I Cannot BELIEVE What I am Witnessing…

I Cannot BELIEVE What I am Witnessing…

Backup center has been a problem for the Philadelphia 76ers throughout the duration of the Joel Embiid era. But after an absolutely disappointing first season back in Philadelphia, Andre Drummond is showing he still has something left in the tank. While the veteran deserves the utmost confidence, but why there is also a loser in that conversation, that being a Dembona here. Do want to dive into the outlook for the Sixers backup center sort of situation here and why this is more important than ever given the lack of consistent availability for Joel Embiid. This is no longer guys spelling Embiid for a couple minutes at a time. This is a role in which you are expected to start on a fairly regular basis due to the limitations on no backtobacks and who knows what the injury situation will be from now to the rest of the season. But Andre Drummond is making his case for why he deserves to hold on to that role and is continuing to play a huge part in the Sixers team. So do start off in what is being said within the walls of the locker room and pull up this quote from Tyrese Maxi here as he says quote he’s been great Maxi said of Drummond. He’s been amazing man. and the stuff that he’s done has been really good. He’s rebounded the ball well. He’s shot the ball well. He’s done a good job, man. He’s protecting the paint, so we’re glad to have him. Drummond also made huge plays in the late win over the Celtics. After Kelly Ubé Jr. gave them a 102 to 100 lead with 8.7 seconds left, Drummond switched out onto Celtics guard Derek White and knocked the ball away to force a bobble and then a wild attempt at the buzzer. It was an impressive play by the big man and this was one that I think will stick out for us for the duration of the season. I will say switching out to the perimeter is certainly not something I would consider a major strength of Drummond in the larger scale of his career, but the fact that he was able to make that overall play in that situation was a big deal and certainly helped steer this team to the win. Now, to highlight his production on the season overall, the Drummond’s averaging 20 minutes per game and across that stretch playing 7.6 or producing 7.6 points, 8.6 rebounds, and perhaps most notable, 33.3% from beyond the three-point arc there, 56.6 6% from the field. I did not expect under any circumstances that we’d be having a real conversation about the Andre Drummond floor spacing experience, but it does feel like he is completely committed to launching three-pointers. And you know what? They’re going in at an adequate enough range. This is not a full green light to shoot them whenever. I think this situation matters and he has taken a couple bad ones this year. But if they’re going down at the rate that is currently the case, I can live with the Andre Drummond open three-pointers. Now to take a peek at just his last three games before I expand it out over the duration of the season here. Shout out to our guy Jacob Marina who tweets out the last three games for Andre Drummond posting 12 points and 11 rebounds on five of six from the field and two of two from the three-point arc. That coming in the loss against the Pistons there. Uh also 14 points and 13 rebounds in the game prior. Six for 11 from the field as well as 17 points and 12 rebounds on six of nine shooting and two of four three-point attempts in the game before that. And Drummond himself did seem especially fired up to be doing this in Detroit as he said uh quote and this coming from Sixers Adam Adam Aronson here saying Drummond definitely appreciated the chance to flash his corner three-point shooting in front of Pistons fans after the Sixers practiced on Thursday. The veteran center spoke glowing of his relationship with Detroit and the Pistons. Quote, I mean that’s home. That’s where I started. That’s the team that took a chance on me. an 18-year-old from Middletown, Connecticut, gave me a chance to play the game that I know and love at the highest level. So, it’s always respect and love for the city of Detroit. And I will say I do love that there’s a little bit of resurgence from the Pistons organization at this point. It’s been a long time since they’ve been relevant, competitive, and I think that is like a good sports town. And Kate Cunningham, man, hat tip to you for just getting out the mud, gutting it out, and building up a foundation of an organization around you in the way. He’s the truth, and he’s got a bunch of dogs around him that buy in in the same exact way. So, the Pistons is the Pistons are a team that need to begin talking about with a bit more respect. That is a threat in the Eastern Conference. They could win the entire East this year. I think they’re potentially that good. Now, to bring it back to the Sixers and a former Piston himself did want to pull up the entirety of the box score for Andre Drummond. So, as you can see, we are now 10 games into the season or 11 after the Pistons game, which is not quite injected into this the second one here. I am recording this late night after the Pistons uh game. Got a busy weekend of work. wanted to pre-record a couple to make sure I could schedule out here, but you can see these most recent performance there. Now, the reason that I wanted to pull this up like this is to contrast it with a Dona because I think a lot of us had high expectations for the UCLA secondyear big man who certainly made the most of his opportunity last year. That one of the biggest takeaways that I had and I think a lot of people had from last year’s disastrous season was the Dembona grabbing the opportunity by the reigns and making the most taking advantage of the extended opportunity that he did see on the floor. But unfortunately it does not look like it is translated quite to the level. So you can see sort of the minutes breakdown. We’ll focus on this that in Drummond in game one playing 2 minutes and 43 seconds. Game 2 1549 then 22 or 23-22 1131 1142 2315 a DNP in the matchup with the Bulls there. And then 28096004 and then back-to-back games and three straight games now with 30 