SVG: Andre Drummond needs to ‘focus on the things he does .. at an elite level’

Stan Van Gundy says for Andre Drummond to get back to his All-Star level performance the big man must focus on his elite skills and not try to add new facets to his game.

Maybe Van Gundy has been reading Detroit Bad Boys.

What are his elite skills? Rebounding. Finishing at the rim. Generating steals.

Van Gundy told Pistons.com that he should model his game after DeAndre Jordan, another big man with big free-throw deficiencies, but one who still manages to have a huge impact on the game because he’s a great finisher at the rim and a very good defender.

“That’s going to be a big part of it with him this year,” Van Gundy told Pistons.com. “To really get him to focus on the things that he does at not even a high level – at an elite level, and doing those well. So many times guys think the way to becoming great is to be able to do more and more things. In a lot of cases, it’s more doing the things that you already do at a higher level.”

That might seem like music to the ears of several fans, and DBB writers, who have been imploring Van Gundy and Drummond to mothball Drummond’s ineffective post game.

And While Van Gundy does emphasize the importance of living in the paint for Drummond’s success, it does not sound like the coach is ready to remove Drummond’s essential role in the offense just yet.

As Van Gundy told Pistons.com:

“The thing we haven’t focused on enough is where and how we need to get him the ball. And we need to get him the ball in the paint area, which means he’s got to fight for position more in that area and when he gets in that position we’ve got to be more attuned to getting him the ball in there because he’s really, really good when he’s got both feet in the paint.

“He’s had a tendency to run off the lane and we’ve had a tendency to pass him the ball where it runs him off the lane. So we’ve got to get him the ball closer to the basket and then on the perimeter we’ve got to use him more as a ballhandler, facilitator, getting him to handoffs, pick and rolls, and then getting him right back to the basket again because he’s a good ballhandler and a good passer and we can use more of that and let him play on the perimeter and less of him catching the ball two steps off the lane and trying to back in from there and shooting a long jump hook.”

The scary version of this would be trying to turn Drummond into a true faciliatator and playmaker. That’s a recipe for a sloppy offense and a lot of turnovers. But if Van Gundy’s true plant is to get Drummond more involved in dribble handoffs, pick and rolls and moving the ball then I can get behind that.

Just no more post-ups, please.