Is Andrew Wiggins A Good Defender?
By Aaron Mah
Coming into the 2014 NBA Draft, Andrew Wiggins was affectionately billed as a raw athletic freak with the potential to become an elite two-way wing.
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Blessed with fast twitch explosiveness, track star speed, and ideal length (6-foot-8 in shoes with a 7-foot wingspan) — at worst — Wiggins was projected to become a top-tier perimeter defender, even if his offensive game failed to develop.
His inborn gifts, physical profile, and reputation as a defensive stalwart naturally curated comparisons with another long, lanky swingman in Paul George, whose defensive prowess was well ahead of his offensive acumen when he first entered the league in 2010.
While Wiggins’ offensive game has unexpectedly progressed at an expeditious rate — and for such reasons, he has personally ended the Rookie of the Year race prematurely — his play on defensive end has fallen by the wayside.
From the eye test, Wiggins is a bothersome defender — especially when matched with like-size wings — who manages to stay in front of his man despite their best efforts to shake the 20-year-old Canadian. He utilizes his lithe lateral quickness and feathery feet to stifle isolation propositions, while conservatively using his length and jaw-dropping leaping abilities to disrupt the opponent’s shot attempts.
His individual on-ball defense has, for the most part, been as muzzling as advertised; just ask James Harden:
However, most of his advanced metrics paint a drastically different picture.
Causes For Concern?
More specifically, Wiggins ranks within the bottom quartile, among regular rotation players this season, in Defensive Box Plus/Minus (DBPM) and Defensive Win Shares (DWS), per Basketball-Reference.
Additionally, he is currently ranked as the 39th most impactful small forward on the defensive end this year, sporting a banal Defensive Real Plus-Minus (DRPM) of -0.48, per ESPN — which essentially means that Wiggins relents an additional 0.48 more points per 100 possessions through his individual contributions on defense, in the context of his role.
Moreover, according to NBA.com’s SportVU Data, opponents generally convert a higher percentage of their shots, when compared to their season averages, with Wiggins defending.
Comparatively, during George’s rookie season, he was already rated as a plus defender, accumulating 1.9 DWSs and a DBPM of 1.2, outweighing Wiggins’ production of 1.6 and -1.9 in both respective categories.
The effectiveness of modern day defenses, unlike the mano a mano-centric defensive play of the decades past, is based more so on help concepts and the overall cohesiveness of a team on the defensive end of the floor.
With that being said, Wiggins’ mundane statistical production on defense must be taken with the proper context.
Despite their recent improved play, the Minnesota Timberwolves remain as the league’s worst defensive team, on the aggregate, ranking dead last in Defensive Rating and opponent eFG% (effective field goal percentage).
When taking the Wolves’ defensive incompetency into account, Wiggins’ dire defensive metrics makes a lot more sense. That is not to say, however, that Wiggins is already a great, or even good, defensive player.
On-Ball Defense
As mentioned, driven in large by his inherent physical gifts, the area in which Wiggins excels in, defensively, is his on-ball defense.
In fact, per 82games.com, Wiggins is holding opposing shooting guards and small forwards to a PER below the league’s median.
Keep in mind, the 20-year-old grasshopper takes on the challenge of guarding the opposition’s most lethal perimeter threat on a nightly basis.
With that being said, Wiggins only relent 0.82 PPP (points per possession) when defending isolation sets, per NBA.com, below the league average of 0.84 PPP despite the daunting defensive assignments he’s accountable for.
Along the same vein, during their most recent matchups, Wiggins has held the two leading MVP candidates of the incumbent campaign, in Russell Westbrook and James Harden, to a combined 13-of-35 shooting from the field, according to NBASavant.com.
However, Wiggins has had trouble containing bulkier forwards who possess a clear-cut strength advantage — namely Joe Johnson and LeBron James.
Even lesser-heralded, physically-imposing forwards, like Jeff Green and Wilson Chandler, has had their way with Wiggins this season, shooting a combined 15-of-24 from the field with Wiggy defending them.
Explicitly, mature forwards can successfully ameliorate Wiggins’ speed and agility by bullying the rookie in tight quarters to create either an avenue towards the hoop or space for a clean look at the rim.
At 199 pounds soaking wet, Andrew lacks the required man strength to consistently keep the 240-pound Johnson and the 250ish-pound — depending on the King’s diet plan at that particular point in time — James from attacking the tin with reckless abandon.
Such an issue will be easily remedied as Wiggins matures into a man.
At present, he has the build of a Victoria Secret runway model. The good news, though, is that Andrew is equipped with broad shoulders and a chiseled frame, capable of withstanding an injection of functional mass without compromising his most prodigious strengths — most notably, his inhumane first step and breathtaking first-and-second jumps.
