Not necessarily known for his ability to shoot the ball, Andrew Wiggins‘ shooting has looked below average this season. He recently contacted his shooting coach, Drew Hanlen, to help fix some of these recent struggles.
Andrew Wiggins is in his fourth season and things have not progressed like many had hoped for. Coming out of college, it was not a surprise that he wasn’t the greatest shooter. However, with his rare athleticism and height… it was never a major issue. We’ve all seen the results of him cutting to the hoop, his nasty spin moves, or of course the best of them all-his poster dunks.
Each season he has progressed his offensive game – improving his shooting percentage and points per game. This season has been the complete opposite story. He’s averaging just 17.6 points per game and shooting a career-low 42.6 percent from the field and 29.4 percent from 3.
Some of these recent struggles could be the minute distribution catching up to him, or it could be that there are so many options on the offensive end that he hasn’t necessarily figured out how to work with others. Keep in mind that he has been the main scoring option his whole life. This team doesn’t always run plays through him all the time anymore like some may have in the past.
If you can’t recall, Wiggins started the season off on a good note. The first three games of the season he was the teams leading scorer, and we can’t forget higame-winnerer against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Sadly, things have taken a hard left turn as of late. This is a good look at how things have fared in the month of December:
| Date | Tm | Opp | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | FT | FTA | FT% | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-12-01 | MIN | OKC | 39:31 | 8 | 14 | .571 | 4 | 8 | .500 | 3 | 6 | .500 | 23 |
| 2017-12-03 | MIN | LAC | 38:08 | 4 | 15 | .267 | 0 | 5 | .000 | 4 | 4 | 1.000 | 12 |
| 2017-12-04 | MIN | MEM | 36:29 | 6 | 17 | .353 | 0 | 2 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 12 | |
| 2017-12-06 | MIN | LAC | 36:25 | 7 | 16 | .438 | 1 | 3 | .333 | 1 | 2 | .500 | 16 |
| 2017-12-10 | MIN | DAL | 35:36 | 3 | 12 | .250 | 0 | 3 | .000 | 4 | 8 | .500 | 10 |
| 2017-12-12 | MIN | PHI | 40:01 | 8 | 24 | .333 | 1 | 7 | .143 | 3 | 5 | .600 | 20 |
| 2017-12-14 | MIN | SAC | 33:49 | 9 | 17 | .529 | 3 | 4 | .750 | 1 | 1 | 1.000 | 22 |
| 2017-12-16 | MIN | PHO | 36:31 | 5 | 16 | .313 | 1 | 6 | .167 | 2 | 4 | .500 | 13 |
| 2017-12-18 | MIN | POR | 33:14 | 4 | 14 | .286 | 0 | 3 | .000 | 1 | 3 | .333 | 9 |
| 2017-12-20 | MIN | DEN | 34:47 | 3 | 12 | .250 | 0 | 2 | .000 | 1 | 1 | 1.000 | 7 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/21/2017.
Just look at his field goal percentage and points per game. This is not the Wiggins we know and have seen over the course of his career. Clearly things are not clicking and that could be because of numerous things. Maybe it’s the coaching, maybe it’s the plays being ran for him, maybe it’s the additions of players, or maybe it’s just mentally draining. Jimmy Butler has been taking over in the month of December so it does have a lot to do with that as well.
All that aside, Wiggins just doesn’t look confident. A lot of this is mentally just draining his confidence. It happens to anyone and I think it’s safe to say everyone has gone through shooting struggles at some point in their life. This video alone shows how things have just been tough on his mental state.
This is not what Andrew Wiggins shot normally looks like. His form is off. pic.twitter.com/BigQ4MRD5r
— Dane Moore (@DaneMooreNBA) December 21, 2017
To help fix these issues, Wiggins called his shooting coach Drew Hanlen to help him fix some of these issues. It’s worth noting that for some odd reason, the staff of the team does not want him spending time with Hanlen during the course of the season. You’d think that if it helps him be a better player, that they could put things aside and appreciate a player who can shoot. Anyways, Hanlen will be flying out to Phoenix where the Wolves’ are staying before Saturday’s game against the Suns.
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Let’s hope that with the help of Hanlen, we can soon see the player we have been expecting for many weeks now. After all, he did start the season very well after spending all offseason with him. Coincidence? I think not.