Andre Drummond has the green light to shoot threes

Seeing that the guard was likely to break through, he took a few steps to the side to make room and positioned himself in the corner behind the arch. And when VJ Edgecombe set out to find him, Andre Drummond he did not hesitate to send. Jalen Duren went out on him though, the Sixers pivot’s attempt went in.

This action at the start of the game between Philadelphia and Detroit ten days ago is starting to become common in Pennsylvania. After twelve matches, the local pivot has converted 43.8% of his long-range attempts, with about one such shot per match (7/16), mostly in the corners. Never in his career had he shot an interior with such a level of skill, nor with such scope.

That’s how the Sixers are dealing with this new reality. ” I told Kyle (Lowry) two days ago, when we came back from Detroit: ‘Listen, Drum is a 3-point shooter.’ You can’t argue with numbers. The numbers don’t lie. So if it’s open in the corner, we take it », Tirese Makey reports.

The latter considers this a less expected offensive tool ” it adds something to our attack, because it takes the pivot out of the racket. And if I can get into the paint, the center comes to the rescue, I can get him the ball in the corner and trust him to put it in… That’s a big step for him. »

A step that the staff wanted to make for years. From… 2018when he was still playing for the Pistons, he claimed to have taken “ 200 3-point shots from the corner » everyday to turn it into a weapon. So he started falling behind, but without much success: 13% (5/38) during the 2018-2019 season…

Years without a 3-point shot

Then he wandered from franchise to franchise, the pivot refocused his game on the racket. Between 2021 and 2024, he didn’t score a game-winning field goal and barely made a shot from behind the arc. This season, as Drummond tries to keep the Sixers racket going despite the intermittent performances of Joel Embiid, he’s showing an entirely different dynamic.

« He was huge, huge for everything he brought to this team. Today we had only one pivot at our disposal, and he played a lot: 37 minutes. He really did his job protecting the racket. He also did a good job of hitting 3-pointers in the corner, taking the game away. I told him he just got a few years off his career by hitting those threes. Tyrese Maxey laughs after Monday’s game against the Clippers.

His interior finished with 14 points and 18 rebounds, his 5th double-double in the last six games. “ This is new for everyone. What everyone has seen from me in my 14 seasons is that I grab a lot of rebounds and finish close to the rim. When I hit the three, it was a bit of a desperation shot », formulated Drummond who must have given Pistons fans a cold sweat at the time.

Times have changed since then. ” But now I’m getting them into the rhythm of the attack. I hit the important shots. So it’s a matter of trust. The confidence and the fact that my team believes that I can make this shot, that my staff believes that I can make it. That’s all I need to make this shot », concludes the 32-year-old

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How to read statistics? MJ = matches played; Min = Minute; Shots = Shots Successful / Shots Attempted; 3 points = 3 points / attempt 3 points; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive jump; Tot = Total number of jumps; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal mistakes; Int = intercepts; Bp = lost balls; Ct: Against; Points = Points.