year, with 4 guys playing a lesser role. JMAX can start with Monroe. Ben Wallace can come in with the rookie perhaps. Macklin can find minutes here and there.

Prince and JJ cover the small forward minutes.

Knight at point with Stuckey backing him up. Apparently we drafted a guy with talent at shooting guard who might be able to round out this rotation.

And that leaves Daye. By keeping Princes minutes down (to keep him fresh for the playoffs), and maybe not playing JJ vs. some quicker small forwards, there should be time to play Daye at small forward. And he should get minutes at shooting guard whenever we can make hay exploiting a mismatch there.

Oh, and thanks Alexa and Dre. I do come here to read on occasion. Have not had much to say.

So let's recap what we've learned about Drummond since the Pistons drafted him.
Negatives:.
1) He's really raw offensively and defensively.
2) He's not in great shape.

Positives:
1) He's never done any weight training yet has that body for an almost-19-year-old. I actually 'd when i read that.
2) He's soaking everything up with a sponge, will do anything the coaches ask.
3) He's a quick learner that never needs to be told to do something twice. He sounds like a coach's dream.
4) He actually has a better offensive repertoire than I thought.
5) Seems to be loved by his teammates and coaches.

I haven't been this excited about a player in a long, long time. I know that he's not game ready, but there doesn't appear to be any reason he can't be a superstar.

I don't understand how he managed to avoid weight training. Don't highschool and college basketball teams have organized preseason training? In every organized sport I've played after the age of 15, no matter the level, everybody on the team was thrown into the weight room during offseason and usually atleast once a week during the regular season too.

They didn't want to cause him to have an off year as he got in shape.

He might have been on that 1000 pushups per day program.

It seems a little fishy, but maybe Kander looks at lifting weights and weight training as two different things.
Or maybe the kid is lying to everyone and is a total sociopath.

IMO...
The best strategy with this kid (at this point anyway) is to treat him like he's the 2012/13 starting Center for the Detroit Pistons. Tell him he's great and you're expecting great things from him. Build his confidence sky high. Make sure he knows that the team EXPECTS starting Center caliber play. Play him with the first team in training camp and in practice. Let him start preseason games and hear his name anounced during player intros.

If you treat him like he's a freaking stud - he'll act like a stud.
If you treat him like a kid who needs to develop and be brought along slowly, he'll take much longer to reach his full potential.

A rotation. Start Drummond at center, Monroe at power forward, Daye at small forward, Stuckey at shooting guard, and Knight at point.

The 2nd unit is Macklin at center, Ben Wallace at power forward, JMAX at small forward, Tay at shooting guard with Stuckey and Knight taking turns as the point guard for the 2nd unit. Hopefully, Monroe and Drummond can play enough minutes such that the pairing of Wallace and JMAX is minimized.

Daye has the ability to start in the NBA.
...He doesn't have the heart to start in the USBL.

I see Macklin getting even less time than he did last year due to him no longer being on the roster.

Not being on the roster definitely works to his disadvantage as far as getting quality minutes goes....

The Pistons had until July 11 to sign Macklin. Since they didn't, he became an unrestriced free agent.

Don't want Daye anywhere near the starting lineup.

Don't worry...We never seem to regret any of Dumar's decisions...

Regret Slava Kravtsov?
HELL no!

The Insane Ukrainian will make everyone forget that Rasho Nesterovic ever existed!

I remember reading something where Macklin said that he appreciated his opportunity and it is time to move on.

Nets, Suns, Bucks, Wizards, and Lakers are reportedly interested (according to his agent). The thought is that he can make more money oversees if he chooses money over opportunity.

I'd rather see him stick around than retain Middleton or even Wallace at this point... although I would let Wallace make his own decision and go with it if I were the franchise.