OT: Andrew Wiggins Discussion Thread

[LLJ]

I think people used to pick on Vince' handles sometimes because Vince had a tendency to dribble the ball off his rather large feet, and his footwork wasn't as good as a Kobe or TMac's. But his handles were more than good enough for a star swingman from the very start.

[Matty]

He's a 2/3 hybrid. He will likely be able to play both at the NBA level. Needs to upgrade his handles for the 2 though, but I think like Vince did, he can as well.

Vince's handles were better coming out of college. I think his handles were underrated, actually, in retrospect. He already showed more than enough ability to get the ball out on the perimeter and get to the basket on his own in his rookie year. He didn't need people to set him up for baskets. That IMO is the main purpose of having good handles for a swingman.

I think Wiggins' handles might be better than DD's, though. So if he follows a similar work ethic and curve, he should have slightly better handles than current DD at least.

Wiggins as a 19 years handles the ball better than Derozans and can attack from either side of a screen, Demar is limited in that regard. I think once he gets to NBA, Wiggins handles will eventually be as good as Paul George if not better.

[LLJ]

Paul George has some PG like skills which he gained when he was very young. I don't think Wiggins has that. So no, I don't think his handles will be "as good or better" than Paul George's. PG can score and pass very well while on the move. I don't foresee Wiggins doing those things quite as well, although I have to say Wiggins' passing might be better than I thought.

[MikeM]

Skill development is really hard to predict. T-Mac was an energy guy for us and in a year or two with ORL he was a point forward. His handle and range exploded.

I think Wiggins is suffering from making his scoring look easier than it is. Against COL he took one dribble outside the 3 point line and finished at the rim *effortlessly* without taking another dribble inside the arc and there were 2 defenders between him and the basket. But it looked so easy that no one talks about it.

But you see Parker take 20 dribbles and make 5, 6, 7 fakes to score and people fawn over him.

[Local_NG_Idiot]

This is a DWade move

the difference between him and DWade is that DWade has never taken his last dribble at the 3 point line to finish at the rim. That is some serious length and athleticism to be able to pull that type of move off from where he started it.

He is going to be an open court nightmare for teams to attempt to stop at the NBA level.

[OakleyDokely]

I WANT WIGGINS

[Pooh_Jeter]

He certainly doesn't have the offensive polish that Parker and a couple other prospects have, but it's pretty obvious why everyone thinks he has the highest upside in the draft. The T-Mac and Paul George comparisons look to be pretty accurate.

His skills as of now translate better to the NBA game than the college game. Despite the barrage of 3's he made last night he isn't a knockdown shooter. Kansas doesn't have great outside shooting or guard play at the moment so his space to operate is further limited. He doesn't have an amazing array of off the dribble moves yet, but you can see the foundation there. In the NBA where he will be able to operate 1 on 1 with a lot more space you can tell he will be lethal.

I liked down the stretch where he became more aggressive in looking for his offence, I hope to see more of that as the college season progresses. Doesn't make sense not to be super aggressive when the rest of the team is struggling.

[Kabatnaz]

I think that fans were able to see what the scouts have seen in the practice gym or from watching this guy religiously. What was important about the Florida game is that he almost took that game over and showed he has the ability to do just that.

This is just the tip of the iceberg.

Now teams can't cheat off him and that opens he offense wide open.


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[Undefeated]

Wiggins' problem isn't his handles it's his inability to dribble low when he drives which is where most of his turnovers are coming from. He might not be able to dance with a series of dazzling combo moves or a ball handling savant putting his defender on skates, but it doesn't mean he doesn't have a handle. He can split ball screens when he sees the defense soft hedge and if they blitz he'll take a step back dribble before initiating his attack. He's good at reacting to the defense with his handles. Besides that, I want to see him develop some sort of hesitation move to get the defense to freeze. That way he won't get stripped when he drives.

[DG88]

Highlights from last nights game
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MCSvfRfRwo[/youtube]

[TheLastTimeLord]

That move where he picked up his dribble at the three point line and did the nice lay in was something special

[TheLastTimeLord]

Those were some DEEP threes

[LLJ]

Wiggins' vertical allows him to get better looks from range than lesser athletes. I call them "Vince Carter Threes" where these LONG threes look bad for players other than freakishly athletic ones like them that can rise up and shoot over defenders from range.