plus minutes played. He played a careerhigh in the victory over the or the loss to the Pistons in the most recent game here. To contrast that with the Demona here, not quite the same outlook as Bona getting the expanded opportunity the beginning of the year playing 1445 off the bench in the season opener. Then 1158 2438 of action in the Orlando Magic. And I do want to highlight that game specifically as if my memory serves me correct as I search through the stats here that that was the game he took over defensively. And actually, it was really the the Washington Wizards game as well. He’s had a couple nice flashes at the start of the season. That 2438 that he did play against uh the Wizards was a big or against the the Magic was a big deal. You can see how these minutes start to fade down in the coming games here. And playing 1433 barely saw the floor in the most recent game against the Pistons here. And my takeaway with Bona as a whole, you can definitely see the flashes. The potential is still there. This is not a guy that I’m giving up on or quitting on or throwing away the tower any sort of belief, but he has not refined his skill set to a level that the Sixers simply need him to do at this stage of the game. He still commits stupid fouls. He still struggles to pull in rebounds that the actual just touch on pulling in boards is not quite good enough to the level. And that is not a strength of Andre Drummond either that both those guys I think can get position and fail to actually just physically pull in the ball at a regular enough rate. And a guy that I think like is particularly standing out with that trade, Dominic Barlo and Jabari Walker I think are both pretty excellent at that that they not only get position but when they get their hands on the ball they’re coming down with it. Both Bona and Drummond and Bona certainly to a more significant extent here can bobble it and bounce it around and fail to pull it in and that stuff just bleeds into additional possessions for the opponent. So that is something that has to be fixed and I do think Bo Bona particularly really needs to work on that. Bona also a guy that while he’s really good at like the fake dribble handoff and attack the rim and dunk he tries he doesn’t he’s not playing within his box to the level that I really wanted to see and it is funny that we’ve sort of had backto-back or two games in five days against Paul Reid that was always the biggest criticism of Paul Reed is the second you expand that leash a little bit you give him a little bit of freedom he’s going to cook to a level that you just do not want to be the case I’m seeing a little bit too much of that from a Dona this year and that’s something I’ve been very complimentary about his skill set as a whole is he just wanted to do the basic center things. I’ve seen a little bit too much damona in those limited opportunities. So to Drummond directly, hat tip to you, man, that I had written you off. I thought you were cooked, that it was a disastrous season last year, but maybe there was a little bit of credence to the excuses that I interpreted for being made for foot feet injuries, the toe issue that he dealt with here. He looks like a better version of Andre Drummond. He looks like the guy that showed up to Philadelphia in his first stint here. And that’s a big deal for this Sixers team. Who knows if this is here to stay. I hope we’re not counting on Andre Drummond to play 30 plus minutes on an everyame basis in the way that is currently shaping out to be the case as Joel Embiid is battling through another knee swelling situation. We will see what updates we get on that. But Drummond can’t compliment it enough and I cannot believe for all the years that we have screamed to get a big man that can space the floor. Cannot believe that that guy is shaping out to be Andre Drummond. I don’t know if this is quite a Brook Lopez career arc here as that is a guy who went from never shooting the ball from the perimeter for the first decade of his career to all of a sudden being one of the like most true floor spacing big mans of big man of all time. I don’t know if Drummond’s going to quite approach that level, but I appreciate and respect the work that he’s put in to get there and the Sixers are feeling the effects of it. People are still not going to guard Andre Drummond on the perimeter and he’s going to get those open looks. So, if he can deliver those, it could be pretty effective for this Sixers team. So shout out to Andre Drummond for getting this season started off on the right foot. But do want to hear from you guys in the comments. And I guess my bigger question here has to do with the Dembona. Me personally, I’m pretty discouraged by the start from him that I’ve seen this season. And it is clear that Nick Nurse is feeling that same exact way. So what’s your level of optimism or your level of concern for can he get back on the proper path and be the long-term backup center of the future for this Sixers team? And of course that conversation is going to change and become more important as Joelle. We will see what the future has in store for him. He is obviously under contract for at least three more seasons and plenty more to get into. We will have that conversation down the line, but do want to give Andre Drum a little bit of love for stepping up, taking advantage of the opportunity, and really delivering for this Sixers team at the start of the year. So, I appreciate you guys for tuning in this video here. If you have not already, make sure you’re smashing that subscribe button on the channel. Drop a like on this video. Give me your thoughts in the comments. I’ll be back talking to you next time right here on Sixers Digest. face.

I Cannot BELIEVE What I am Witnessing…

Backup center has always been a problem across the Joel Embiid era and is increasingly important given his health uncertainty. But Andre Drummond has shown to be ready for a larger role and is taking the reins for the role. Sean Barnard breaks down what this means and why he is disappointed in Adem Bona’s lack of impact thus far.

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