Wiggins: "There's not 100 players better than me"

[Calinks]

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[shangrila]

Napier is talented enough, but it's not the best way they could use him. He looks best leading from point and can play PG when Wiggins is off the court. We have to also put Wiggins to his best use if winning is the goal. If they go Point Wiggins then he's the PG. They need to be more deliberate about what they are doing. Why use a PG out of position when Wiggins is Point? Someone please tell me.

Just because he's not dominating the ball doesn't mean he's "out of position". Napier himself has had plenty of experience playing alongside other ball dominant players including Russell in Brooklyn and Lillard in Portland, so he should have no issues being effective in that role.

Your suggestion that he can "take the pressure off drew as a secondary ball handler" is the first reasoning I've heard for it. But I just don't accept it because Wiggins will defer to him at times. Heap all the pressure on Wiggins back. Demand he becomes a ball handler when needed. We've seen it. It's often hiding but it's there. But he's leaning on others part of the time, and playing a different role the other half. Take the other PGs out and give it all to Wiggs. Let him run with it.

What you're describing is a problem with Wiggins himself and simply getting rid of anyone else that can competently run a team seems like a foolish answer to it, especially when Wiggins could just as easily bring the ball down, give it to Towns in the post and then float around the perimeter, leading to the same effect. That passivity is what we have to deal with.

And as of right now our spacing can't afford to have Napier not playing with Wiggins. We already start Culver and he's unreliable from distance anyway, Okogie is Brewer all over again, Nowell hasn't translated and Crabbe has continued his down year so far.

An additional Wing playing the correct position is the wiser move to play with Wiggins. They hopefully have the better shooting skills and ability to cut and finsih at the rim. If we don't have talented enough shooting guard or forward than that is Rosas job to get one playing here somehow. I think they do in Culver now, and if not then get Nowell up here. For Wiggins on point, it means no more guessing for him because it's all coming through him now. It works. Let's stop hiding from it. It also works with Towns. It doesn't work for the other PGs, so take them out. Play them when Wiggins isn't. Napier is pretty talented. Sure he's a little streaky, but his streakiness you are seeing goes tit for tat with what we are asking him to do. Let him be a leading PG for the bench crew. Let Wiggins handle point with the starters. It's the best fit for who we have, I'm very confident in that now after all these games and years of watching Wiggins/Towns now. That's my two cents anyway.

I agree with running the ball through Wiggins for now, there's enough evidence to support it and at this point I don't see what we'd have to lose anyway. I don't agree that we need to have him as the sole ball handler to do it. Maybe you're right and that's the only way you can get through the passivity, but I just don't think it's healthy. Teams will adjust so having more options, such as another ball handler, isn't a bad thing. It just needs to be done right.

[Jedzz]

Napier is talented enough, but it's not the best way they could use him. He looks best leading from point and can play PG when Wiggins is off the court. We have to also put Wiggins to his best use if winning is the goal. If they go Point Wiggins then he's the PG. They need to be more deliberate about what they are doing. Why use a PG out of position when Wiggins is Point? Someone please tell me.

Just because he's not dominating the ball doesn't mean he's "out of position". Napier himself has had plenty of experience playing alongside other ball dominant players including Russell in Brooklyn and Lillard in Portland, so he should have no issues being effective in that role.

Your suggestion that he can "take the pressure off drew as a secondary ball handler" is the first reasoning I've heard for it. But I just don't accept it because Wiggins will defer to him at times. Heap all the pressure on Wiggins back. Demand he becomes a ball handler when needed. We've seen it. It's often hiding but it's there. But he's leaning on others part of the time, and playing a different role the other half. Take the other PGs out and give it all to Wiggs. Let him run with it.

What you're describing is a problem with Wiggins himself and simply getting rid of anyone else that can competently run a team seems like a foolish answer to it, especially when Wiggins could just as easily bring the ball down, give it to Towns in the post and then float around the perimeter, leading to the same effect. That passivity is what we have to deal with.

And as of right now our spacing can't afford to have Napier not playing with Wiggins. We already start Culver and he's unreliable from distance anyway, Okogie is Brewer all over again, Nowell hasn't translated and Crabbe has continued his down year so far.

An additional Wing playing the correct position is the wiser move to play with Wiggins. They hopefully have the better shooting skills and ability to cut and finsih at the rim. If we don't have talented enough shooting guard or forward than that is Rosas job to get one playing here somehow. I think they do in Culver now, and if not then get Nowell up here. For Wiggins on point, it means no more guessing for him because it's all coming through him now. It works. Let's stop hiding from it. It also works with Towns. It doesn't work for the other PGs, so take them out. Play them when Wiggins isn't. Napier is pretty talented. Sure he's a little streaky, but his streakiness you are seeing goes tit for tat with what we are asking him to do. Let him be a leading PG for the bench crew. Let Wiggins handle point with the starters. It's the best fit for who we have, I'm very confident in that now after all these games and years of watching Wiggins/Towns now. That's my two cents anyway.

