Minnesota Sports Forum

kekgeek1 wrote:As always thanks for the report.

I know I have mentioned this on a couple of posts but I really hope this is a Pelicans situation from last year. When Cousins got hurt last year everyone thought the Pelicans were done. But in the end it allowed them to play a pace and space offense and allowed Davis to take another step forward and they got real good real fast.

Now just in general talent the wolves are worse without Butler. But who knows maybe the fit is so much better. With Butler you have to play a specific way to get the most out of him. But Butler is not that guy who can be the best player on a championship caliber team. Towns is now allowed to shine and just think of this we dominated a game where Towns just had a meh game.

Like Q said earlier, please, pretty please let this Wiggins 3pt shot be real. PLEASE BASKETBALL GODS ONE TIME BE NICE TO MINNESOTA.

Teague talked about this a little. He continued that with jimmy we were strictly an iso team, but no we are using more pnr and something else, forgot what it was.

Wiggs can be streaky with his offense, but the difference in these 3 games is his activity outside of his offense. Hes passing, getting steaks, blocking shots, rebounding and reading the offense.

On his 3 ball, he hasnt just increased volume, but hes gotten a curry like range developing and looks comfortable in his release while doing it. Id much rather him take 8 3pt attempts per game at 30 something percent than those contested long 2's.

crazy-canuck wrote:

kekgeek1 wrote:As always thanks for the report.

I know I have mentioned this on a couple of posts but I really hope this is a Pelicans situation from last year. When Cousins got hurt last year everyone thought the Pelicans were done. But in the end it allowed them to play a pace and space offense and allowed Davis to take another step forward and they got real good real fast.

Now just in general talent the wolves are worse without Butler. But who knows maybe the fit is so much better. With Butler you have to play a specific way to get the most out of him. But Butler is not that guy who can be the best player on a championship caliber team. Towns is now allowed to shine and just think of this we dominated a game where Towns just had a meh game.

Like Q said earlier, please, pretty please let this Wiggins 3pt shot be real. PLEASE BASKETBALL GODS ONE TIME BE NICE TO MINNESOTA.

Teague talked about this a little. He continued that with jimmy we were strictly an iso team, but no we are using more pnr and something else, forgot what it was.

Wiggs can be streaky with his offense, but the difference in these 3 games is his activity outside of his offense. Hes passing, getting steaks, blocking shots, rebounding and reading the offense.

On his 3 ball, he hasnt just increased volume, but hes gotten a curry like range developing and looks comfortable in his release while doing it. Id much rather him take 8 3pt attempts per game at 30 something percent than those contested long 2's.

I agree with the Long 2 vs 3 things every day of the week. The reason I mentioned it was the last time it was Wiggins "team" he started the year in 2016-2017 shooting 42% from 3 in 16 games on 4 attempts per game. Then the next 3 months he shot 28,31,36% from deep so he cooled off.

The thing I like what Thibs is doing in these 3 games since Butler is in the 1st quarter we are posting up Towns and Wiggins early and often. I think this is huge because we are getting them in rhythm and it keeps them engaged and I think it is making a positive impact on their defense.

Exactly Kekgeek....he's had a couple of 15 or so game stints in his career with hot shooting in the past. We can't rule out a regression for him, but this does "seem" different based on volume.

Q12543 wrote:Exactly Kekgeek....he's had a couple of 15 or so game stints in his career with hot shooting in the past. We can't rule out a regression for him, but this does "seem" different based on volume.

Your right it feels different. His FT % is back to normal again also albeit he isn't getting to the line as much.

If he develops into a good 3pt shooter and continues to make strides on D, he still won't be worth the max but the contract no longer is a franchise killer and he could possibly fit into an above average role on this team

I too have a different feeling about Wiggins. The effort seems consistent and his 3-point shooting seems to have turned the corner. He's still streaky and the ball-handling is bad, but the other facets of his game are coming together. He could regress as he has before, but I sense that this time it's different.

I agree Wiggins 3's feel different. One thing Wiggins did last year even with a lower percentage it seemed like he was taking them from farther out mostly all year.

monsterpile wrote:I agree Wiggins 3's feel different. One thing Wiggins did last year even with a lower percentage it seemed like he was taking them from farther out mostly all year.

I think i read somewhere that he's now been 38% on high volume from deep since the AS break last season.

Wiggins shot 32-84 (38.1%) from 3P-range after the All-Star break last year and has started this year off shooting 28-68 (41.2%). If we were to combine those two stretches -- which isn't really ideal to see if true improvement has occurred -- he'd be sitting at 39.5% from deep on 4.6 attempts per game over 33 games.

So, the sample size is still small, but it's definitely encouraging to see. That's good efficiency on decent volume. It would be huge to see him sustain this, at least, to the All-Star break. Then I'd start to feel like maybe it's real growth.

The thing is his TS% hasn't moved a bit despite the efficient 3-point shooting. Why? Now he's suddenly allergic to taking the ball hard to the basket. Remember how he used to get to the line at a pretty high rate? That has dropped off precipitously, starting last year. It's like whack a mole with him.

That being said, his 3-point shot probably does more for the overall team offense than his drives and foul-drawing, so I do prefer this version of inefficiency versus the one where he doesn't shoot 3's well but gets to the line more often.

Q12543 wrote:The thing is his TS% hasn't moved a bit despite the efficient 3-point shooting. Why? Now he's suddenly allergic to taking the ball hard to the basket. Remember how he used to get to the line at a pretty high rate? That has dropped off precipitously, starting last year. It's like whack a mole with him.

That being said, his 3-point shot probably does more for the overall team offense than his drives and foul-drawing, so I do prefer this version of inefficiency versus the one where he doesn't shoot 3's well but gets to the line more often.

You're right, Q, about Wiggins overall efficiency and the fact he no longer takes the ball hard to the basket. But I think not taking the ball to the hole nearly as much as he once did is a function of his poor ballhandling and the fact that opposing team defenses now exploit Andrew's poor ballhandling. As a result, Wiggins is justifiably shy about taking the ball to the hole very often. In that sense, his instincts are good. Wiggins is in his 5th season. We need to accept him for what he is. He's a tremendous athlete who has the potential to be a very good perimeter shooter and defender. He also has the length and athleticism score on post ups on smaller wings and to get out and score on fast breaks. What he will never be is a good enough ballhandler to create shots for himself or others in the half court. Bad hands and poor ballhandling don't get significantly better at this stage in Andrew's career. I don't know if his hands are small or simply weak, but in either case, his bad hands are a function of basic physical attributes that won't change at age 24. Ballhandling is a basic motor skill that needs to be developed early in life. For whatever reason, Wiggins never developed that skill. Perhaps his length and athleticism at a young age, especially playing in Canada, resulted in him not developing that skill.

But I like that he's developing the facets of his game that he can still develop at this phase of his career -- shooting and defense. We should have a big-man coach working with him on postups. And our head coach should be pushing Wiggins and the entire team to create fast break opportunities for Wiggins.