If the NBA season were to end today the Detroit Pistons would be in the playoffs as the seventh seed. Detroit came into this season with the hopes that they would compete for a playoff spot and so far they are in good position. One of the main reasons for their success has been the dominant play of center Andre Drummond. Drummond is having an All-Star season but he has one glaring weakness and that is his free throw shooting. Head coach Stan Van Gundy thinks Drummond's struggles at the free throw line are psychological, according to Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe.
Drummond has struggled from the free throw line since entering the league as he has never shot above 42 percent in his three plus seasons. The alarming thing about Drummond's free throw shooting is that it hasn't gotten any better and it has actually gone the opposite direction. So far this season Drummond is making 35 percent of his free throws this season which is a career low, down from 39 percent last season.
Van Gundy says that when Drummond is working on his free throws in the gym during practice he has made some obvious strides but he has yet to be able to carry that over into live game action.
"In the gym, he's made a lot of progress. You can see the work and practice sessions where he's gotten a lot better. But in games, it's actually gotten worse. There's clearly a psychological component to it and something that he's got to continue to work through in terms of his mental practice and his routines to get to the point that it will translate into games," said Van Gundy.
Van Gundy did add that Drummond isn't making 90 percent in practice but that the form has shown massive improvement and 70 percent isn't a stretch for him. The issue is bringing that over into game action, where he has regressed from the charity stripe. Drummond had a game a week ago where he attempted 36 free throws and missed a league record 23 of them so clearly there is something that needs to be fixed between the ears.
Aside from the free throw shooting though, Drummond is having a huge season and should be headed to his first All-Star game. Through 45 games Drummond is averaging 17.1 points and 15.2 rebounds per game, both career highs. Drummond is already a dominant force in the NBA but if he can figure out how to get that free throw percentage to respectability at least, the sky is the limit for the 22-year-old.
