The Andrew Wiggins Thread

[webc5]

How has wiggins been so far?

1. Defensively is he counted on as a rookie to shut down the other teams best players?

2. How are his handles I heard that was one of his weakness.

[TheZachAttack]

I've seen bits and pieces of Wolves games this season, but saw the whole game today.

Andrew Wiggins thoughts...


The bad is that Andrew Wiggins is not good at beating his man off the dribble and getting to the hoop, his handles need work. But that's about the only negative I can think of, We haven't seen the transition game or the tip ins as much yet, but Wiggins will only get more comfortable and once things slow down a bit watch out. He's also got a couple of spin moves he can add on the post and in the high post. Other than that, like you said, it's catch and shoot or coming off screens, or two dribble rise, two dribble step back, two dribble cross over, unless he has a straight line drive to the rim that is.

I mean he's athletic enough where any jump shot he takes is a relatively open look and can create enough space with those two dribble moves to either side, good catch and shoot ability--from both the corner and off screens, spins both towards the basket either way or step back right away, and tip-ins, and transition game to be a consistent 16ish ppg already once the game has slowed down for him, which it should at some point in his rookie year. I mean the guys best strength is in transition and we haven't even him seem him comfortable there hit, that's a sure sign he's still trying to get comfortable.

I mean the guy should be able to, without much exaggeration, average 8-10 points a game off of tip ins and transition points/alley-hoops alone with his kind of athleticism and Rubio at the helm of the ship.


Although he's not having as much of an impact on the offensive-end in his rookie-year, in terms of volume, he's showing positive things every-game...he just doesn't, yet, seem fully comfortable or adjusted to the speed of the NBA game yet. And to add onto that offensive game, Wiggins already looks like he's a defensive stud.

You can see all of the tools and the athleticism, it feels like Wiggins just has to access it. I compare him to, although very different players who play different positions, Anthony Davis. I remember being under-whelmed by his offensive arsenal, comfortability on offense, etc. early on as a rookie. But, you could see the tools and you were amazed by the couple of jaw dropping plays he would make game. Davis, similiar to Wiggins, was pretty much a stud on the defensive-end from Day-1. His only knock was that he hadn't bulked up yet and grown into his frame enough yet to truly be elite because he could be pushed around and exploited during certain matchups and situations. Wiggins is the same way.

Wiggins will be a stud. The jump shot is there already. The lift is elite. The release is elite. The form is perfect. And the other-world athleticism is as advertised. Which means the tip-ins, the highlight real fast break dunks, and alley-hoops are there. Against smaller defenders, the ability to post them up and exploit that is there. Those are all tools that are already there for Wiggins at the NBA level and as he grows more comfortable will only become more apparent. That alone is enough to be excited about Wiggins, but the defense is going to be as advertised as well.

Give the kid a couple years in an NBA weight program and a 100+ games to figure out what works and doesn't work for him at the NBA level and the types of shots he can get on a consistent basis so he can become confident in them.

All I'm going to say is I'm not going to be the one to bet against him.


Personally, it's pretty hard for me to see him anything below 20 ppg with elite defense consistently. There's just too many tools that can be backed up both with the eyeball test and looking at the numbers.

The biggest problem for Wiggins this season is the fact that the Wolves blend a lot of young guys with Vets like Thad, Brewer, Martin, Pekovic, and Mo Williams who all chuck to a certain extent and are guys who, if they haven't touched the ball in a possession or two, when they do, tend to get tunnel-vision as they "try and get their touches" as the term has been coined. It puts Wiggins in a lot bit of an awkward position because with his lack of handles, he gets a lot his touches through the flow of the game/offense.

It makes matters work that Brewer, Martin, and Thad can't really take their man off the dribble all of the way to the rim at this point in their careers and Mo's tendency to take a lot of long 2's as well and the Wolves waste a lot of possessions with contested mid-range jumpers and long two's.

I would love to see Wiggins shooting 3-4 3's a game and also a few more post-ups. He could easily get 3-4 3's a game through simply the flow of the offense and he's shown a pretty impressive jumper. He's also had a couple of nice spins while posting up a defender and from his scouting report, I think he's got a little bit of a crafty arsenal from the post. He's got that spin-step-back-fade-away to the middle/the baseline spin to the hoop + elite ability to, if he does miss, spring back up and score on the tip, the baseline floater that I've heard about, and the baseline fadeaway.

Instead of waiting until he fully develops and can at all times overpower defenders 1 on 1 to score...why not exploit the strengths.

Give him a 15 shot quota a game minimum. I'm serious.

15 shots opportunities a game isn't even much. I mean if he's...
2-4 3P (6 points)
2-3 transition/alley hoop baskets (4 points)
2-5 step back two's/post ups (4 points)
2-3 post-up opportunities (4 points)
4-6 FTA (4 points)

8-15 total (22 points)

That's 20 points a game right there alone and I've seen no reason to believe that by the end of this season that kind of stat line won't be a common occurrence.


For him to become a franchise talent, I think everyone agrees the ability to take his man off the dribble and get to the rim has to get there.

[C.lupus]

This is a really good article on Wiggy. Too much to quote here but well worth the read.

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-basketball/24805437

[theGreatRC]

This is a really good article on Wiggy. Too much to quote here but well worth the read.

