Minnesota Sports Forum

The bottom line for me with any player is if they keep improving. The new roster will force Wiggins to work on the aspects of his game that weren't his strengths, this is a good thing. This is help D, hitting open shots, movement without the ball. In the same way that the previous roster necessitated him to work on other aspects of his game (running the offense, handling the ball). He has made improvements so far because he works so hard in the offseason, I will be surprised and dissapointed if those improvements don't continue. I do expect a dip in his aggregates on the offensive end, but winning is going to be the overall measure I'm looking at. I also expect some staggering of lineups since we're so top-heavy. I like the idea of spot minutes of Wigg as the focal point of the offense rather than 40+. In essence I don't see any cause for alarm. Thibs is a smart coach, and from what I can tell this offseason, a savvy GM too.

khans2k5 wrote:I think Wiggins is gonna struggle in this new role. He was a floater in college and he's not gonna be able to go get the ball here with Jimmy and Teague. Hopefully he picks up his off-ball activity, but for now I'll side with history and predict he's gonna struggle without being forced into the offense. As long as he stays behind the 3pt line and takes the shot when the ball is kicked to him I think he can be useful. We'll see. I really like Wiggins, but a reduced role at least on paper doesn't have a great outlook for his production. He's always been a guy you have to run offense through specifically to get him involved in the game because he tends to float when he's not directly involved in the offense. Maybe the key is to design more sets that have him moving off the ball. I don't know. We'll just have to wait and see.

I believe this will be the plan and he'll be the first option at the start of games, with Teague or Butler facilitating.

thedoper wrote:The bottom line for me with any player is if they keep improving. The new roster will force Wiggins to work on the aspects of his game that weren't his strengths, this is a good thing. This is help D, hitting open shots, movement without the ball. In the same way that the previous roster necessitated him to work on other aspects of his game (running the offense, handling the ball). He has made improvements so far because he works so hard in the offseason, I will be surprised and dissapointed if those improvements don't continue. I do expect a dip in his aggregates on the offensive end, but winning is going to be the overall measure I'm looking at. I also expect some staggering of lineups since we're so top-heavy. I like the idea of spot minutes of Wigg as the focal point of the offense rather than 40+. In essence I don't see any cause for alarm. Thibs is a smart coach, and from what I can tell this offseason, a savvy GM too.

By any objective measure, he really hasn't improved much since his rookie year. His outside shot has improved and perhaps his handles to a degree, but everything else (assists, rebounds, FT%, 2 pt%, defense) is almost exactly at the same level.

Q12543 wrote:

thedoper wrote:The bottom line for me with any player is if they keep improving. The new roster will force Wiggins to work on the aspects of his game that weren't his strengths, this is a good thing. This is help D, hitting open shots, movement without the ball. In the same way that the previous roster necessitated him to work on other aspects of his game (running the offense, handling the ball). He has made improvements so far because he works so hard in the offseason, I will be surprised and dissapointed if those improvements don't continue. I do expect a dip in his aggregates on the offensive end, but winning is going to be the overall measure I'm looking at. I also expect some staggering of lineups since we're so top-heavy. I like the idea of spot minutes of Wigg as the focal point of the offense rather than 40+. In essence I don't see any cause for alarm. Thibs is a smart coach, and from what I can tell this offseason, a savvy GM too.

By any objective measure, he really hasn't improved much since his rookie year. His outside shot has improved and perhaps his handles to a degree, but everything else (assists, rebounds, FT%, 2 pt%, defense) is almost exactly at the same level.

By any objective measure except handles and outside shooting? Weren't these the consensus skills everyone was calling on him to improve from the previous season? Yes his improvement has been consistently incremental, but objectivity compels us to acknowledge there was some progress. When there is an actual regression I'll be worried.

I just want to see Thibs hold him accountable when he slacks off. Ricky tried. Gorgui tried. KG tried. I think Thibs (as well as everyone else in that organization) is afraid to hold him accountable because they know he'll leave when he gets an opportunity to do so, so he gets handled with kid gloves. I just want there to be that accountability when Wiggins isn't holding up his end of the bargain. I say the same with Towns too. The kid gloves have to come off. We're weeks away from rewarding Wiggins with a 9 figure deal for basically half-assing it. That contract isn't gonna incentivize him to change up his style, so Thibs will have to.

http://stats.nba.com/player/#!/203952/shots-dash/

Wiggins shoots 40.9% from 3 in catch and shoot situations, I think he will flourish with people actually creating and then dishing it out to him instead of the other way around with Wiggins after Wiggins iso

BloopOracle wrote:http://stats.nba.com/player/#!/203952/shots-dash/

Wiggins shoots 40.9% from 3 in catch and shoot situations, I think he will flourish with people actually creating and then dishing it out to him instead of the other way around.

Totally agree. Our problem last year was talent outside of Wiggins and KAT. They played selfishly because often they felt they had to. There's proper vets on the team now that not only will say the right thing, but also be able to execute. I'd be very surprised if more talent caused a regression in Wigg's game.