The Andrew Wiggins Thread

[Reddy83]

Zach seems a bit forgotten on offense lately.

We're winning! More!!

And Wiggins has always had to carry a much heavier load than LaVine, LaVine is still bad at defense and he is prone to terrible decision making. It is likely that if he had to carry the load as much as Wiggins does, this comparison conversation would not happen.

LaVine’s type of improvement is somewhat easier as he has been able to improve upon already existing strengths, namely shooting ability, attacking the rim in transition, and off-ball shooting. Wiggins, in comparison, has been asked to be the focal point of the offense, either through mid-post isolations, pull-up jumpers from mid-range, and now playmaking duties. Wiggins is not being asked to become a “3-and-D” player akin to Luol Deng. Wiggins is being asked to become a star.

This Lavine camp vs Wiggins camp is so stupid, because Wiggins is by far the superior player. And defensively Lavine hasn't improved since his rookie year, he kinda regressed.

+1...it doesn't seem close to me. I wouldn't trade either of them and am ecstatic to have Zach too, but people claiming Zach is FAR SUPERIOR are being delusional.

[firyGM]

Is Wiggins stronger?

[TheAttckRack]

Wiggins is unstoppable. Those fadeaways are Jordanesque. The stroke from 3 looks smooth as hell. As a scorer, his potential is phenomenal. He's getting to be pretty deadly in endgame scenarios, too. It's gonna be real nice as a Minny fan to have an unstoppable scorer who also happens to be legit clutch.

[GI_Slow]

Think his only major problem on offense is FT shooting, for a guy who is a legit threat attacking the rim and is probably smaller than most forwards in the league (in terms of weight at least), missing free throws is a killer for him, if Drew can improve his FT% and make teams pay for fouling him then his offensive game will open up even more

[breatnach]

Wiggins is the only silver lining to Zach's injury. It's great to see what he looks like at SG with a decent defender (Lance or Rush) next to him.

It probably doesn't bode well for Zach's future with the team, unless he can embrace a Manu role off the bench.

[Klomp]

Wiggins is the only silver lining to Zach's injury. It's great to see what he looks like at SG with a decent defender (Lance or Rush) next to him.

It probably doesn't bode well for Zach's future with the team, unless he can embrace a Manu role off the bench.

I feel like this positional discussion is overblown. Stephenson and Rush don't really change how they are being defended in regards to Wiggins or how they are defending other teams. The best wing defender was usually matching up on AW before and still will be now. Stephenson might take a little defensive pressure off him, but in most cases Andrew will still take the opponent's best wing.

[Killboard]

Wiggins is the only silver lining to Zach's injury. It's great to see what he looks like at SG with a decent defender (Lance or Rush) next to him.

It probably doesn't bode well for Zach's future with the team, unless he can embrace a Manu role off the bench.

I feel like this positional discussion is overblown. Stephenson and Rush don't really change how they are being defended in regards to Wiggins or how they are defending other teams. The best wing defender was usually matching up on AW before and still will be now. Stephenson might take a little defensive pressure off him, but in most cases Andrew will still take the opponent's best wing.

IMO is defense where this could change things a little. Lance has a 6'10 wingspan, Wiggins has 7 or 6'11, so is basically the same, but Stephenson has probably 30 lbs on wiggins and a lower gravity, which make him more suitable to defend the Morris/W.Chandler/etc. In offense, Wiggins is gonna be always defended by the better/bigger wing defender, the only alternative would be pick a 6'10 wing like Isaac who can be a terrible matchup to 6'5 guys.

[Klomp]

IMO is defense where this could change things a little. Lance has a 6'10 wingspan, Wiggins has 7 or 6'11, so is basically the same, but Stephenson has probably 30 lbs on wiggins and a lower gravity, which make him more suitable to defend the Morris/W.Chandler/etc. In offense, Wiggins is gonna be always defended by the better/bigger wing defender, the only alternative would be pick a 6'10 wing like Isaac who can be a terrible matchup to 6'5 guys.

Maybe it was just because of the lineups on the floor, but last game we saw Stephenson guard the offense initator Kyle Lowry. Maybe that would've been different with Rubio or Dunn on the floor instead of Jones, though.

[thinktank]

Maybe it was just because of the lineups on the floor, but last game we saw Stephenson guard the offense initator Kyle Lowry. Maybe that would've been different with Rubio or Dunn on the floor instead of Jones, though.