I agree with running the ball through Wiggins for now, there's enough evidence to support it and at this point I don't see what we'd have to lose anyway. I don't agree that we need to have him as the sole ball handler to do it. Maybe you're right and that's the only way you can get through the passivity, but I just don't think it's healthy. Teams will adjust so having more options, such as another ball handler, isn't a bad thing. It just needs to be done right.

For now? But not long term? Because why?

We have Wiggins signed long term. So a long term answer is needed. Put him in the best position to get the most out of him. That just happens to work just fine with Towns. So what is the problem?

I can only lead you to water. You must drink of it yourself or not. What you suggest is not wrong, but it's not the best for all of them.

[shangrila]

For now? But not long term? Because why?

For now because there's no guarantee this is a long term answer. We're talking about a 36 game sample size, if that, compared to 400 over the rest of his career.

If this can be the new Wiggins, great. Run with it. But I need to see more before I can overlook the last 5-6 years of his career.

We have Wiggins signed long term. So a long term answer is needed. Put him in the best position to get the most out of him. That just happens to work just fine with Towns. So what is the problem?

What IS the problem? I basically agreed with you, I'm just not ready to lock it in as the future of the team.

I can only lead you to water. You must drink of it yourself or not. What you suggest is not wrong, but it's not the best for all of them.

I don't know if English is a second language for you and this has just been lost in translation but this line is incredibly pretentious. In case that isn't the situation, let me just make clear that your opinion isn't some profound nugget of wisdom. It's just an opinion, no more or less valid than anyone else's.

[TheProdigy]

For now? But not long term? Because why?

For now because there's no guarantee this is a long term answer. We're talking about a 36 game sample size, if that, compared to 400 over the rest of his career.

If this can be the new Wiggins, great. Run with it. But I need to see more before I can overlook the last 5-6 years of his career.

We have Wiggins signed long term. So a long term answer is needed. Put him in the best position to get the most out of him. That just happens to work just fine with Towns. So what is the problem?

What IS the problem? I basically agreed with you, I'm just not ready to lock it in as the future of the team.

I can only lead you to water. You must drink of it yourself or not. What you suggest is not wrong, but it's not the best for all of them.

I don't know if English is a second language for you and this has just been lost in translation but this line is incredibly pretentious. In case that isn't the situation, let me just make clear that your opinion isn't some profound nugget of wisdom. It's just an opinion, no more or less valid than anyone else's.

I agree that Wiggs at point guard is a short term solution right now. I've liked what I've seen from him as our point guard, but it's still a very small sample size. This year is a lost season, so we should try him out at point guard as much as we can - we have nothing to lose. That should give Saunders/Rosas enough time to evaluate whether it can be a long term solution.

[mplsfonz23]

We need a PG. Wiggins is not it. We failed with LaVine, why would we think Wiggins will work?
I agree this season is lost, so lets get a real PG in the off season. Rosas needs to make a win sooner move, or he will lose the team fans and owner. Not in that order.
Lets try to sell Wiggins to the Knicks. Frank and Randle would be killing two for one.
We need to tank hard right now, set KAT down with general knee soreness, sell Cov to highest bidder, and restock with the low end contracts.

[TheProdigy]

We need a PG. Wiggins is not it. We failed with LaVine, why would we think Wiggins will work?
I agree this season is lost, so lets get a real PG in the off season. Rosas needs to make a win sooner move, or he will lose the team fans and owner. Not in that order.
Lets try to sell Wiggins to the Knicks. Frank and Randle would be killing two for one.
We need to tank hard right now, set KAT down with general knee soreness, sell Cov to highest bidder, and restock with the low end contracts.

You might be right that Wiggins at point guard isn't the answer. The problem is that we haven't seen enough of a sample to confirm it. We only have a 5 game sample size from November 6th to November 13th, and the results were very positive. During this stretch, Wiggins was starting without a true point guard on the floor. We went 3-2 and he averaged 31.6 ppg, 5 rpg, and 6 apg.

I will be the first to admit that it's probably a mirage, but in a lost season, I 100% believe it's worth exploring further. If it doesn't work out (which it probably won't), then at least you know and you've also facilitated tanking which you seem to be in favor of.

I disagree about Rosas needing to make a win now move. Glen Taylor saw first hand what happened when Thibs pushed all his chips into the table by trading for Butler and signing Teague & Gibson to huge contracts. I think Rosas has a pretty long leash to rebuild the franchise properly. We've got KAT locked up for 4 years, so there is no rush.

