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

[Colbinii]

The #1 priority for the rest of this season should be to keep Wiggins engaged and playing at this high level, even if it means we sacrifice some wins along the way because it will be better for this team in the long run.

I'm concerned that Wiggins could go back to playing timid when Teague and Napier return. Saunders needs to make them understand that they are no longer the primary ball handlers / facilitators when Wiggins is in the game - they're playing off ball. If they are unable to do that and Wiggins goes back to being timid, I'm sticking them on the bench and giving their minutes to Culver and Okogie.

Okogie will be getting minutes regardless. He has been our third best player this year.

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[TheProdigy]

The #1 priority for the rest of this season should be to keep Wiggins engaged and playing at this high level, even if it means we sacrifice some wins along the way because it will be better for this team in the long run.

I'm concerned that Wiggins could go back to playing timid when Teague and Napier return. Saunders needs to make them understand that they are no longer the primary ball handlers / facilitators when Wiggins is in the game - they're playing off ball. If they are unable to do that and Wiggins goes back to being timid, I'm sticking them on the bench and giving their minutes to Culver and Okogie.

Okogie will be getting minutes regardless. He has been our third best player this year.

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I have Okogie a little lower on my list at #4 behind KAT, Wiggs, and RoCo but I agree with your sentiment. There are a few posters on this board who severely under value Okogie.

I wouldn't be opposed to bringing his playing time up to 30+ mpg.

[KGdaBom]

Kgdabom has bought the hype that some east players get from making all star in a watered down east, if he was a far superior player washington would not be so abysmal.

I presume you are talking about Beal. It's not about hype it's about numbers. Last season Beal's numbers across the board were all sensational with great efficiency while playing on a very bad team. The man is a flat out stud. Those trying to compare Wiggins to him because of a nice start are as I said before not thinking rationally. If Wiggins can keep up his play from this season until the end he will still not come close to what Beal did last year.

[Colbinii]

Him and Covington are neck and neck thus far. Okogie being a better playmaker and better at attacking the basket while Covington has been a better shooter. Both are a wash defensively imo but goes to show you how much Okogie has improved.

I think our best line-up at seasons end will be Okogie/Wiggins/Covington/Graham/Towns, though I am not totally sold on Graham. Perhaps Layman or Teague deserve that spot.

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[Dewey]

Not a fan of RoCo a full-time PF ... certain matchups are fine and pbviously some are not.

Need more consistency from Layman, but he does work harder than I expected.

Okogie is still not a threat teams will plan for, but he's taken advantage of minutes.

Bell is still a mystery for me on how he'll develop this season.

Culver has work to do, I can see some hope, but I expected be be tougher and more of a scrapper.

Wiggins is displaying some ability and I hope he develops some grit to go with it - then we might have something.

[jscott]

Him and Covington are neck and neck thus far. Okogie being a better playmaker and better at attacking the basket while Covington has been a better shooter. Both are a wash defensively imo but goes to show you how much Okogie has improved.

I think our best line-up at seasons end will be Okogie/Wiggins/Covington/Graham/Towns, though I am not totally sold on Graham. Perhaps Layman or Teague deserve that spot.

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IMO RoCo is the far better defensive player. Not to take anything away from the. Sry solid job Okogie does but RoCo is a beast on that end.

[Colbinii]

Him and Covington are neck and neck thus far. Okogie being a better playmaker and better at attacking the basket while Covington has been a better shooter. Both are a wash defensively imo but goes to show you how much Okogie has improved.

I think our best line-up at seasons end will be Okogie/Wiggins/Covington/Graham/Towns, though I am not totally sold on Graham. Perhaps Layman or Teague deserve that spot.

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IMO RoCo is the far better defensive player. Not to take anything away from the. Sry solid job Okogie does but RoCo is a beast on that end.

So is Okogie who is by far our best perimeter defender.

I know its a small sample size but the defense is night and day with Okogie on/off [Not Covington]. They have similar steals/100 [2.6 to 2.6], DBPM [1.5 to 1.4] and individual Drtg [103 to 106].

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[Loyal[]Wolf]

Beal is exceptional but Wiggy has always had the higher ceiling. Will he reach that? No clue...but it's hard to deny his tremendous improvement this year thus far. If WAS called today and offered Beal for Wiggins, how many of you would decline? None probably, but how cool is it that we all need to pause for a millisecond when we consider how well Andrew is playing this year.

Me. I've never been a big Beal fan.

[minimus]

Him and Covington are neck and neck thus far. Okogie being a better playmaker and better at attacking the basket while Covington has been a better shooter. Both are a wash defensively imo but goes to show you how much Okogie has improved.

I think our best line-up at seasons end will be Okogie/Wiggins/Covington/Graham/Towns, though I am not totally sold on Graham. Perhaps Layman or Teague deserve that spot.

IMO RoCo is the far better defensive player. Not to take anything away from the. Sry solid job Okogie does but RoCo is a beast on that end.

So is Okogie who is by far our best perimeter defender.

