Wiggins needs about 45 games to warm up

[Coolbreeze44]

It's his focus and energy level on both ends of the court that looks different to me. And it's been really fun to watch. it actually looks like it isn't much fun to be guarded by him anymore.

[thedoper]

Wiggins just needs to play the 2. It's not rocket science. It's where he gains a huge matchup advantage.

[Coolbreeze44]

Can Wig get his 20 points matched up with Kawhi Saturday? Going to be tough.

[kekgeek]

Wiggins just needs to play the 2. It's not rocket science. It's where he gains a huge matchup advantage.

Is he playing the 2 though opponents are still putting their SF on him

[MikkeMan]

Part of Wiggins not taking over at times was because there were other players doing their things. Without Zach there Wiggins has it even easier to insert himself (as well as Towns) but he still picks his spots he just has more opportunities and damn right now he is locked in when to do it nailing shots everything.

I'd like to see the metrics that show the improvement defensively without Lavine in the lineup.

I find it strange that there is so much talk about how the league has changed and we need 3 point shooting but Lavine who is the best 3 point shooter by miles gets marginalized. Heck Belly is another volume 3 point shooter that people tend to want to dump. We need more guys that can shoot that 3 and it's not always easy to find them.

Team defensive rating with Zach 110.1, team defensive rating without Zach 103.9. Quite dramatic difference. Even if we look team defensive rating in those games that Zach hasn't played it has been much better (104.9) than in games that he has played (108.4).

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Part of Wiggins not taking over at times was because there were other players doing their things. Without Zach there Wiggins has it even easier to insert himself (as well as Towns) but he still picks his spots he just has more opportunities and damn right now he is locked in when to do it nailing shots everything.

I'd like to see the metrics that show the improvement defensively without Lavine in the lineup.

I find it strange that there is so much talk about how the league has changed and we need 3 point shooting but Lavine who is the best 3 point shooter by miles gets marginalized. Heck Belly is another volume 3 point shooter that people tend to want to dump. We need more guys that can shoot that 3 and it's not always easy to find them.

Team defensive rating with Zach 110.1, team defensive rating without Zach 103.9. Quite dramatic difference. Even if we look team defensive rating in those games that Zach hasn't played it has been much better (104.9) than in games that he has played (108.4).

Yeah, you can see the difference in how Rush defends - he gets over screens better than Zach and he's stronger in his base and stance. He's much less likely to get faked out of his shoes too.

I don't think that's the only difference though. We're seeing guys like Wiggins and Bjelly play a LOT better on defense lately. So it's an overall team thing, not just the absence of Zach.

[Monster]

Part of Wiggins not taking over at times was because there were other players doing their things. Without Zach there Wiggins has it even easier to insert himself (as well as Towns) but he still picks his spots he just has more opportunities and damn right now he is locked in when to do it nailing shots everything.

I'd like to see the metrics that show the improvement defensively without Lavine in the lineup.

I find it strange that there is so much talk about how the league has changed and we need 3 point shooting but Lavine who is the best 3 point shooter by miles gets marginalized. Heck Belly is another volume 3 point shooter that people tend to want to dump. We need more guys that can shoot that 3 and it's not always easy to find them.

Team defensive rating with Zach 110.1, team defensive rating without Zach 103.9. Quite dramatic difference. Even if we look team defensive rating in those games that Zach hasn't played it has been much better (104.9) than in games that he has played (108.4).

Yeah, you can see the difference in how Rush defends - he gets over screens better than Zach and he's stronger in his base and stance. He's much less likely to get faked out of his shoes too.

I don't think that's the only difference though. We're seeing guys like Wiggins and Bjelly play a LOT better on defense lately. So it's an overall team thing, not just the absence of Zach.

Two great posts. Thanks for the numbers and I agree with Q it's not just Rush. They also had some poor defensive efforts with Rush out there a few games after Zach got hurt.

[Monster]

Can Wig get his 20 points matched up with Kawhi Saturday? Going to be tough.

That's going to be VERY interesting.