Minnesota Sports Forum

I really don't think it will be about forcing the issue with Wiggins. The only combination where it doesn't make sense to make Wiggins the 1st option is when Martin is on the floor and even that is debatable. He showed an ability to make tough buckets when we need it and kept making smarter better plays as the season went along. His 3 point shooting tailed off after the first 20 games but his shot is by no means broken. I don't see another player more offensively talented on the squad and I love Bazz and like Martin/ It is just smart offense to make him first option. Plus if Rubio stays healthy he will start with the ball in an even better position than having Lavine bounce around for 10 seconds before giving it to him in the post.

thedoper wrote:I really don't think it will be about forcing the issue with Wiggins. The only combination where it doesn't make sense to make Wiggins the 1st option is when Martin is on the floor and even that is debatable. He showed an ability to make tough buckets when we need it and kept making smarter better plays as the season went along. His 3 point shooting tailed off after the first 20 games but his shot is by no means broken. I don't see another player more offensively talented on the squad and I love Bazz and like Martin/ It is just smart offense to make him first option. Plus if Rubio stays healthy he will start with the ball in an even better position than having Lavine bounce around for 10 seconds before giving it to him in the post.

I'm not so sure about that. You can probably say that Wiggins has the most potential as a scorer based on his athleticism, first step, and decent shooting mechanics. But I would say that Martin and Shabazz are both more effective right now and probably will be next season too. And LaVine is a wildcard. He has no less athleticism than Wiggins and his shot is more natural. I think where he struggles is finishing in traffic, as he isn't quite as big or strong as Wiggins.

Wiggins will be the 'Main man' next season. This will be his team going forward. I predicted 20ppg and I will guarantee that right now.

I understand the argument some here have in that a fully healthy team might lessen the touches and usage of wiggins but I will counter that having rubio healthy and Kg playing at least 3/4 of the total games will only make wiggins much more effective and efficient.

If you watch wiggins last season, you will noticed that he started improving in areas like cutting, getting out on the break and off ball movement and play making towards the end of the season. At the beginning, it seems like he labors for his points. Nothing was easy on him at the start. He didnt get his first dunk of his career until the 4th or 5th game I believe.

The stats guys here love to point out him being a inefficient scorer. Lets factor in the injuries, the quality of his teammates, the pg's he was playing with, his thin frame and being the go to guy despite being a 19 yr old rookie adjusting to the league, you cant expect him to be a efficient scorer. But that will change next season with better team mates and pg's playing with him. He already started improving in his off ball movement and understanding of the nba game. He already is elite at drawing fouls.

Yes, there will be more talent on the squad next season but as they say, the cream rises to the top. Wiggins will have no problem averaging 20ppg even with a healthy martin, buzz and improved lavine.

I think people have been forgetting how Wiggins continued to surprise them last season with his improvements. I am predicting 22ppg for him this coming season plus an All-Star appearance in Toronto.

Anyone else predicting that Wiggins will be the best SF in franchise history?

Q12543 wrote:I have mixed feelings on whether we should be forcing the issue with Wiggins as the alpha scorer for this squad. On the one hand, he truly came alive when Flip had no other options after all the injuries. I mean, he really took off in January. On the other hand, he's got a lot of work to do on how to play better off the ball. His rebounding was anemic; his catch and shoot 3-ball is weak; and by always having plays run for him, he never really learned how to generate easier looks for himself. Recall how he lopes down the court versus sprints? He is the exact opposite of Shabazz when it comes to hunting for easy shots.

And exactly how good did shabazz look his rookie year as a 20-21 year old? You seem to overanalyze Wiggins. He showed great flashes last year. He was playing with nobody else. Sure, he has things to work on. He's not LeBron, he's not offensively gifted like Durant. Im happier to have him than a pure offensive player like carmelo. He definitely has the all around game to become a Jimmy Butler or Paul George. That's perfectly fine by me. He doesn't have to turn out to be the #1 player in the league.

