Timberwolves

10/24 PRACTICE NOTES: Wiggins Remains the Center of Attention as Indiana Comes to Town

Andrew Wiggins remained the center of attention on Tuesday afternoon following the Wolves shootaround at Target Center prior to their matchup against the Indiana Pacers. His Sunday evening heroics carried much of the conversation, as his teammates were eager to laud the twenty-two-year-old for what is maybe the NBA season’s most defining play thus far.

“He’s a cold-blooded killer,” said Karl-Anthony Towns. “He is finding more opportunities to use his athleticism to his advantage. When he has the chance to use all his gifts, he is very effective.”

It has been enticing to see Wiggins succeed after not-so-quiet concerns loomed entering the season that Wiggins may be the piece most marginalized. This, in theory, was to come after the Wolves added two starters who, similar to Wiggins, have skill sets best placed on the perimeter. Through three games those concerns seem to have been thwarted.

On top of leading the team in buzzer-beaters in the first week of the season, Wiggins also leads the way in field-goal attempts (53), made threes (8), free throw attempts (23), and total points (74). At the moment, he appears to be the pillar of the team’s offense.

In lieu of Wiggins’ high usage, Jimmy Butler has been the player who has seen not only his scoring plummet but his usage as a whole.

In Chicago, last season, Butler’s Usage Percentage — an estimate of team plays used by a single player — was 26.5 percent. This season, that number has dropped to 20.2 percent. Wiggins has seen no such drop. Last season, Wiggins usage was 29.0 percent and this season it is 28.1 percent. Coach Tom Thibodeau is not worried about the dispersion between the team’s two star wings.

“I don’t worry about Jimmy,” said Thibodeau. “I think the playmaking has really helped the whole team… Jimmy can score, I don’t worry about that at all.”

As Thibodeau implies, a balancing of sorts is likely to happen as the idea of Butler maintaining a scoring average of 13.3 points per game seems extremely unlikely — even if Wiggins remains this offensively dominant.

Indiana Brings Back Old Faces To Minnesota

Former Wolves; Al Jefferson, Glenn Robinson III, and Lance Stephenson return to take on the Wolves in Pacers uniforms tonight.

The Wolves relic, Jefferson, who averaged 20.1 points and 10.4 rebounds per game in his three years with the Wolves from 2007 to 2010, admits to no longer recognizing many faces around the Target Center. The Wolves have completely up-ended the roster since Jefferson’s departure in 2010 when he was surrounded in the starting lineup by Jonny Flynn, Corey Brewer, Ryan Gomes, and Darko Milicic.

“A lot of good people are gone,” said Jefferson looking back on his time here. Jefferson was impressed by the Target Center renovations. “Okay, I see you, Minnesota,” was his response to the new locker room, court design, and massive jumbotron.

Joining Jefferson is Lance Stephenson, who strung together a few 10-day contracts with the Wolves last season. Though Stephenson only played in six games for the Wolves last winter, he did spend an extended chunk of time at the Wolves facilities rehabbing a badly sprained ankle. Stephenson was quick to notice and admire the renovations as well.

“It looks good in here. They got rid of the green (trees), that’s good,” said Stephenson as he looked around the new winter blue seats of Target Center’s lower-bowl that used to be emblazoned with forest green trees — an emblem removed in the Wolves recent rebrand.

The Wolves 2014 second-round pick, Robinson III, will not play after undergoing ankle surgery. Additionally, Indiana will be without their best player, Myles Turner, as he is still recovering from a concussion he suffered last week after hitting the back of his head on the floor.


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