Minnesota Sports Forum

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T890zCRYn0g

by bballbreakdown

He mentions Kat's base but in my opinion doesn't recognize that as the biggest problem with his D. His footwork isn't good and he is poor at the pick and roll, but if he could just hold his ground better he wouldn't be nearly as bad. Other than the weak base, most of his problems are fixable. Wig's biggest problem is simple. He just doesn't focus and expend enough effort. He has all the tools. You would think a guy who stands around as much as he does on offense (not all his fault), would have the energy reserve to turn up the intensity on D. I don't know if he has an attention deficit disorder, or if he's always gotten by without much effort due to his gifts. But a coach ought to be able to get him to dig in and compete harder. I'd play him in shorter shifts - no more than 6 minutes - until he can prove he can stay engaged for longer periods. Make him go 100% for as long as he can, and then get him out of there. The one thing i totally agree with on the video is that all defensive stats suck. They are mostly a waste of time. As he demonstrates, you can easily see who can play D and who can't.

Thanks for posting this video.

Cool I like hearing your input.

On a recent Dunc'd On podcast Dylan Murphy from Basketball dictionary broke down a lot of NBA defensive concepts. Basically he said every NBA defense is trying to keep the offense out the middle of the flor and every NBAteam is trying to get to the middle of the floor. This is probably basic stuff to some here but it's something I am going to pay more attention to now.

One thing that seems to have improved with Wiggins is holding up in post possessions. He seems stronger and holds his own there and gets up better contests.

CoolBreeze44 wrote:He mentions Kat's base but in my opinion doesn't recognize that as the biggest problem with his D. His footwork isn't good and he is poor at the pick and roll, but if he could just hold his ground better he wouldn't be nearly as bad. Other than the weak base, most of his problems are fixable. Wig's biggest problem is simple. He just doesn't focus and expend enough effort. He has all the tools. You would think a guy who stands around as much as he does on offense (not all his fault), would have the energy reserve to turn up the intensity on D. I don't know if he has an attention deficit disorder, or if he's always gotten by without much effort due to his gifts. But a coach ought to be able to get him to dig in and compete harder. I'd play him in shorter shifts - no more than 6 minutes - until he can prove he can stay engaged for longer periods. Make him go 100% for as long as he can, and then get him out of there. The one thing i totally agree with on the video is that all defensive stats suck. They are mostly a waste of time. As he demonstrates, you can easily see who can play D and who can't.

Good analysis, Cool. I agree that most of KAT's problems are fixable in that they are things he simply needs to learn and practice. Wiggins is a bit more problematic because it's hard to learn focus and effort. Honestly, maybe it is ADD. I like your ideal of shorter shifts for him.