papalrep wrote:"Wiggins should audition for a role in a zombie movie. 8 points, all in the first quarter, to go with 4 rebounds, 0 assists, 0 steel and 0 blocks."
Lip's finest hour. Succinct, spot on analysis. Well done sir.
Lip also confirmed in this post Wiggins is not a robot "0 steel"
Thanks for the report Lip. Man, that first half was tough to watch. The defense was just atrocious. Luckily they tightened up in the 2nd half just enough to get the win.
It's pretty disappointing to see how this team is kind of limping into the final stretch, which may be a bad analogy since physically they have remained quite healthy!
Big O wrote:I can't understand how Wiggins can play with his lack of intensity and look at himself in the mirror, his teammates in the eye or read the fan and analyst criticism in the media. He apparently has no pride...
But he has $146.5M in his eyesight...
AGAIN... what did we expect here? The Wolves rewarded a 22-year-old guy with the best possible outcome for not putting forward the best possible effort... HOPING he'd start showing effort.
That's not human nature.
[Note: This is just the 2018 version of the big contracts handed out to guys like Glenn Robinson two decades ago before they really accomplished anything. Look at that guy's career. Look at his stats. He never improved... because he didn't need to. Whether we like it or not as fans... pro players are motivated by money. For many of those players... money is THE motivator.]
This may be true of some (most?) but there are guys who want the money and RESPECT. it may take a trade of Wiggins with sweeteners to embarrass him before he ever fully realizes his potential.
Sure. It's possible. Maybe.
I'm just going by what we've seen with Wiggins... and with other players. Either you play for the love of the game or for respect or for winning or for your teammates or you don't.
It's hard to switch AFTER making nearly $200M doing it YOUR way. Honestly, I'm not even blaming Wiggins as much as the situation here. Imagine yourself (at age 22) if you were handed $200M doing things the easier way. What consequences would there be? What motivation?
Great players are driving by an innate competitive fire. Sure, they like and want the money. But they'd still be great even if the NBA paid an average factory wage. Wiggins would be the same player right now even if the Wolves hadn't already given him the extension. Recall that it was Wiggins who delayed signing the max contract. As you indicated, either you play for the love of the game for winning or for your teammates or you don't. If you don't, then no amount of money will change the way you play.
