Andre Drummond Took the Worst Shot of the Season (So Far)
There’s a reason he hangs out right under the rim
Andre Drummond is part of a dying breed of NBA player. He’s a true, old school center, earning his living by banging in the low post and collecting rebounds by the dozen. While other modern big men stretch the floor, Drummond rarely shoots from outside the shadow of the rim. Last season, 93.2% of his shots were from inside the paint (67.8% inside the restricted area), and he showed on Wednesday why he doesn’t like to stray too far from the key.
Early in the fourth quarter, Drummond got the ball at the top of the arc and Jonas Valančiūnas gave him all the room in the world to drive toward a spot where he could actually shoot. But, as three defenders collapsed on Drummond, he threw the ball in the air desperately. To call it a shot would be too generous.
In the words of Patrick Ewing, “Have you ever shot that shot? Do you work on that shot?”
Drummond doesn’t deserve too much ridicule, though. He was the key to victory for the Cavs in Cleveland’s 94–90 win, leading all scorers with 22 points and adding 15 rebounds. And not all of those points were pretty. Check out this awkward little 14-foot thrust that found the bottom of the net.
There are no bonus points for style in basketball. Those two points look the same in the box score as every one of Drummond’s powerful dunks and slick post moves. By the same token, the hilarious toss away from the basket shows up as just another one of Drummond’s 11 missed field goal attempts, so we should be thankful that it was awful enough to be singled out by TNT’s “Shaqtin’ a Fool” account to live on forever on the internet.
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