An examination of Andrew Wiggins’ shooting woes
Minnesota Timberwolves’ forward Andrew Wiggins has had his shooting woes well-documented this season. However, it runs a lot deeper than that.
On Thursday night, Andrew Wiggins broke out of his shooting slump in a big way, connecting on 9 of his 17 shots for a 52.9 percent field goal percentage. This also included going 3-for-4 from downtown.
Before that game, however, he was 28-for-84 in his previous five games for a 33.3 percent field goal percentage. This included an abysmal 2-for-20 (10.0 percent) shooting performance from behind the arc. To pile on the horribleness, he only knocked down 63.2 percent of his free throws during that stretch.
This downtrend brought his overall shooting numbers from subpar to worrisome, as he’s shooting a near-career-low from the field and from the 3-point line:
| Season | Age | Tm | FG | FGA | FG% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | 2P | 2PA | 2P% | eFG% | FT% | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-15 | 19 | MIN | 6.1 | 13.9 | .437 | 0.5 | 1.5 | .310 | 5.6 | 12.3 | .453 | .454 | .760 | 16.9 |
| 2015-16 | 20 | MIN | 7.3 | 16.0 | .459 | 0.7 | 2.3 | .300 | 6.6 | 13.6 | .486 | .481 | .761 | 20.7 |
| 2016-17 | 21 | MIN | 8.6 | 19.1 | .452 | 1.3 | 3.5 | .356 | 7.4 | 15.6 | .473 | .484 | .760 | 23.6 |
| 2017-18 | 22 | MIN | 6.9 | 15.8 | .439 | 1.3 | 4.3 | .312 | 5.6 | 11.5 | .486 | .481 | .637 | 18.4 |
| Career | 7.3 | 16.3 | .449 | 0.9 | 2.7 | .326 | 6.4 | 13.6 | .473 | .475 | .750 | 20.2 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/15/2017.
Although extremely early, this trend is eye-opening, as you’d think he’d be getting easier shot attempts this season with Jimmy Butler and Karl-Anthony Towns soaking up more of the defense’s attention.
Unfortunately, Wiggins has continued to rely on shots that have a high-degree level of difficulty and isn’t connecting on the majority of them.
For his career, Wiggins has been a surprisingly average shooter from everywhere on the floor, as his shot chart here shows:
While that gives us a little piece of the picture, let’s dive in to discover exactly what percentage of shots he’s finishing from each area of the floor this season and how it compares to previous seasons. Buckle up, this will be fun.