The concept of criticism, critique or even the simple concept of superior talent was mostly foreign to Andrew Wiggins before he entered the NBA.
Between middle school, high school and college, Wiggins was always considered to be a coveted talent — a player teams would be lucky to have when he entered the NBA.
When he arrived in the league, comparisons to players like Scottie Pippen and Paul George were loosely tossed around to give the average fan an idea of what he could become. The nickname “Maple Jordan” is even a thing.
It got out of hand.
Those are lofty expectations, even for someone with the arsenal of Wiggins.
From a bare-bones statistical perspective, he has met some of those expectations. Coming into this season, he’s seen incremental progress in several major offensive categories – points, rebounds, field goal percentage – highlighted by a 23.7 point-per-game average, a figure Kevin Garnett only eclipsed once his entire career.
But when it comes to statistics basketball has become far more than a bare-bones league. And while his offensive metrics mostly check out – he’s generally near the top in offensive real plus-minus and has a historically good true shooting percentage – the other side of the ball has evaded him.
A season ago, statistics suggested Wiggins was, in fact, one of the worst defenders in the NBA.
Defensive real plus-minus – a statistic intended to estimate the on-court impact on team defensive performance, measured in points allowed per 100 defensive possessions – is a flawed stat, but often considered the most reliable individual defensive statistical metric. Last season, it placed Wiggins in the bottom three among small forwards, among a list of 74.
This season, the only difference is the number of qualified participants. Twenty-two games into the NBA season, Wiggins is No. 80 out of 87 qualified small forwards.
It can be argued that Wiggins isn’t a small forward, but lumping him with those listed at shooting guard doesn’t help his case. Doing so would rank him No. 159 out of 186 qualified players.
While the measure has some merits and often places notable defenders at the top – at Wiggins’ position, the top three features Robert Covington, Thabo Sefolosha and Otto Porter Jr. – it’s hard to quantify the intangible efforts that can be made on the defensive end.
Wiggins’ alleged shortcomings don’t stop there. His inability to consistently create for others has been put into question, as his assist totals have never been higher than 2.3 per game. While his athleticism was worth the hype, his rebounding numbers have never reflected that, either.
Those particular flaws in his game are often attributed something far from talent. Often times, Wiggins has been known to jog down a fast break – for his team or to stop the other team – rather than sprint. This isn’t the sole cause of his inefficient scoring numbers, but it likely factors into some of it.
“We can’t pick and choose when we do it, that’s the biggest thing,” Thibodeau said of Wiggins last week. “We can’t take plays off.”
Watch Wiggins – near the bottom of the screen – jog back on defense while the Warriors’ second unit begins building what would become a 20-plus point lead.
This is body language that has caused some question to Wiggins’ drive and desire to become the best version of himself. Oftentimes this lethargic edition has manifested when his team is either down big, or about to be.
Considering how many times the Wolves have played trying to catch up since Wiggins joined – his team has an 89-179 record since his rookie year – a guy already liable to commit bad habits with his body is going to suffer from playing for a perpetually bad team.
Now that the Timberwolves have seemed to turn some kind of corner, sitting in early playoff position at 13-9 on the season, the moments for Wiggins and taking plays off have been minimized.
No, they aren’t gone completely – the play shown above was from this season. The difference this season is what happens when he makes plays on both ends, something that’s happening more often this season.
Take Minnesota’s home win against Orlando on Nov. 22, for example. One stretch was perhaps Wiggins’ best of the season, and included a sequence where he blocked a shot on one end, followed by an offensive rebound that resulted in an and-one.
This stretch was one of Wiggins’ best, and helped illustrate what types of heights he could reach if he ever learned how to play a complete game.
This is where the eye test has to outweigh the statistics. While his assist numbers and 3-point percentages are at a career-low, it’s hard to watch Wiggins without being wowed at the progress he has made. At the end of games in the past, Thibodeau has often gone to Wiggins on the isolation partially out of necessity.
Even with the addition of Jimmy Butler, and the obvious skillset of Karl-Anthony Towns, Thibodeau still often goes to Wiggins to take the final shot, no matter how crazy the shot might be.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIBkv0v1p2E
The big difference between this season and previous seasons is the addition of Butler. In previous end-of-game situations, whether that be the final play or in the final minutes of a close game, Wiggins is no longer the constant option on offense.
As Dane Moore mentioned in his piece on Thibodeau’s offensive and defensive systems, the “Iverson cut” that’s being run through Butler, was run through Wiggins last season. His ability to score at will has never been put into question, but his capability to have the offense run through him has improved drastically over the last year and change.
“I’m just trying to do more to help the team,” the soft-spoken Wiggins told reporters last week when asked about his improved contributions.
Little things like driving and kicking have become major parts of his game. When he would drive in the past, the assumption was that he’d shoot; often that would lead to a bucket or a foul. As a result, his free throw rate has gone down, but it’s mainly because his passing ability is now a usable skill.
His favorite drive-and-dish pass is to shooters in the corner.
But has also developed the ability to drop it off to the big man inside; a skill that looks easier on TV than it is in practice.
Defensively, while the statistics might indicate one thing, this is, again, where the eye test is an absolutely necessary tool. Anyone that has watched Wiggins this season can tell he’s improved.
“I’m just defending,” Wiggins said. “Just watching film and seeing what I can do more of. I feel like I’ve always been a good on-ball defender, but now I’m just trying to get better off-ball.”
He’s done that, too. While his steals numbers haven’t risen a ton, his sense for when to gamble has improved. He’s also improved on using his premier athleticism to go attack the rim and block shots. Like his steals, his blocks aren’t any higher than in previous years, but the eye-test impact of those blocks have been more impactful than in past years.
On this play, Wiggins gets a bit lost behind a screen, but quickly makes up for it.
At this point, it seems like most ball-handlers are unaware of Wiggins’ ability to do this, hence the typical laissez-faire approach to their layups. As coaching staffs start to take notice of this newfound skill, it’ll likely change the way they take it to the basket.
And that’s important. The moment offenses start respecting Wiggins as a reliable shot blocker, passing lane-rusher, and on-ball defender, the Wolves’ defense then should improve as a whole. This will especially be true when Butler and Gibson share the floor with him.
Even if all of this is true, the statistics haven’t indicated it. In fact, it’s statistically his worst season since his rookie year. Still, anyone that’s watched Wiggins closely this season has seen his obvious improvements. He’s a better passer, ball handler, shot blocker, pass-rusher, and on-ball defender. All those skills have made him a more confident player, a more reliable scorer, and a better fit next to Towns and Butler.
He’ll never turn into Pippen or George. The nickname “Maple Jordan” was always unfair.
But he’s still Andrew Wiggins. He’s having his best year of the season, whether the stats tell it or not, and he’s continuing to get better.
He’s still terrifying, in his own way.
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