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-basketball/24805437

Best thing ive read Wolves related in a looong time

[TWInsider]

A good article indeed. Interesting part:

"It would be a gigantic, enormous, criminal mistake if he were to bulk up," Thorpe said. "I believe, and I believe over the next 10 years we'll see it more, that's one of the reasons why guys get hurt so much more. Their skeletons are made to hold a certain body type. Bone density is different with every player. There's a combination there of your bones and your muscles that you need to respect. He is this incredible athlete that needs to look like that at all times.
"I think Wiggins is so elite as an athlete, it would be a shame to lose that so he can be stronger. He's going to develop strength anyway over time."
The comparison harkens back to Garnett once again because KG never put on much bulk, but he still grew stronger. It allowed him to take the punishment of playing power forward in the NBA while avoiding costly injuries most of his career. But Wiggins needs to keep that athleticism because it's what separates him from being potentially good and being potentially great.

[Feilong]

Sorry, but i couldn't resist.
You use your own quote as your signature ...

TWInsider wrote:Don't call Wiggings Wiggy. He is supposed to become our superstar. The leader of the pack.
A guy called Wiggy is not going to make that happen. Call him King Wiggins, A-Wolf or whatever.

At least you could write his name right. Wiggings??? Wiggins man, Wiggins.

[C.lupus]

Sorry, i like Wiggy. It's better than the Bounce Brothers. When he actually becomes a superstar I'll call him something different but right now he's a rook and he's Wiggy.

[TWInsider]

Sorry, but i couldn't resist.
You use your own quote as your signature ...

TWInsider wrote:Don't call Wiggings Wiggy. He is supposed to become our superstar. The leader of the pack.
A guy called Wiggy is not going to make that happen. Call him King Wiggins, A-Wolf or whatever.

At least you could write his name right. Wiggings??? Wiggins man, Wiggins.

It was late. But thx, i will correct it.

Sorry, i like Wiggy. It's better than the Bounce Brothers. When he actually becomes a superstar I'll call him something different but right now he's a rook and he's Wiggy.

True. But if it becomes his real nickname, it may stick though. Obviously, it don't have to.

[ace625214]

I started cracking up when I was reading that article and saw Brewer during the baseline drive gif. The plays were like mirror images of each other, and Corey was standing in the far corner with his hands as high as possible on both of them. Classic Brew.

[The J Rocka]

Sorry, i like Wiggy. It's better than the Bounce Brothers. When he actually becomes a superstar I'll call him something different but right now he's a rook and he's Wiggy.

It's okay....I guess. It's embarrassing when I see the "Gettin' Wiggy with it" crap that's been floating around, especially with the team making merchandise with that saying. It's not 1997 anymore.

[Calinks]

This is the kids girlfriend.

He's already won.

[Calinks]

I would be thrilled if Wiggins could develop into a Scottie Pippen. If he could have that all around game... that would be big time.

[southern wolf]

Sorry, but i couldn't resist.
You use your own quote as your signature ...

TWInsider wrote:Don't call Wiggings Wiggy. He is supposed to become our superstar. The leader of the pack.
A guy called Wiggy is not going to make that happen. Call him King Wiggins, A-Wolf or whatever.

At least you could write his name right. Wiggings??? Wiggins man, Wiggins.

He's adopted the classic Australian tradition of adding a 'y' or an 'o' onto a last name to create a nickname. Try it out, you might like it, Longy.

[southern wolf]

This is the kids girlfriend.

He's already won.

Damn. Kansas cheerleader by the looks of it.

[Klomp]

Its a Minnesota good ol' boys thing...Gardy, Moly, Zygi, Ricky, Teddy, Wiggy

[C.lupus]

Basti, Loopy, Klompy...

[Merc_Porto]

Wiggins earn the lead today for ROY. I think and hope.

Parker 1° on the list hasn't be better.

[AJ Valliant]

Its a Minnesota good ol' boys thing...Gardy, Moly, Zygi, Ricky, Teddy, Wiggy

That's every Junior hockey player in Toronto as well. I prefer Ender, but I'm sure he'd be entirely comfortable with that sort of nickname.

[Killboard]

Stats vs sacramento

41 min
9/22 fg
2/4 3pt
9/10 ft
5 reb
2 ast
4 stk
1 blk
1 foul
1 TO
29 points

1) He forced shots. He forced the offense. He was asked to do that by gameplan decision. Im happy to see how he manage this role. He was the main force in a contested match where 4 starters were out and being part of a team that is not good at all moving the ball.

2) He was great getting to the rim. He is not great at ball handling and breking knees, but is not very far away of do it. forcing the offense and playing 41 min he only had 1 turnover. He was very balanced on the air to get the calls.

3) He put an all around effort. His match up, rudy Gay was 5/12 and 3 FT for 14 in 36 min. He manage to be disruptive on the defensive end with 4 steals in first half.

In the end i think the future looks bright. The things are not all good this season with all the injury problems, but sometimes bad things can become a good thing at the end of the road. I like the idea of wiggins being forced to be the main offensive way. Maybe he is not always efective, but i like the idea of let his fangs get out, cause he fights hard in the otherside of the floor as well, he will not be only a chucker if he is failing shots.

[Murphs56]

Wiggins earn the lead today for ROY. I think and hope.

Parker 1° on the list hasn't be better.

I really think they have been equals thus far and probably will finish the year as such. If that's the case, unfortunately, I think the ROY honors will go to Parker because his team is going to be better. However, long term, I whole heartedly believe Wiggins will be the better pro. He can develop everything that Parker has over him now, but Parker can't learn the athletic gifts that Wiggins has