[mplsfonz23]

We need a PG. Wiggins is not it. We failed with LaVine, why would we think Wiggins will work?
I agree this season is lost, so lets get a real PG in the off season. Rosas needs to make a win sooner move, or he will lose the team fans and owner. Not in that order.
Lets try to sell Wiggins to the Knicks. Frank and Randle would be killing two for one.
We need to tank hard right now, set KAT down with general knee soreness, sell Cov to highest bidder, and restock with the low end contracts.

You might be right that Wiggins at point guard isn't the answer. The problem is that we haven't seen enough of a sample to confirm it. We only have a 5 game sample size from November 6th to November 13th, and the results were very positive. During this stretch, Wiggins was starting without a true point guard on the floor. We went 3-2 and he averaged 31.6 ppg, 5 rpg, and 6 apg.

I will be the first to admit that it's probably a mirage, but in a lost season, I 100% believe it's worth exploring further. If it doesn't work out (which it probably won't), then at least you know and you've also facilitated tanking which you seem to be in favor of.

I disagree about Rosas needing to make a win now move. Glen Taylor saw first hand what happened when Thibs pushed all his chips into the table by trading for Butler and signing Teague & Gibson to huge contracts. I think Rosas has a pretty long leash to rebuild the franchise properly. We've got KAT locked up for 4 years, so there is no rush.

Not a "win now" I said "win sooner move."
I understand he has a long leash, but does Towns have that much patience? 4 years seem long, but if it takes 3 to get to a competitive level, how much of a toll does it take on him. Plus all the losing slash semi-rebuilding is not a place FA's will want to come. With the cap space locked up, going to be difficult to find quality.
Rosas is already trying a win now/sooner by going after DLo. If....he were to trade for him without dumping Wiggins, we would be in win now mode with zero dollars to fill in the role players. The draft is our best chance to improve, and it will take this year and next.
KAT may tune out sooner rather than later. Wiggins already has.

[Jedzz]

For now? But not long term? Because why?

For now because there's no guarantee this is a long term answer. We're talking about a 36 game sample size, if that, compared to 400 over the rest of his career.

If this can be the new Wiggins, great. Run with it. But I need to see more before I can overlook the last 5-6 years of his career.

We have Wiggins signed long term. So a long term answer is needed. Put him in the best position to get the most out of him. That just happens to work just fine with Towns. So what is the problem?

What IS the problem? I basically agreed with you, I'm just not ready to lock it in as the future of the team.

I can only lead you to water. You must drink of it yourself or not. What you suggest is not wrong, but it's not the best for all of them.

I don't know if English is a second language for you and this has just been lost in translation but this line is incredibly pretentious. In case that isn't the situation, let me just make clear that your opinion isn't some profound nugget of wisdom. It's just an opinion, no more or less valid than anyone else's.

It apparently is somewhat profound. Only maybe one other person posting here seems to get it. You don't seem to get it. I absolutely disagree with this "let's try it a little" garbage they keep doing with everything. Especially when it comes to Wiggins. After 5/6 years of watching him there is one role that gets him involved and keeps him there more than any other. It is the answer if the question is how do we get the most out of him and his roster limiting Max deal. It's my opinion, but it has more proof than anything else does. So I'm confident in it. Or, we can keep doing what we've always done, which is what you are suggesting. I'm using my English. Which may not be your English.

[vagelis]

He plays in video games tournaments during season? That is bad for him. These habits need to end after some age.

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[Dewey]

He plays in video games tournaments during season? That is bad for him. This habits need to end after some age.

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Don’t surprise me for a second ... immature people do immature things. I get the game fad, but as your team is sinking away, just keep it to yourself. No need to confirm.

[Klomp]

He plays in video games tournaments during season? That is bad for him. This habits need to end after some age.

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How dare these robots have a life of their own! They need to be in a gym every second of every day!

[Foye]

He plays in video games tournaments during season? That is bad for him. This habits need to end after some age.

Read on Twitter

How dare these robots have a life of their own! They need to be in a gym every second of every day!

While you are joking about this...actually that's the point.
When you are invested into a basketball player you hope that the players have the strong intrinsic motivation to be in a gym most of the day. Strive for being the best they can possibly be.
If you find the players that you need to tell them to relax and stop from entering the gym because they are working too intense - you are building success.
I think, we can all agree that Wiggins isn't that type of player which is why he will never reach his personal max. ceiling despite his athletic abilities.

It's also a point why Butler never respected KAT and Wiggins. Butler for all his douchebag-ness earned his place in the league through outworking everyone. Find 5 guys willing to outwork everyone and you are building success.

