Minnesota Sports Forum

Wiggins defense is starting to get noticed in a good way. And we know he's a 20 point scorer. We've also seen him be clutch. He can impact the game in a lot of ways.

CoolBreeze44 wrote:Wiggins defense is starting to get noticed in a good way. And we know he's a 20 point scorer. We've also seen him be clutch. He can impact the game in a lot of ways.

Yes. I'm sure noticing it. And it's been consistently good for a long stretch this season (since the allstar break) after game nearly every minute he's on the court. He's working hard to stay in front of his man and has been pretty successful although he can still improve on it. He's chasing down loose balls, knocking balls loose, intercepting passes and attacking the boards. I really like what we've been seeing from him.

I'm not as positive about Wiggins the 20-point scorer. His scoring has to become far more efficient. Recently, I think his efficiency has improved, but he still has a long way to go in becoming a consistently efficient scorer. To do that, his perimeter shot and free throws need to become more reliable and he needs to significantly improve his 3-point shooting percentage. I think he will, but there's no excuse for his horrific free-throw shooting this season. He has such great shooting mechanics and elevation on his shot. It's a matter of repetition and concentration for him. One positive that has surprised me is his improved floor vision and passing. He's becoming a good passer and I think he'll become a very good one in time.

The things holding him back the most on the offensive end are his relatively bad hands and poor ballhandling. Those can still improve a little, but at this stage I don't see them improving a lot. But he can still be a great offensive player if he improves his perimeter shot AND if the coaching staff makes better use of his talents. As we all know, Wiggins is an incredibly gifted athlete who is also long for his position. His athleticism and long strides can get him to the basket quickly on very few dribbles. He also has remarkable body control while in the air. I still don't understand why Thibs fails to run far more plays through Wiggins cutting to the basket or posting up. I'd also like to see Wiggins spot up for more corner threes, although I've also seen him do that only to be ignored or unseen by Teague.

As you know, I've never been shy about criticizing Wiggins. But I'm pretty excited by what we've seen from him over the past 4-6 weeks. It's frustrating that our head coach and PG fail to play to Andrew's strengths as much as they should.

CoolBreeze44 wrote:Wiggins defense is starting to get noticed in a good way. And we know he's a 20 point scorer. We've also seen him be clutch. He can impact the game in a lot of ways.

Ehh, but can he, really? What is this based off? Because he's not a facilitator. He's not a three-point threat. He's not a threat to get to the line anymore and if he does, he's not making them. He's only recently became an above average defender. He occasionally makes his presence felt on the glass, but it's not often enough considering what his peers do and what his physical profile would suggest he's capable of. And from what we've seen in his career, he's never made a living in transition despite that being an aspect of his game he could excel in.

He's made some legitimate improvements as a defender. I can get behind that, but I think your statement is dubious at best. The Wiggins we know is more one-trick pony than do-it-all wing.

I agree with the others. I can't get behind Wiggins offense especially this season as his TS% and EFG% are just too horrible.

In the end it's about making shots at a high percentage. Plenty of guys have put up "stats" on losing teams. Was Wiggins really that good the last few years when the team itself can't win? Someone will put up points even on bad teams. I consider them empty stats if they don't result in winning OR at the very least scoring efficiently.

CoolBreeze44 wrote:Wiggins defense is starting to get noticed in a good way. And we know he's a 20 point scorer. We've also seen him be clutch. He can impact the game in a lot of ways.

Yeah if the shots start going in on a more consistent basis he's going to finally start reaching that potential. I've loved his D all year but the last month or so he's started to do next level plays both on his switching and help d as well as his man coverage. It's great to see. I think him and butler can really get to the point where we're running an elite D, we just need one more savvy defender for the 2nd unit.

lipoli390 wrote:

CoolBreeze44 wrote:Wiggins defense is starting to get noticed in a good way. And we know he's a 20 point scorer. We've also seen him be clutch. He can impact the game in a lot of ways.

