Drummond impressed by Boban: 'He's better than what I thought'
At 6-foot-11 and 279 pounds, Detroit Pistons All-Star Andre Drummond has little trouble establishing his presence in the paint on most nights, as very few big men in the league can match his size and strength at the center position.
However, entering training camp, Drummond will be tasked with working against one of the rare players in the league larger than him in both size and stature in his new teammate, former San Antonio Spur Boban Marjanovic (7-foot-3, 290 pounds).
"We got a very, very, very large front line," Drummond said laughing, according to the Detroit Free Press' Perry Farrell. "It’s always fun playing against Boban too. I was telling the guys after we were done playing our first pickup game that it might have been the first time I was really frustrated playing against somebody. It’s just so hard to score on him. He’s 7-3. He’s pretty agile as well, so if anything soft went in the air he was going to get it. If I wasn’t trying to dunk the ball, I wasn’t scoring."
The larger-than-life Serbian received a three-year, $21-million offer sheet from the Pistons over the summer, which the Spurs ultimately declined to match. He averaged 5.5 points and 3.4 rebounds in 9.4 minutes off the bench over 54 appearances during his rookie season last year.
Detroit ended the 2015-16 campaign ranked 29th in rejections per game at just 3.7, and Drummond was the only player to average at least one (1.4).
Now, Marjanovic doesn't block many shots himself (only 1.6 per 36 minutes), but nonetheless, he still becomes a welcome addition to a frontcourt in desperate need of some added rim protection.
"It got to the point where I had to use my speed against him because I couldn’t back him down," Drummond added. "I said I’ve got to take him out a couple of steps and try to beat him off the dribble. Other than that, Boban is a hell of a player. He’s going to be a huge addition for us and he’s definitely going to be a help for us during the season."
"He’s better than what I thought."