Minny is too cold dlo @ wolves

[Wolvesfan21]

I miss Thibs.

[Wolvesfan21]

Kamikaze Okogie!

I love his aggressiveness, except when he goes 1 on 3 to the rim, got to pass it or pull it back out, because rarely does that end up good.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Last night was one of the most impressive games I've ever seen from Andrew Wiggins. Granted, the opponent was who it was (not very good), and the circumstances of Minnesota's point guard situation forced him to have to handle the ball more than ever, but it goes back to what I said in the last game thread -- it is the way in which he's playing that is making the difference. Had Wiggins scored 40 last night primarily by hoisting and making mid-range jumpers, I would not be talking about him the same way. You might read that and be asking yourself why and the reason I say that is because last night's version of Wiggins is repeatable. That player's shot selection and determination to attack and get to the hoop is repeatable. His success is more sustainable if he continues to play that way. If he regresses back into the volume scorer that settles for 18-20 foot jumpers, then he'll have disappointed us all once again.

I really hope that doesn't happen, though. This could just be one of those hot stretches for Wiggins, or he could finally be "getting it." Something just feels like it could different from just watching him. It's like he's just now understanding that he can get to the rim whenever he wants to. If the lightbulb has indeed gone off, that is the single-most significant storyline of this season and ultimately flips Minnesota's future from dim to bright once again.

For those that missed his performance, here are just some of his individual highlights: [youtube]https://youtu.be/inruSZcYlhA[/youtube]

[thedoper]

The shots for Wiggins start going in because of an even more aggressive approach about his shot selection and people stop talking about his motor. Strange. Those were some high motor layups and floaters last night i guess.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

The shots for Wiggins start going in because of an even more aggressive approach about his shot selection and people stop talking about his motor. Strange. Those were some high motor layups and floaters last night i guess.

To be fair, he still has his moments where he takes plays off that he shouldn't. Jim Pete was even going to highlight one specifically in the Memphis game before the video crew played the wrong clip. And while his rebounding looks to be the same as ever, he's actually having a career year statistically (small sample size, of course) on the glass. That's almost entirely due to his eight and six rebound games, admittedly, but it's something.

Lack of hustle stats are also more stomachable when the player in question is devoting that energy to efficient scoring and playmaking -- something we don't often see from Wiggins, which means he should be impacting the game in other areas to compensate. I think that was always the gripe to begin with.

[crazy-canuck [enjin:18955461]]

Is handle something he can sustain. I didn't notice it as much, but when you watch the highlights, he's got the ball on a yoyo.

Wiggs is the king of wasted dribbles, but now he uses it to create space and move north and south.

[mjs34]

Is handle something he can sustain. I didn't notice it as much, but when you watch the highlights, he's got the ball on a yoyo.

Wiggs is the king of wasted dribbles, but now he uses it to create space and move north and south.

I noticed the same thing last night. He was actually dribbling between his legs with a defender pressed up on him. Another notable improvement was finishing with his left hand. He has clearly worked on his game, but I really didn't notice the improvement until last night. Maybe it was a confidence thing, but he looked like a different player offensively. I don't expect 40 pts every night, but as Cam said, the way he scored is repeatable.

[thedoper]

The shots for Wiggins start going in because of an even more aggressive approach about his shot selection and people stop talking about his motor. Strange. Those were some high motor layups and floaters last night i guess.

To be fair, he still has his moments where he takes plays off that he shouldn't. Jim Pete was even going to highlight one specifically in the Memphis game before the video crew played the wrong clip. And while his rebounding looks to be the same as ever, he's actually having a career year statistically (small sample size, of course) on the glass. That's almost entirely due to his eight and six rebound games, admittedly, but it's something.

Lack of hustle stats are also more stomachable when the player in question is devoting that energy to efficient scoring and playmaking -- something we don't often see from Wiggins, which means he should be impacting the game in other areas to compensate. I think that was always the gripe to begin with.

So your gripe was not that Wiggins didnt have a motor, but that he was using it incorrectly? This is getting quite nuanced now that the shots are going in.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

The shots for Wiggins start going in because of an even more aggressive approach about his shot selection and people stop talking about his motor. Strange. Those were some high motor layups and floaters last night i guess.

To be fair, he still has his moments where he takes plays off that he shouldn't. Jim Pete was even going to highlight one specifically in the Memphis game before the video crew played the wrong clip. And while his rebounding looks to be the same as ever, he's actually having a career year statistically (small sample size, of course) on the glass. That's almost entirely due to his eight and six rebound games, admittedly, but it's something.

Lack of hustle stats are also more stomachable when the player in question is devoting that energy to efficient scoring and playmaking -- something we don't often see from Wiggins, which means he should be impacting the game in other areas to compensate. I think that was always the gripe to begin with.

So your gripe was not that Wiggins didnt have a motor, but that he was using it incorrectly? This is getting quite nuanced now that the shots are going in.

No, my gripes with Wiggins have been quite consistent. What I'm expressing to you is that deficiencies in a player's game are easier to accept, or more stomachable, if he is excelling in other areas of the game. That does not mean that the deficiencies were not real or aren't still real -- similar to Wiggins still having plays that he takes off.

Fans lessening their criticism on Wiggins' motor because he's scoring at a significantly higher efficiency level is exactly the same as fans being lenient about Kevin Love's defense because he was an elite scorer and rebounder. Or Steph Curry's defense being ignored because he's the greatest shooter of all-time. Or Ricky Rubio's jumper because he's a good facilitator and defender. The list goes on and on.

[BloopOracle]

His floater game has changed everything at the rim, before it was spin move or euro-step every single time. A huge part is obviously our coaching staff and front office trying to phase out the mid-range game and making him drive more to begin with, but he has to be oozing confidence knowing that teams are trying to meet him at the rim to stop his old moves and he can just pull up for the 8-10 floater.