It's all about efficiency for Wiggins this year as far as I'm concerned. Thanks for providing the stat that his EFG% was over 50% the last half of last season...I expect him to replicate that. But I don't need him to be the alpha scorer on this team, and certainly don't want the offense to revolve around him. While this squad may still struggle defensively, I look for them to be very potent offensively this year. With so many mouths to feed, I don't see Wiggins averaging more than 15, unless we are devastated by injuries again. I don't see this scoring breakdown as being unrealistic:

Martin 18
Wiggins: 15
Shabazz: 14
Rubio: 12
Pek: 10
LaVine: 10
Towns 10
Back-up PFs(AB, BJ, AP) 10
Dieng 8
KG 8
Miller 6

That's 121 points, without any of the totals being out of line based on past performance or potential. There are a lot of scorers on this team, and Rubio and Miller are known for giving their teammates open looks. Rather than featuring one player, I'd rather see them work to find the best option each time down the court.

This team is so deep offensively that I look for Flip to do the opposite of what he did last year, and use a long bench. I recognize that injuries will happen, and the entire roster won't be available every night. But I wouldn't be surprised if Flip played 10-12 guys every night. If Rubio is reasonable healthy and we aren't otherwise paralyzed by injuries like last year, this club could easily average 105+ points per game. If Wiggins contributes 15 of those in an efficient manner while realizing his potential defensively, I will be a happy Wolves fan.

longstrangetrip wrote:It's all about efficiency for Wiggins this year as far as I'm concerned. Thanks for providing the stat that his EFG% was over 50% the last half of last season...I expect him to replicate that. But I don't need him to be the alpha scorer on this team, and certainly don't want the offense to revolve around him. While this squad may still struggle defensively, I look for them to be very potent offensively this year. With so many mouths to feed, I don't see Wiggins averaging more than 15, unless we are devastated by injuries again. I don't see this scoring breakdown as being unrealistic:

Martin 18
Wiggins: 15
Shabazz: 14
Rubio: 12
Pek: 10
LaVine: 10
Towns 10
Back-up PFs(AB, BJ, AP) 10
Dieng 8
KG 8
Miller 6

That's 121 points, without any of the totals being out of line based on past performance or potential. There are a lot of scorers on this team, and Rubio and Miller are known for giving their teammates open looks. Rather than featuring one player, I'd rather see them work to find the best option each time down the court.

This team is so deep offensively that I look for Flip to do the opposite of what he did last year, and use a long bench. I recognize that injuries will happen, and the entire roster won't be available every night. But I wouldn't be surprised if Flip played 10-12 guys every night. If Rubio is reasonable healthy and we aren't otherwise paralyzed by injuries like last year, this club could easily average 105+ points per game. If Wiggins contributes 15 of those in an efficient manner while realizing his potential defensively, I will be a happy Wolves fan.

That's insane LST. He would be one of the biggest disappointments in the league at that level.

Good posts here. My hope for Wiggins is that he's not playing over 40 minutes a game. I too hope flip uses a long bench, especially the first half of the season.

TheFuture wrote:

Q12543 wrote:I have mixed feelings on whether we should be forcing the issue with Wiggins as the alpha scorer for this squad. On the one hand, he truly came alive when Flip had no other options after all the injuries. I mean, he really took off in January. On the other hand, he's got a lot of work to do on how to play better off the ball. His rebounding was anemic; his catch and shoot 3-ball is weak; and by always having plays run for him, he never really learned how to generate easier looks for himself. Recall how he lopes down the court versus sprints? He is the exact opposite of Shabazz when it comes to hunting for easy shots.

And exactly how good did shabazz look his rookie year as a 20-21 year old? You seem to overanalyze Wiggins. He showed great flashes last year. He was playing with nobody else. Sure, he has things to work on. He's not LeBron, he's not offensively gifted like Durant. Im happier to have him than a pure offensive player like carmelo. He definitely has the all around game to become a Jimmy Butler or Paul George. That's perfectly fine by me. He doesn't have to turn out to be the #1 player in the league.

Yeah, I probably do over-analyze Wiggins. But if anyone deserves it, it's him!

(plus it generates a lot of activity among our little community here!)

((Oh, and Shabazz didn't get much of an opportunity as a rookie))

(((and yes, I agree that Butler/George seems like a reasonable trajectory for Wiggins)))