It is a saying and characterization that we have always heard in professional sports. "This guy has all the talent, but he doesn't work hard...if only they truly loved the game..." Those are statements that you hear in observance of many pro athletes, athletes with all of the physical gifts, but not the motivation and/or work ethic that it takes to reach the top and maximize their potential.
So when Andrew Wiggins, the number one overall selection in the 2014 NBA Draft, averaged 23.6 points on 45% shooting in the 2016-17 season, but then saw his average dip to 17.7 the next season - a near 6 point drop - and only increase by 0.4 points last season, the questions and the doubts arose, the same old questions asked: Does this guy truly love the game? Does he have that dog in him? Does he love to compete? Why is he so lackadaisical? Why doesn't he play hard all the time? Season after season, we have waited for Wiggins' breakout, to finally not just flash the talent that made people throw out LeBron James' comparisons when Wiggins was a high school phenom at both Vaughan Secondary in Vaughan, Ontario, and Huntington Prep in West Virginia, and then throughout his freshman season at the University of Kansas, but show it consistently. Yes, he was the league's Rookie of the Year in 2015, but we wanted stardom early, multiple all-star games, maybe even some playoff wins. Wiggins was the ultimate enigma, a supreme talent that had yet to put it all together consistently.
That all seems to have changed now.
Wiggins, averaging a career high 25.5 points through 10 games, while shooting a career high 47%, on a career high 21 shots per game, seems to have gotten tired of the voices, the doubters, the ones who said he was a disappointment. The 24 year old, still young, has looked dominant at times this season, especially over the last five games. Clutch shots - like the three ball he calmly drilled last night with 2 minutes to go to give the Timberwolves an 8 point lead over the Detroit Pistons to put the game out of reach - and performances - like the 40 he put on the Golden State Warriors four days ago in a 6 point overtime win - are common, and he's morphed he and Karl-Anthony Towns into a legitimate one-two punch.
Over the last five games, he has three games of 30 points or more - 30 against Memphis, the aforementioned 40 against the Warriors (along with 7 assists, 5 rebouds, and 3 blocks in that game), and 33 last night, and he is becoming the Wolves go-to player down the stretch. Timberwolves head coach Ryan Saunders trusts him to make plays, and Wiggins has been delivering. He is great in the pick and roll, using his athletic ability - long arms, long strides - to glide to the hoop for finishes, and in the open floor is tough to stop with a smooth handle and solid finishing ability. To steal an observation from Pistons' color commentator Greg Kelser, Wiggins is reminiscent of swingmen past, the athletic guard/foward with the long arms and body with good ball handling ability who is more of a glider than a power finisher.
Speaking on his potential prior to last season in an interview with Kevin Garnett prior to the start of 2018-19 year, Wiggins shared that his goal for that season was to make the all-star team for the first time.
It is one year later, but he just might achieve that goal now if he continues on this pace, continuing to turn that corner.
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