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The Detroit Pistons look to make yet another push for the postseason after regressing last season, starting with team cornerstone Andre Drummond, who was coming off a career-season in 2015-16, leading the league in rebounding.
Drummond's offensive game took a dip after his reluctance to get to the line due to his woeful free-throw shooting, that while it managed to improve from 35.5 to 38.6 percent last season, it ended up hurting his scoring average by 2.6 points per game.
The Pistons center has improved on the defensive end during training camp, after his shot-blocking declined his past two seasons.
“Better, better,” head coach Stan Van Gundy said of Drummond's defense after Tuesday's practice, per MLive. “He's working harder, he's been a little quicker on his calls. I think he's putting more into it, I think his defense has been better.”
“(Aron) Baynes was our best communicator, but I think Andre and Jon (Leuer) have been getting better at communicating. Henry (Ellenson) has been getting better at communicating also, but he's still late in some calls, so is Tobias (Harris). They've all gotta get better.”
Drummond underwent surgery to repair a deviated septum, allowing him to breathe and sleep much easier, which has shown results on his conditioning and the work he's put up during the offseason. Detroit will be largely reliant on his presence on the court if they hope to make a playoff push like they did two seasons ago, sneaking into the eighth spot of the playoffs.
