Random NBA Observations 2014 - 2015

The War Report

The War Report

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http://grantland.com/the-triangle/nba-awards-ballot-part-1-in-praise-of-the-individual/


All the knocks on Wiggins are true: He hasn’t shot well, he doesn’t pass or rebound much, his 3-point shot has vanished (thanks, Flip!), and he’s piling up numbers on a team with few other scoring options.

Wiggins right now is a little bit like Rudy Gay, a massively skilled scorer whose gifts don’t help teammates. He’s not a good enough shooter to suck defenders toward him and space the floor. He’s learning NBA-level passing, and he has taken only the first tentative steps toward developing an off-the-dribble game. He doesn’t make much north-south progress on the pick-and-roll, which means he’s not puncturing the defense, bending it, and opening up shots for teammates. Wiggins isn’t super useful without the ball, and when he has it, he’s not well versed yet in creating looks for others.

Everything is hard for him now, and he’s not good enough to make it easier. But you know what else makes basketball easier? Having good teammates, and not playing with dudes like Justin Hamilton, Zach LaVine, Adreian Payne, and Lorenzo Brown! Wiggins can already do the hard work of scoring in the post and in isolation, drawing double-teams, and earning foul shots. Imagine how much better he’ll get when he has teammates who can actually set him up — when he develops chemistry with Ricky Rubio, logs time with more NBA-level shooters who can unclutter the lane, and cuts off some Nikola Pekovic post-ups.

Individual development doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Team context matters, and it’s impressive what Wiggins has managed within this barren roster. It’s not a great rookie of the year dossier, but no other candidate has performed consistently enough on both ends over the full season to seize it from him. Mirotic comes close, and the threat of his shooting from the power forward spot makes him a valuable space-sucker even when he doesn’t touch the ball — something you can’t say about Wiggins.

But Mirotic got off to a slow start before breaking out in March behind a hail of 3s and free throws, and even after that scorching month, he’s still just barely over 30 percent from deep. It’s not as if Mirotic is a sniper. He’s playing out of position more now, at small forward, where his shooting has less value. That’s not his fault, and it’s the kind of complication that comes with being a rookie on a loaded roster — an obstacle Wiggins hasn’t faced. Getting numbers on a good team is tougher than doing so on a borderline D-League outfit, and accomplishing that closes the gap between Mirotic and Wiggins.
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@tremonthustler1 is reading this like:jawalrus:
 
Jaylen Tatum

Jaylen Tatum

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pete clemenza

pete clemenza

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