FanPost

Ender


Hello, this is my inaugural season as a Timberwolves fan, and to be honest, i'm quite excited. Ricky Rubio is the most interesting point in the league, Anthony Bennett is shaping up to exceed my expectations, and Zach LaVine is chock full of potential. But what brings us together for the next however many years, is Andrew Wiggins. You see, i'm a native of Lawrence, KS, and as such, a diehard Jayhawk. My interest in the NBA has always been in watching KU players compete at the highest level. And we have our next superstar all lined up, just in time for The Truth to retire after his run with the Wiz.

I've been reading this blog for a month now, and you guys are quite obviously v intelligent basketball fans, and i respect your view of the league. However, I've seen that you quite often take the mainstream opinion on Wiggins, that he's super athletic, but not a very developed player, and not the difference maker he was toted to be. I think a lot of this has to do with the Stanford game. He was flat as pepsi, but so was the rest of the team. I watched every one of his 35 college games, and lemme tell ya, Cleveland got robbed.

Andrew Wiggins averaged just over 17 points a game, which is the freshman record in 117 years of Kansas basketball. He regularly took over the floor, on both ends of the court, facilitating moves that freshman teammates often couldn't capitalize on. We were pretty bad finishers last year, with Ender and Jo-Jo probably being the two best on the team. I think the only truly weak part of his game are his handles, and those will improve. There's nothing inherently wrong with the way he dribbles the ball, he just doesn't have and overabundance of control when he's tearing down the court. After spending more time with a coach, and playing more, he'll find his pace and tighten up and he'll be just fine. His shooting improved throughout the year, and i expect that trend to continue. He can drive to basket pretty well, but being in the league a few seasons will make an exponential difference, as he's about as green as they come right now. But adding polish to an already explosive offensive cabinet won't matter as long as he, at the bare minimum, keeps his defense at the level it is now.

Ender averaged 1.2 steals, 1 block, and 6 rebounds a game. I believe his freshman mindset (the entire freshman class said they had been soft and sheepish compared to what is expected of a KU team), and the way Bill Self played him, led to him not being a contributor game in and out. However, those rather unimpressive numbers belie season highs of 5 steals against West Virginia, 4 blocks, also against WV, and 19 rebounds against Iowa State. He has an instinctual feeling for the game that makes him a stifling on ball defender, and he's fast enough to strip anyone. Like, literally, anyone. By January, he'll be able to guard anyone in the league. I think the biggest problem with his game so far (besides ridiculous expectations), has been a mental one. His timidity, and quiet personality, were problems in college, a trend i don't forsee carrying over to the NBA. College, especially on a Bill Self team, puts an emphasis on upperclassmen, for exactly the reason we lost to a #9? seed. They're more experienced, consistent, and confident. Freshman shouldn't be carrying the responsibility owed to their upperclassmen, and last years class took the backseat quite happily.

Andrew is no longer part of a top-25 team continuing decade long conference dominance. He's now a franchise player with a lot of doubt being thrown his way. He wants to prove everyone wrong. He told Bill Self that he's gonna be the smartest, toughest version of himself he can be. The difference is here, if he's given a starters spot (which is something i would like your opinions on), he has 82 games to grow, and experiment, instead of 35 to perform. He wants to succeed, he wants to be an All-Star, and he wants his team to win. I'm not saying it'll be pretty. He still gets flustered and turns the ball over. But he has so much potential, and has the fantastic brain, and Bill Self grooming methods, to turn it into skill. He already has, and I imagine come next spring, Cleveland is gonna feel pretty silly.

Ender will be a star. It's just a matter of when