by
Stan Van Gundy made headlines a couple weeks ago when he said not enough credit was being given to Andre Drummond for his 45% effort at the foul line, up from 36% last season. We analyzed SVG’s comments in this column.
With the Pistons playing on national television Thursday night in Golden State, naturally the topic of Drummond’s free throw shooting came up. As he headed to the line for a pair, TNT play-by-play man Kevin Harlan began talking about that uptick in percentage and how impressed he was by it. But the game analysts, Reggie Miller and Kevin McHale, weren’t having any of it.
Andre Drummond
Here’s a transcript of how that conversation went:
Kevin Harlan: Drummond at the free throw line -- he has made a large increase, he is ten percent better at the free throw line this season, which is at 45%.
Reggie Miller: (cracking up) Wait, did you say large increase?
Harlan: Ten percent! For him, that’s huge.
Miller: To go from 36 to...C’mon, man!
Kevin McHale: You know what a large increase is? Oh boy, he just hit both sides of the backboard there. Not one of those was really straight.
Harlan: Ten percent. Who else can claim...
McHale: You know when I’m impressed with ten percent? If you go from 80% to 90! (Miller and McHale laughing incessantly)
Miller: Right! Don’t say, “Oh my god, he made a ten percent increase! Going from 36 to 45...
Harlan: I stand by what I said.
McHale: That’s not good.
Harlan: It was the worst in the league last year.
McHale: And it’s nine percent anyway, you Kansas Jayhawk!
Harlan: No, that’s wrong! It was ten percent.
McHale: It was earlier, huh?
Harlan: Yeah, it was. When I first saw it, it was. (All three broadcasters laughing like crazy at the ridiculousness of the debate, and Harlan’s 2nd-grade arithmetic error.)
Miller: So now that you know it’s nine percent, is it still okay?!?
Harlan: Well, okay, you wanna go down that road? Who else has improved their free throw shooting by nine percent from last year to this?
McHale: Who else shot 36% last year?
Harlan: Ahhh, I’m trying to dress this up.
Miller: There’s only one way he can go!
McHale: I couldn’t agree more. You know, Reggie, honestly, I know it sounds crazy -- but the old Rick Barry thing, underhand. I just have to believe you could make more than 36% doing that.
Miller: Yeah, but the boys in the barbershop wouldn’t let him live it down.
Harlan: Yeah, it’d be tough.
McHale: I hear ya'.
Drummond finished 2-4 at the line against Golden State in a 127-107 loss.
Through three games on this West Coast road trip, he’s connected on 5 of 13.