Much like Anthony Davis and Kevin Garnett, Wiggins should comfortably gain a reasonable amount of weight in due time. While all three will never be mistaken for Karl Malone, Wiggs should aim to develop a Grant Hill-esque physique over the upcoming years.
Off Ball Defense
Over the last several seasons, team oriented defensive schemes and help concepts often serve as the primary blockade between rookies and playing time.
Most rooks, many of whom were playing high school basketball just two years prior, has had a hard time grasping their team D responsibilities while adjusting to the speed of the NBA game.
Wiggins, on the other hand, has been quite judicious in this respect. Specifically, it is hard to find instances where he is grossly out of position in help situations.
Undoubtedly, Wiggy has had his fair share of mental lapses, especially earlier on during the season.
However, the sloppy closeouts, lack of spatial awareness, and over-aggressiveness in ball denial situations has dwindled incrementally as the year has progressed.
Such instances still happen, but the breakdowns occur few and far in between.
On a side note, teammate Kevin Martin has been an absolute revelation as a team defender over the past handful of games — channeling his inner Kyle Korver by sinking in on the corner shooter to pack the boxes and elbows, while providing help on the pick-and-roll by bumping and impeding hard-diving bigs; in the meantime, hustling back in time to his own man to chase opposing shooters off of the three-point line.
Wiggins, likewise, has been a more attentive off ball defender, as well — aided by the constant communication of KG (see 0:57 – 1:10 in video below, or click here).
Not coincidentally, over the last six games, the Wolves house the league’s 18th best defense, per NBA.com, a stark improvement when compared to the cellar-dweller performance Minnesota has put forth on that end of the floor throughout the current season.
Pick-And-Roll Defense
When given the assignment of defending the opposing team’s primary ball handler and initiator, Wiggins faces many of the same struggles that plagued his fellow bounce brother, Zach LaVine, when he was tasked to man Minnesota’s point of attack while Ricky Rubio was sidelined.
Most recently, during their Wolves’ tilt against the surging Los Angeles Clippers, Wiggins’ flaws as a pick-and-roll defender were thoroughly exploited by the league’s most prudent probing savant, Chris Paul.
In theory, putting the long-limbed rookie on CP3 would disturb Paul’s court vision and derange the effectiveness of his midrange game. But, much like LaVine, Wiggins lacks the defensive discipline and know-how to split the court in a timely manner by staying on the ball-handler’s hip before the screener approaches to set the pick.
To make matters worse, he doesn’t have to lower body strength to fight through the pick with timeliness; instead, he either just dies on the screen or pirouettes under the pick.
Consequently, the Wolves, most often times, concede middle penetration without much restraint; thereby, unraveling a series of detrimental events (see 0:52 – 1:12 in video below, or click here).
For the game, according to Ben Beecken of Dunking With Wolves, Paul repeatedly burned Wiggins, making five of his seven field goal attempts while Wiggy was on him, before coach Flip Saunders pulled the plug on the hasty experiment.
While some may argue that point guard defense is inconsequential in the modern day game, the 2014-15 Minnesota Timberwolves would beg to differ. Their inability to defend the pick-and-roll game at the point of attack is one of the primary reasons why the Wolves rank dead last in points in the paint allowed this season, per NBA.com.
In the long run, Wiggins’ pick-and-roll defense may take the longest to develop before Saunders can routinely embed Andrew on opposing point guards, ala Nicolas Batum and Klay Thompson.
Going Forward
Politicians lie. Women lie. Numbers don’t.
By all accounts, the numbers say Wiggins is, at present, a below-average defender. When taking into account the external circumstances the number one pick has had to deal with — notably, playing with a contingent of inexperienced, overwhelmed first- and second-year players for the majority of the season — Wiggs is not as bad as his stats would indicate.
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Dunking with Wolves
Using George once again as a benchmark, his impressive rookie campaign on the defensive end was anchored by the league’s 12th most proficient defensive team. Meanwhile, the Timberwolves’ defensive struggles have been thoroughly documented throughout the piece.
While he may not be a net positive on the defensive end for now, his innate foundation as an on ball defender and improving comprehension of team concepts, are optimistic cornerstones to his plight in becoming an elite two-way monster going forward.
In a matter of four months, Wiggins has managed to evolve from a clumsy, rigid pogo-stick into an ultra-explosiveness low-post threat; from a careless, ball-watching off ball defender into a high-energy, effort-inducing disruptor.
As such, there is no reason to doubt Wiggins’ ability to realize his full potential and reach his goal in becoming a perennial All-Defensive team member, sooner rather than later.
Next: 5 Likely First Time NBA All-Stars Next Season
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