Stan Van Gundy believes that Andre Drummond is a prime candidate for rebound year. The Pistons star big man took a step back last season when he and the team as a whole failed to meet expectations. Drummond himself had a disaster of a season. The Pistons were better in almost every way when he was off the floor and that was a serious problem for such an integral player to their system.
Van Gundy told NBA.com how Drummond can be better. He wants his big man to excel in the areas he's already strongest which are rebounding, defense, and the pick-and-roll. He even has a player in mind he'd like him to emulate: Clippers big man DeAndre Jordan.
"The step, to me, for Andre is to do a little bit of what DeAndre Jordan does and dominate the game at the defensive end of the floor. Become that All-Defense type of guy. Because he's already a historically great rebounder and to add to that becoming a great defender and build his game from there and everything to be built around the basket – his pick and rolls, going to the rim, running the floor, all of that."
Van Gundy is right that defense is the way to go for Drummond to become an elite player. He theoretically has the skills to be great on that end. He's an athletic and long big that should be able to move everywhere across the court. Put him in the pick-and-roll on offense and he should be able to dominate weaker defenses.
He also spoke about how the Pistons as a whole need to do a better job of getting Drummond involved. Too often they give him the ball away from the paint and don't give him the space to use his handles. Drummond may have struggled last year, but Van Gundy doesn't sound like he's given up on him yet.