That was on the last one or two possessions only.

[thinktank]

I feel like this positional discussion is overblown. Stephenson and Rush don't really change how they are being defended in regards to Wiggins or how they are defending other teams. The best wing defender was usually matching up on AW before and still will be now. Stephenson might take a little defensive pressure off him, but in most cases Andrew will still take the opponent's best wing.

If there's anything that's overblown, it's the idea that matchups stay the same all possession, all game, etc.

Newsflash:

There's a lot of switching in basketball.

That's why team defense is so important.

Having Rush or Stephenson next to Wiggins does impact our team defense by making us marginally bigger, stronger, and smarter.

[vagelis]

I expect a big performance tonight from Wiggins, he has an extra motivation against Lebron.
The Cavs will pay a lot of atention tonight in defense on Wiggins.
Let's see if he is ready to lead us in such a difficult game

[vagelis]

Nobody comments in this thread after a 41 points game against Lebron.
Andrew Wiggins is a big time player. He plays better when the ball is hot and he plays better in the big games. I think that this thing characterizes the big players.
He has so many athletical gifts and so many ways to score.
He also seems to be a very clever guy, and he makes the right decisions.
I think a superstar is growing in front of our eyes. He has a lot of things to improve but he is in the right way

[Klomp]

Why do people care who does or doesn't post in an individual thread after a good or bad performance?

He's playing great. But to be honest, I almost expect great performances like that from him, especially against Cleveland.

[TheDominator273]

It was great to see him have a big game on offense while also spending a lot of time on LeBron on defense.

[rugbyrugger23]

Nobody comments in this thread after a 41 points game against Lebron.
Andrew Wiggins is a big time player. He plays better when the ball is hot and he plays better in the big games. I think that this thing characterizes the big players.
He has so many athletical gifts and so many ways to score.
He also seems to be a very clever guy, and he makes the right decisions.
I think a superstar is growing in front of our eyes. He has a lot of things to improve but he is in the right way

I don't think you will find a reasonable person who says Wiggins isn't overly talented, with raw athleticism oozing out almost every pore. He is a Swiss Army knife of tools on offense. Almost everything you stated above should be Wiggins calling card, right?

Where frustrations arise with Wiggins, is consistency (which can be written off to age), ability to deliver something outside of just scoring (his overall well rounded basketball play), and his relatively meager progressional [top end] development curve.

I hate to use an outlier like LBJ last night, he is not human after all, but the example holds true and fresh. His team didn't require him to score in 1st Qtr and into mid 2nd. Not because he was shooting poorly, the game, the flow, whatever it was didn't require it. So what did he do? The overworked 32yo was active, energy guy, doing other things, and had like 7 assists during that time, and quality rebounds (ones TT wasn't actually gobbling up).

Now, I am not saying Wiggins can be LBJ, or like LBJ he has ball in his hands and getting 7 assists is feasible. Rather, what is Wiggins M.O. when he is not scoring? Being game flow dictates or shot not falling.

Could/Should he use his raw athleticism to put his head down and say, "team doesn't need me to score, or my shot isn't falling, but I can impress my will elsewhere." With elsewhere being __________ (fill in the need at the time).

Doing just that with defense comes in flashes, followed by silly defensive mistakes, followed by another flash, followed by blatant lack of defensive effort, followed by another flash.

Combine that with the high expectations that inherently comes with Wiggins, and there you go.

[Klomp]

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Another reminder: He hasn't played a game at age 22 yet. Kevin Love was 25 when he did it.

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[theGreatRC]

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Another reminder: He hasn't played a game at age 22 yet. Kevin Love was 25 when he did it.

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All players are all-star/all NBA guys in their careers, too. I think Wiggins will keep up that trend in the coming years

[Basti]

Spoiler:

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Another reminder: He hasn't played a game at age 22 yet. Kevin Love was 25 when he did it.

[tweet]832094525107625985[/tweet

Wow. That is impressive to see him up there among future hall of famers.

[NewWolvesOrder]

Wiggins thrives when there's less volume scorers around him and he has to take up a bigger scoring load. When he has to share/defer he tends to go into hibernation mode. I noticed that even when Martin was still on the team. I think that's one of the issues of Wiggins/LaVine pairing. Also why adding a high volume scoring PG like Reggie Jackson would be a disaster.

[bwgood77]

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