Towns and Wiggins lead the NBA in contested shots taken

[Duke13]

I think it's a culture thing just as much if not more then X's & O's, but I agree they could run some action like that. Every presser Tibs preaches ball movement and not letting the ball stick. We are watch polar opposite tonight, these guys get more joy from setting their teammate up and make the simple extra pass. Not in our DNA at this point.

[AbeVigodaLive]

This has been bother me for quite some time. On offense we mind as well put two cones on the floor along with Ricky, Wig and Kat. Wig and Kat never pass the ball. Granted they are great 1-1 players but it's on conducive to winning.

You watch many of the top teams in the league play offense, it's generally not dominated so much by the PG and it's not ISO ball from one or two players. Christ we don't have anyone else who can run a break. I dream of the day to see someone get a rebound and speed dribble up the court to create a fast break. We are damn near last in pace of play.
.

Yep. The hidden disappointment in this disappointing season (remember the Wolves are the league's MOST disappointing team via preseason Vegas win over/unders)...

... is that they're not even playing a fun style of basketball. Sure, you get a great Wiggins dunk. Or a Rubio pass. Or a KAT putback. But for the vast majority of the game, they play an ugly iso-heavy, selfish style of basketball. And it leads to close to top 10 ranking for offensive efficiency. But I don't find it aesthetically pleasing at all.

It's a moot point if it produced wins. But long, contested two pointers is not conducive to sustainable winning at the NBA level in 2017. I know where we ranked last season... anybody know where we rank this season in long two pointers?

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Abe, here are a few stats to back up your point:

- We lead the league in percentage of 2-point shots overall. They comprise 75% of our shot attempts.

- We are 5th in the league in terms of the percent of shots taken between 16 feet out to the 3 point line.

- We are last in the league in terms of the percent of shots taken that are 3-pointers.

Yet, as you say, we are 10th in the league in offensive efficiency. While we simply don't have the personnel to be the Houston Rockets, there is still plenty of upside in our offense if we would cut out the contested long 2, the worst shot in basketball.

[Coolbreeze44]

Thank God tracks aren't laid down in vinyl anymore. This record would be long worn out. Oh, for a fresh take every once in a while.

[Mstermisty [enjin:6864008]]

It doesn't surprise me that both these guys are leaders in this category. The difference is a Towns contested shot goes in a lot more than a Wiggin's shot. Towns is usually shooting at the rim where he is almost always going to be contested, and these shots still go in a lot. A Wiggs contested shot is often a long 2 turnaround jumper that lately he has been clanking more often than not. Both players have tunnel vision when they get the ball, but ironically I think you could make an argument that Towns should actually try to shoot more (unless double teamed), where as Wiggins needs to figure out how to create for others, or take better shots in general. I'm already pining for the early season days when Wiggins was living outside the 3-point line. Or those rare games when he is in ultra-aggo mode taking the ball to the hole.

That said, having Lavine back and adding another couple shooters would sure help.

[TeamRicky [enjin:6648771]]

This whole thread is kind of pointless. Thibs and Wiggins play a ton of minutes and take a ton of shots but if you look at the numbers per shot, the percentage of contested shots isn't alarming.

Bazz actually has the most contested shots on the team at 30.3%. KAT is next at 28.9%, then Aldrich, Payne, and Wiggins at 24.8% (5th on team).

[AbeVigodaLive]

This whole thread is kind of pointless. Thibs and Wiggins play a ton of minutes and take a ton of shots but if you look at the numbers per shot, the percentage of contested shots isn't alarming.

Bazz actually has the most contested shots on the team at 30.3%. KAT is next at 28.9%, then Aldrich, Payne, and Wiggins at 24.8% (5th on team).

Oh. Aldrich and Payne. I'm so sick of those guys doing this!



[Note: Those guys have combined to take 136 shots this season. That's fewer than 2 per game... which means that they've combined to take about 40 contested shots this season. That's unsustainable. Thibs must go!]

[BloopOracle]

This whole thread is kind of pointless. Thibs and Wiggins play a ton of minutes and take a ton of shots but if you look at the numbers per shot, the percentage of contested shots isn't alarming.

Bazz actually has the most contested shots on the team at 30.3%. KAT is next at 28.9%, then Aldrich, Payne, and Wiggins at 24.8% (5th on team).

Oh. Aldrich and Payne. I'm so sick of those guys doing this!



[Note: Those guys have combined to take 136 shots this season. That's fewer than 2 per game... which means that they've combined to take about 40 contested shots this season. That's unsustainable. Thibs must go!]

But the percentages ABE! That's probably why we let Lance go I bet he was leading the team in contested shot percentage!

Thanks a lot Thibs

[Monster]

I do agree with the people saying the ball doesn't move around enough. It feels like most of the time things are centered around a player getting the ball or doing something. That can be Towns Wiggins Rubio or even at times Bazz. some of this is because the roster comes up short. Rush is starting and can basically do 2 things. Swing the ball on the perimeter and hit a corner 3. That's almost it. The Wolves backup PGs have less than 3 years between them and Dunn really struggles. The Wolves have so little volume 3 point shooting with Lavine and Belly out. Casspi hasn't given them much when he is out there. So some of it is guys are too willing to only make certain plays and some is because the roster has problems. It is troubling though and the stats of contested shots aren't surprising. Some contested shots are no big deal for the offensive player if they get what they want.