[Dewey]

He plays in video games tournaments during season? That is bad for him. This habits need to end after some age.

Read on Twitter

How dare these robots have a life of their own! They need to be in a gym every second of every day!

While you are joking about this...actually that's the point.
When you are invested into a basketball player you hope that the players have the strong intrinsic motivation to be in a gym most of the day. Strive for being the best they can possibly be.
If you find the players that you need to tell them to relax and stop from entering the gym because they are working too intense - you are building success.
I think, we can all agree that Wiggins isn't that type of player which is why he will never reach his personal max. ceiling despite his athletic abilities.

It's also a point why Butler never respected KAT and Wiggins. Butler for all his douchebag-ness earned his place in the league through outworking everyone. Find 5 guys willing to outwork everyone and you are building success.

Agree on Butler take. At the same time, Wiggins can certainly do whatever wants as it's his time, but I just wish he was as excited about winning basketball games. Players are people who will each have different perspectives on what success is, and I'll just leave it at that.

[Klomp]

At the same time, Wiggins can certainly do whatever wants as it's his time, but I just wish he was as excited about winning basketball games.

So it's not actually about his playing video games, but about his facial expressions and body language while working.

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Why does he have a Youtube channel? He should be focusing all of his attention during the season on being in the gym....

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Why is he wasting his time with some stupid kids?! Get in the damn gym!

[Dewey]

At the same time, Wiggins can certainly do whatever wants as it's his time, but I just wish he was as excited about winning basketball games.

So it's not actually about his playing video games, but about his facial expressions and body language while working.

Read on Twitter

Why does he have a Youtube channel? He should be focusing all of his attention during the season on being in the gym....

Read on Twitter

Why is he wasting his time with some stupid kids?! Get in the damn gym!

You're clueless ... you've missed the point, but if you just wanna be arrogant, knock yourself out. Jokes on you .

[TheProdigy]

At the same time, Wiggins can certainly do whatever wants as it's his time, but I just wish he was as excited about winning basketball games.

So it's not actually about his playing video games, but about his facial expressions and body language while working.

Read on Twitter

Why does he have a Youtube channel? He should be focusing all of his attention during the season on being in the gym....

Read on Twitter

Why is he wasting his time with some stupid kids?! Get in the damn gym!

Butler and Wiggs are viewed differently because Butler has grown exponentially since he first came into the league. On the other hand, Wiggs has barely improved at all since entering the league. If you charted their growth, Butler would have an upward trend and Wiggs would be nearly flat. That's why when fans see Wiggs doing this "immature" off court stuff, they say oh well no wonder he hasn't improved - he's too busy playing video games.

Michael Jordan had a reputation as a notorious gambler, but no one ever questioned his commitment to basketball because it was always obvious that he put in the work necessary to be great.

[Klomp]

Butler and Wiggs are viewed differently because Butler has grown exponentially since he first came into the league. On the other hand, Wiggs has barely improved at all since entering the league. If you charted their growth, Butler would have an upward trend and Wiggs would be nearly flat. That's why when fans see Wiggs doing this "immature" off court stuff, they say oh well no wonder he hasn't improved - he's too busy playing video games.

Michael Jordan had a reputation as a notorious gambler, but no one ever criticized him for it because it was always obvious that he put in the work necessary to be great.

Social media posts aren't an indication of 100% of a player's off time is my point. Just like Butler doesn't spend all of his time bow hunting with Luke Bryan, Wiggins doesn't spend all of his off time playing video games.....yet that's what many fans accuse him of.

I don't know why he hasn't improved, but I can guarantee you he puts in work.

[vagelis]

He plays in video games tournaments during season? That is bad for him. This habits need to end after some age.

Read on Twitter

How dare these robots have a life of their own! They need to be in a gym every second of every day!

He can do whatever he wants. It would just be better if he wanted to be in the gym more, than playing video games.
I dont think that there is a single big player who was addicted in video games. I cannot imagine Michael Jordan spending time with joysticks and consoles. Time passes fast and proffessional athletes have to try hard every day to get better.

[Mattya]

He plays in video games tournaments during season? That is bad for him. This habits need to end after some age.

Read on Twitter

How dare these robots have a life of their own! They need to be in a gym every second of every day!

He can do whatever he wants. It would just be better if he wanted to be in the gym more, than playing video games.
I dont think that there is a single big player who was addicted in video games. I cannot imagine Michael Jordan spending time with joysticks and consoles. Time passes fast and proffessional athletes have to try hard every day to get better.

Michael Jordan did tons of non basketball stuff during the season and even stuff that would be considered unprofessional by your standards.