Minnesota Sports Forum

khans2k5 wrote:

CoolBreeze44 wrote:

khans2k5 wrote:

CoolBreeze44 wrote:I have some advice for the next time someone feels the need to denigrate Andrew Wiggins:

Just Don't. It was surprising at first, not it's just annoying. We have much bigger issues.

I remember the good ole days when I would get bitched out for posting something like this to control the content on the board. If you don't like something, you don't have to read it. Simple as that.

I know - I practice that on a great deal of your stuff.

But I've only been posting for your approval. What will I do now that I know King Cool doesn't read my stuff?

khans2k5 wrote:

CoolBreeze44 wrote:

khans2k5 wrote:

CoolBreeze44 wrote:I have some advice for the next time someone feels the need to denigrate Andrew Wiggins:

Just Don't. It was surprising at first, not it's just annoying. We have much bigger issues.

I remember the good ole days when I would get bitched out for posting something like this to control the content on the board. If you don't like something, you don't have to read it. Simple as that.

I know - I practice that on a great deal of your stuff.

But I've only been posting for your approval. What will I do now that I know King Cool doesn't read my stuff?

I don't know, probably obsess over it.

I don't see why a poster can't bring up reasons to support the predictions they mentioned. Everybody on this board really likes Wiggins. There are no Wiggins haters.

Here are a couple thoughts to consider.

You can get fouled playing off the ball. If you cut and attack the basket which Wiggins does when he gets the ball there is a decent chance of getting fouled.

Wiggins was scoring 20ppg playing 40mpg. Take those stats down by 10% with him ONLY playing say 36mpg and it's a decent decrease.

LST is very positive about every player on this team where he basically has a rotation of double digit scorers which is really rate to see on any NBA team. I get his premise of a lot of scoring players though and I think it's an interesting one to consider. I think Rubio is more likely to score 9ppg than 12 and if guys really are putting the ball in the basket and he is directing all that somewhat playing out like LST has said it could be perfectly fine.

I've enjoyed this thread more than the typical prediction thread for some reason. :)

CoolBreeze44 wrote:LST, when I say denigrating him I mean calling him a below average player. There are plenty of examples of that in this thread.

As far as your comment on his scoring average, I get your premise, but look at his monthly scoring averages last season. I just can't see him suddenly reversing trend and going backwards. He's going to be our best player in my opinion, and I just think he will get a ton of shots and improve as a total player from last year.

I agree that he will probably be our best player. Rubio could be our most important, but Wiggins should be our best. I also agree that we will see a big improvement in him this year, offensively and defensively. Where I disagree with most of the posters in this thread is that I think both Wiggins' minutes and shots will be down this year. This was a typical box score in some of those late-season games when we only had 7-8 players:

Wiggins 22 points
LaVine 18
Bud 15
Dieng 10
Brown 8
Payne 8
Hamilton 6
Kilpatrick 6 for 93 points

But this year, he shouldn't have to play 40 minutes most nights, and our scoring should look more like this:

Martin: 18
Wiggins:15 points
Shabazz: 12
Pek: 10
LaVine: 10
Towns: 8
Rubio: 8
Dieng: 6
KG: 6
Back up PF: 6
Miller : 4 For 103 points.

With Wiggins and Martin back and demanding their shots and other guys healthy, there simply shouldn't be 20 shots available to Wiggins. But his looks should be better and his efficiency better. And the team should be much better with so many potential scorers. I would argue that every player in my 2015-6 box score thinks their point total should be much higher, and most of them have averaged more during their careers. But that's the beauty of the Wolves potential depth this year.

There are just going to be a lot more guys who want the ball this year than last, and more options for Flip to keep the minutes down.

Wiggins Per Game Free Throw Attempt averages by Month:
Oct - 2.5
Nov - 3.8
Dec - 4.9
Jan - 4.8
Feb - 5.4
Mar - 7.2
Apr - 10.4

That's a nice trend. Last year's leaders in Free Throw Attempts:

1.) Harden - 824
2.) Westbrook - 654
3.) Cousins - 541
4.) LeBron - 528
5.) D Jordan - 471
6.) Wiggins - 466

Not bad for a 19 year old rookie. If that continues (and I assume it should) he's gonna be around 20 pts/night average - no problem.