Yes. I'm sure noticing it. And it's been consistently good for a long stretch this season (since the allstar break) after game nearly every minute he's on the court. He's working hard to stay in front of his man and has been pretty successful although he can still improve on it. He's chasing down loose balls, knocking balls loose, intercepting passes and attacking the boards. I really like what we've been seeing from him.

I'm not as positive about Wiggins the 20-point scorer. His scoring has to become far more efficient. Recently, I think his efficiency has improved, but he still has a long way to go in becoming a consistently efficient scorer. To do that, his perimeter shot and free throws need to become more reliable and he needs to significantly improve his 3-point shooting percentage. I think he will, but there's no excuse for his horrific free-throw shooting this season. He has such great shooting mechanics and elevation on his shot. It's a matter of repetition and concentration for him. One positive that has surprised me is his improved floor vision and passing. He's becoming a good passer and I think he'll become a very good one in time.

The things holding him back the most on the offensive end are his relatively bad hands and poor ballhandling. Those can still improve a little, but at this stage I don't see them improving a lot. But he can still be a great offensive player if he improves his perimeter shot AND if the coaching staff makes better use of his talents. As we all know, Wiggins is an incredibly gifted athlete who is also long for his position. His athleticism and long strides can get him to the basket quickly on very few dribbles. He also has remarkable body control while in the air. I still don't understand why Thibs fails to run far more plays through Wiggins cutting to the basket or posting up. I'd also like to see Wiggins spot up for more corner threes, although I've also seen him do that only to be ignored or unseen by Teague.

As you know, I've never been shy about criticizing Wiggins. But I'm pretty excited by what we've seen from him over the past 4-6 weeks. It's frustrating that our head coach and PG fail to play to Andrew's strengths as much as they should.

https://on.nba.com/2H06qdI
Hes been a lot better offensively since all star break. The free throws still suck, but he's shot 38% from 3 with a 54% eFG. If it wasn't for his pre all star super slump he'd be at career highs (minus those fts) instead of his usual averages.

WolvesFan21 wrote:I agree with the others. I can't get behind Wiggins offense especially this season as his TS% and EFG% are just too horrible.

In the end it's about making shots at a high percentage. Plenty of guys have put up "stats" on losing teams. Was Wiggins really that good the last few years when the team itself can't win? Someone will put up points even on bad teams. I consider them empty stats if they don't result in winning OR at the very least scoring efficiently.

I mean to your point Wiggins proved he can be a 3rd option on a possible home court advantage team in the west. And keep a team afloat when you missing your best player.

Of course he needs to continue to get better. But he has at least proved he can be on a winning team

kekgeek1 wrote:

WolvesFan21 wrote:I agree with the others. I can't get behind Wiggins offense especially this season as his TS% and EFG% are just too horrible.

In the end it's about making shots at a high percentage. Plenty of guys have put up "stats" on losing teams. Was Wiggins really that good the last few years when the team itself can't win? Someone will put up points even on bad teams. I consider them empty stats if they don't result in winning OR at the very least scoring efficiently.

I mean to your point Wiggins proved he can be a 3rd option on a possible home court advantage team in the west. And keep a team afloat when you missing your best player.

Of course he needs to continue to get better. But he has at least proved he can be on a winning team

3rd option on a winning team, I hope he isn't just that as a max player. You would hope he is an AllStar player at some point if the Wolves want to beat the Houstons and GSW's.

kekgeek1 wrote:My feelings on Wiggins from britt

"When Andrew Wiggins used to average 20 points a game, his critics complained about his one-dimensional game. Last night he plays wing stopper, gets 4 rb, 3 assists, 3 steals + 2 blocks + is a game-best +6 in 42 minutes and people are ripping his shooting."

the anti-wiggins camp was out in droves last night. Even read a few posts (not here) that jamal defended better and that the mavs went out of their way to attack wiggins in iso.

Britt added this right after that previous tweet.

" Glad everyone had a smug laugh about Wigs stat sheet last night. The greater contextual point about the various non-scoring ways he helped his team win the game sailed right by however--at least for those who actually saw the game."

Feel bad for the kid because i do think he works hard. A lot of minny fans are out for his blood.