Chicago — During the Detroit Pistons’ opening win, Andre Drummond got in early foul trouble and motioned to coach Dwane Casey that he was fine to stay in the game. Throughout his career, Drummond has mostly avoided getting into serious foul trouble, so Casey gave Drummond a vote of confidence.
It had mixed results.
Drummond was good on the offensive end, but a little tentative defensively, allowing the Brooklyn Nets guards to penetrate and get to the rim, almost at will. It’s the double-edged quandary of letting big men play while in foul trouble: they can’t protect the rim as aggressively.