[fredericklove]

That step back J is looking very deadly and quick.

[curryking3]

Bona fide super star right there...

Tank for Wiggins! TWO!

[Clementine9]

I think that fans were able to see what the scouts have seen in the practice gym or from watching this guy religiously. What was important about the Florida game is that he almost took that game over and showed he has the ability to do just that.

This is just the tip of the iceberg.

Now teams can't cheat off him and that opens he offense wide open.

I have two things to say related to this! The first is that I can't believe people were saying he looked like the second, third, or fourth best guy on the team in practice. This was journalists who were saying this as part of the whole "he just floats" talking point nonsense. The second thing I want to say is that this is the first time I've seen him take over a game like that (in College) and I'm keeping the recording of this game saved just in case he takes off from here on out and we can look back on this Florida game and say this is where he found his identity with this Kansas team.

And just to elaborate on "he just floats"- people keep saying this but I think it's being made out as more of a problem than it actually is. He's a team player and wants to buy into the system rather than assume he's the best and dominate the ball all game. The Kansas system up until the last couple games has been to move the ball a lot and see who has the best scoring opportunity and go to whoever shows the first hot hand. It's not a bad strategy at all but it certainly isn't one that shows off superstar talent because it doesn't focus on it. In the last couple games the ball has started to go to Wiggins whenever the offense is in a tight spot. You can see they want him to score and that he's more than able and willing to take over the game on that end. He just needs the green light.

The floating talk has gotten so bad the announcers last night kept accusing him of it when Kansas was playing against a zone and the wings were just swinging it back and forth. In the end Wiggins was the only one who did a decent job attacking it, but accusing a wing of floating against a zone is kind of ridiculous. People just want to see him stand out at every second and instead he plays smart and within the offensive system.

[dj-Sequence]

He's got game but I worry about his motor.
He disappears at times and that concerns me.
With what we need is a sure fire pick to turn this ship around!
I am not looking for 1-2 highlights... I am looking for consistency
and domination!
I need to see some growth in the last half and the tourney for me
to be convinced of the hype!
It is my hope that he does so that when we get this years first pick it is without question (Wiggins #1) and we can pull in some decent free agents or trades to take on quality with the salary. We then will be on the right course!

[TheDunc]

He's got game but I worry about his motor.
He disappears at times and that concerns me.
With what we need is a sure fire pick to turn this ship around!
I am not looking for 1-2 highlights... I am looking for consistency
and domination!
I need to see some growth in the last half and the tourney for me
to be convinced of the hype!
It is my hope that he does so that when we get this years first pick it is without question (Wiggins #1) and we can pull in some decent free agents or trades to take on quality with the salary. We then will be on the right course!

People worried about Drummonds motor in college and look at him now.

[Hendrix]

He's a 2/3 hybrid. He will likely be able to play both at the NBA level. Needs to upgrade his handles for the 2 though, but I think like Vince did, he can as well.

Vince's handles were better coming out of college. I think his handles were underrated, actually, in retrospect. He already showed more than enough ability to get the ball out on the perimeter and get to the basket on his own in his rookie year. He didn't need people to set him up for baskets. That IMO is the main purpose of having good handles for a swingman.

I think Wiggins' handles might be better than DD's, though. So if he follows a similar work ethic and curve, he should have slightly better handles than current DD at least.

Vince was 22 y/o though, where Wiggins is 18. Tbh, Vince had better handles, but I think most of the reason he was capable of getting to the basket was due to an explosive first step, and great ability to finish at the rim, not so much handles. To me, Wiggins is never going to be an elite ball handler, but he can have similar handles, similar first step explosion, and similar finishing ability.

18 year old Wiggins handles blow 18 year old Derozan's handles out of the water imho. In college it was very rare to see Derozan take more than 1 or 2 dribble, and he looked like a robot when he did. Wiggins actually looks fluid when he dribbles. DD's come a long ways since his frosh college year, and if Wiggins were to follow a similar work ethic and curve, he would be waaaay ahead of Derozan in terms of handles.

[tdotboyy]

Today

vs New Mexico
7:00 PM