Minnesota Sports Forum

Camden wrote:Oh, boy. This whole story of Saunders benching Wiggins is being blown out of proportion already. Seems like we could use a dose of reality.

Wiggins wasn't benched for the issues that usually ail him. For those that have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm referring to his usual poor shot selection, lackadaisical defense, and poor overall energy output. The former of which -- shot selection -- had been a point of emphasis all summer long that everyone except Wiggins had adjusted to prior to last night.

No, Wiggins was benched because of back-to-back inexplicable turnovers during a stretch of play where the entire unit on the floor had already been struggling. These turnovers, if you recall, were where Wiggins lost his dribble at the free throw line (left-hand dribble is nonexistent) and the much worse turnover where he just threw the ball out of bounds in transition. He also committed a foul prior to coming out of the game.

Getting Wiggins out and replacing him with Okogie was just as much about trying to inject energy and a spark in the game as it was a disciplinary move.

I see on Twitter it's already being spun into Saunders being a coach that is capable of holding players accountable, but the fact of the matter is that there was more involved with that decision than keeping Wiggins on a leash.

It was the right move by Saunders, but the narrative is starting to ignore game script and take on a new story within itself.

lipoli390 wrote:

Camden wrote:Oh, boy. This whole story of Saunders benching Wiggins is being blown out of proportion already. Seems like we could use a dose of reality.

Wiggins wasn't benched for the issues that usually ail him. For those that have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm referring to his usual poor shot selection, lackadaisical defense, and poor overall energy output. The former of which -- shot selection -- had been a point of emphasis all summer long that everyone except Wiggins had adjusted to prior to last night.

No, Wiggins was benched because of back-to-back inexplicable turnovers during a stretch of play where the entire unit on the floor had already been struggling. These turnovers, if you recall, were where Wiggins lost his dribble at the free throw line (left-hand dribble is nonexistent) and the much worse turnover where he just threw the ball out of bounds in transition. He also committed a foul prior to coming out of the game.

Getting Wiggins out and replacing him with Okogie was just as much about trying to inject energy and a spark in the game as it was a disciplinary move.

I see on Twitter it's already being spun into Saunders being a coach that is capable of holding players accountable, but the fact of the matter is that there was more involved with that decision than keeping Wiggins on a leash.

It was the right move by Saunders, but the narrative is starting to ignore game script and take on a new story within itself.

The narrative might be a bit exaggerated, but I don't think it's quite as bad as you suggest. In his point-game interview, Ryan said he sat Wiggins because he was falling into bad habits. I took that to include poor shot selection as well as ill-advised drives into traffic where Andrew is likely to turn the ball over with his poor ball-handling. The bad habits might also include Andrew's poor defensive play on Duncan Robinson in the 3rd when he fell for a weak shot fake and ran at him only to get blown by for a layup. Wiggins acknowledged a conversation on the bench in which Ryan was clearly holding him accountable.

I've never been on the Ryan as head coach bandwagon and it's way too early to adequately assess his head coaching performance to date. But he should get credit for holding Wiggins accountable last night. And I do like the better speed, pace and ball movement we've seen from the Wolves so far this season. I also like that we're taking a lot more threes and that players are shooting with more confidence. At some point, it's up to Rosas to create a roster that can actually hit threes. :).

Speaking of 3-point shooting, I've seen enough to declare that you were absolutely right about Tyler Herro. And as you pointed out last June, he's more than a 3-point shooter.