CoolBreeze44 wrote:I have some advice for the next time someone feels the need to denigrate Andrew Wiggins:

Just Don't. It was surprising at first, now it's just annoying. We have much bigger issues.

LOL, Cool, don't be such a sensitive sally when it comes to our young Pups. Your feelings might be hurt, but I'm pretty sure Andrew is doing just fine. The two threads on Wiggins have generated 50+ responses with a lot of robust and respectful discussion in what is usually a dead time of year. I don't think your "advice" is needed in this case.

Q12543 wrote:

CoolBreeze44 wrote:I have some advice for the next time someone feels the need to denigrate Andrew Wiggins:

Just Don't. It was surprising at first, now it's just annoying. We have much bigger issues.

LOL, Cool, don't be such a sensitive sally when it comes to our young Pups. Your feelings might be hurt, but I'm pretty sure Andrew is doing just fine. The two threads on Wiggins have generated 50+ responses with a lot of robust and respectful discussion in what is usually a dead time of year. I don't think your "advice" is needed in this case.

No sage advice from the old ball coach? I guess I'm no Dr. Phil.

If Wiggins doesn't dominate the All Star game this year, I'll be outraged.

Carlos Danger wrote:Wiggins Per Game Free Throw Attempt averages by Month:
Oct - 2.5
Nov - 3.8
Dec - 4.9
Jan - 4.8
Feb - 5.4
Mar - 7.2
Apr - 10.4

That's a nice trend. Last year's leaders in Free Throw Attempts:

1.) Harden - 824
2.) Westbrook - 654
3.) Cousins - 541
4.) LeBron - 528
5.) D Jordan - 471
6.) Wiggins - 466

Not bad for a 19 year old rookie. If that continues (and I assume it should) he's gonna be around 20 pts/night average - no problem.

I'm pretty sure your numbers must be off Carlos ~

I was called a homer by Abe for suggesting exactly that type of increase. :o

Carlos Danger wrote:Wiggins Per Game Free Throw Attempt averages by Month:
Oct - 2.5
Nov - 3.8
Dec - 4.9
Jan - 4.8
Feb - 5.4
Mar - 7.2
Apr - 10.4

That's a nice trend. Last year's leaders in Free Throw Attempts:

1.) Harden - 824
2.) Westbrook - 654
3.) Cousins - 541
4.) LeBron - 528
5.) D Jordan - 471
6.) Wiggins - 466

Not bad for a 19 year old rookie. If that continues (and I assume it should) he's gonna be around 20 pts/night average - no problem.

Great stats, Anthony. I think Wiggins' increased free throw rate was a product of two things...1) learning how to draw fouls in the NBA, and 2) his greatly increased usage rate when all our other scorers got hurt. I think factor one will continue to increase as Wiggins learns the NBA game, but will be offset by a lower usage rate. I think he will still get to the line 5-6 times a game next year, even with a decreaeed usage rate.

longstrangetrip wrote:

Carlos Danger wrote:Wiggins Per Game Free Throw Attempt averages by Month:
Oct - 2.5
Nov - 3.8
Dec - 4.9
Jan - 4.8
Feb - 5.4
Mar - 7.2
Apr - 10.4
.

Great stats, Anthony. I think Wiggins' increased free throw rate was a product of two things...1) learning how to draw fouls in the NBA, and 2) his greatly increased usage rate when all our other scorers got hurt. I think factor one will continue to increase as Wiggins learns the NBA game, but will be offset by a lower usage rate. I think he will still get to the line 5-6 times a game next year, even with a decreaeed usage rate.

LST - you are correct to assume his minutes/usage will probably go down. But will it be a huge drop? Here's his minutes per Game by month (to compare with FTA in original quote)

Oct - 21.0
Nov - 29.9
Dec - 33.9
Jan - 38.4
Feb - 38.7
Mar - 38.9
Apr - 41.1

You can see his MPG stayed pretty consistent the last four months, but his FTA (original quote) went up. So it wasn't strictly a usage issue. From what I recall, he was more aggressive to the basket. I'm hoping that's the Wiggins we'll be seeing to start this year.