Minnesota Timberwolves guard Andrew Wiggins has had a good third NBA season, but his progression has been slower than some in the North Star state would like. So too have some called out his inconsistency, the latest of which was teammate Gorgui Dieng.
When asked about Wiggins after the Timberwolves’ loss to the Washington Wizards on Friday night, 112-105, the Minnesota big man told Locked on Wizards that he supported his teammate but wanted to see more consistent play from the young guard.
Via Locked on Wizards:
“Wigg is a great basketball player. He cannot pick and choose when he wants to play. We need him to play like this every night. He needs help, we’re all going to help him, but he’s our leader. He needs to play like this every night.”
Wiggins finished Friday night’s game with 41 points on 16-of-31 shooting, adding two assists, two steals, and a rebound.
Prior to his breakout against Washington, Wiggins scored just 8 points against the Philadelphia 76ers. However, the last game Wiggins shot under 50% from the field and fewer than 20 points prior to that was before Christmas.
There’s been monumental pressure on Wiggins, perhaps more so this season as both Karl-Anthony Towns and Zach LaVine have emerged as 20+ ppg scorers. He’s an OK passer but not a great rebounder for his position, sitting outside the Top 50 for forwards under 6-foot-10.
Still, Wiggins has made a huge leap in 3-point shooting. He’s bumped himself up to 34.8 percent from deep after a hot start to the year, something that should help his own scoring and spacing for his teammates.
He still has some bad habits on both offense and defense, at times taking awkward, low-efficiency jumpers coupled with poor rotations and technique on the other end of the floor.
That’s likely what Dieng is referring to, given that on Friday Wiggins attacked the paint and got to the free-throw line often. Everyone in Minnesota would like to see that on a nightly basis, but there have been games where Wiggins has been more tentative.
Generally, I think there was an idea that Wiggins would continue on the leap he took between Year 1 and Year 2, that there would be some kind of exponential rise. Wiggins is still just 21, and has years of experience left to gain. Tom Thibodeau’s system takes some repetition to get into, and nobody should fret just yet.
