10 Biggest Surprises of the New NBA Season

#9 Andre Drummond hitting Free Throws

Andre Drummond, a career 38% FT shooter, is shooting 64% from the line

After the end of last season, there were 3 certainties in life. Life. Death. Andre Drummond missing Free Throws. Fast forward to today, he's shooting 63.2% from the charity stripe, a number which would be around 75% had it not been for an off-night a couple of games back.

Drummond's Free Throw shooting struggles have been well documented. He has the lowest FT% among active players. Due to his free throw struggles, teams often targeted him using the Hack-a-Shaq technique to rob Detroit of key offensive possessions which often prompted Stan Van Gundy to take Drummond out of close games in the final stretch so Detroit would have a chance to win.

It's not as if the Pistons' didn't work on Drummond and his shooting woes. They sat for countless hours reviewing the film. They even made him try VR to improve his FT shooting but nothing worked. In the end, Drummond went back to his old trainer who helped him prepare for the 2012 NBA draft. They went back to the basics and threw countless shots working on his game.

The result? An improved Drummond. Not just a better FT shooter but also a guy who can defend with all his heart, rebound the ball 20 times in a game and attack the rim with a new found ferocity. This has also rubbed off on his teammates and the Detroit Pistons currently have the 2nd best record in the East at 10-3.