I know its a small sample size but the defense is night and day with Okogie on/off [Not Covington]. They have similar steals/100 [2.6 to 2.6], DBPM [1.5 to 1.4] and individual Drtg [103 to 106].

To me they are different type of defenders. Okogie is more on ball defender who is guarding now the point of attack, while RoCo is more system defender. Graham is also interesting case because his toughness is a plus when he defends big PF/SF.

[shrink]

IMO RoCo is the far better defensive player. Not to take anything away from the. Sry solid job Okogie does but RoCo is a beast on that end.

So is Okogie who is by far our best perimeter defender.

I know its a small sample size but the defense is night and day with Okogie on/off [Not Covington]. They have similar steals/100 [2.6 to 2.6], DBPM [1.5 to 1.4] and individual Drtg [103 to 106].

To me they are different type of defenders. Okogie is more on ball defender who is guarding now the point of attack, while RoCo is more system defender. Graham is also interesting case because his toughness is a plus when he defends big PF/SF.

Good point. I’d also add that despite RoCo’s good defensive numbers, the way he is used makes his defensive numbers look worse than they are. If a team has a great scorer at the PG or SG position, they are usually starters when RoCo is on the floor, plus Covington doesn’t get to guard him any more. Meanwhile, Okogie spends far more minutes playing off the bench because he isn’t a threat offensively, so his defensive numbers come from guarding a bench scorer. He has only started against MEM and DET.

I have been impressed with Okogie, but comparable stats don’t make comparable defenders because of different situations.

[Crazy-Canuck]

So is Okogie who is by far our best perimeter defender.

I know its a small sample size but the defense is night and day with Okogie on/off [Not Covington]. They have similar steals/100 [2.6 to 2.6], DBPM [1.5 to 1.4] and individual Drtg [103 to 106].

To me they are different type of defenders. Okogie is more on ball defender who is guarding now the point of attack, while RoCo is more system defender. Graham is also interesting case because his toughness is a plus when he defends big PF/SF.

Good point. I’d also add that despite RoCo’s good defensive numbers, the way he is used makes his defensive numbers look worse than they are. If a team has a great scorer at the PG or SG position, they are usually starters when RoCo is on the floor, plus Covington doesn’t get to guard him any more. Meanwhile, Okogie spends far more minutes playing off the bench because he isn’t a threat offensively, so his defensive numbers come from guarding a bench scorer. He has only started against MEM and DET.

I have been impressed with Okogie, but comparable stats don’t make comparable defenders because of different situations.

If wiggins continues this type of play, i actually like okogie as the pg. He can handle some and can guard the point if attack. Wiggs would be doing the initiating anyways, so he would just do what he keeps doing by cutting and spotting up.

Then move cov to the 3 and try to get a brandon clarke type at the 4.

As much as i want culver to get his minutes, he might be better suited to try and be the offensive focus of the 2nd unit until he adapts to the strength and speed of the game.

[wolves_89]

Here's a link to an interesting article on Wiggins, it gives a good breakdown on why this year's performance might be sustainable.

Read on Twitter

[wesleyt95]

I mean, it's what he's expected to say. It'd be funny if he said: 'Yeah I know, I suck.' What's not so funny is that it's true. He's hurting the team for years now both with his game and his max contract. It's not even his fault. If someone wants to overpay me, I'm all for it.
It was just an insanly bad business decision. Joe Smith 2.0

I disagree. Step 1 in Wiggins' plan to be a professional basketball player in 3 years is to acknowledge that he is not a top 250 player in the NBA. it's the only way to improve his game. Fooling himself he can play basketball while you can't will have him out of the league in 3 years.

[wesleyt95]

You are right Wigs. There aren't 100 players better then you.



There are like 200 of them.

[Klomp]

Wesley, if you want to provide actual discussion or analysis, you're free to bring up old posts to respond to them. But just quoting them offers nothing of value to the forum.

[wolves_89]

Wiggins numbers over the last 5 games have been incredibly impressive:

31.6 pts, 5.0 rb, 6.0 ass, 1.2 st, 1.4 bl, 1.6 to, 59.8 TS%

As far as the premise of this thread, I think it is safe to say that Wiggins is a top 100 player.

[wesleyt95]

Wesley, if you want to provide actual discussion or analysis, you're free to bring up old posts to respond to them. But just quoting them offers nothing of value to the forum.

just keeping tabs

[Klomp]

Read on Twitter

[cpfsf]

Sam Mitchell is probably happy the thibs years backfired, and also happy that the wolves and Wiggins are succeeding now.

[KGdaBom]

Beal is exceptional but Wiggy has always had the higher ceiling. Will he reach that? No clue...but it's hard to deny his tremendous improvement this year thus far. If WAS called today and offered Beal for Wiggins, how many of you would decline? None probably, but how cool is it that we all need to pause for a millisecond when we consider how well Andrew is playing this year.

Me. I've never been a big Beal fan.

And I guess you still feel the same after Beal tore us a new A$$hole. Yeah, I know Wiggins didn't play last night.