Minnesota Timberwolves: Is Andrew Wiggins playing with … confidence?

Andrew Wiggins has gone through a little slump with the Minnesota Timberwolves. It looks as if he may be breaking out again with his confidence creeping back.

The last handful of games have not been kind to the Minnesota Timberwolves‘ Andrew Wiggins. There’s been some inconsistency since last season, but he’s still shown those flashes we were used to seeing prior to the 2017-18 season.

Jimmy Butler was traded when the Wolves’ record stood at 4-9. Since then, they are 8-3 without him, and are currently 12-12. That’s only good for 10th in the Western Conference, but this is a ridiculously strong conference.

Since the trade, many anticipated Wiggins to showcase that same talent he displayed coming into the league. It looked like it may be coming true after the New Orleans Pelicans game. A game in which he scored 23 points in his first game since the trade, including a Nikola Mirotic poster.

He followed that performance up with another 23-point game against the Portland Trailblazers.

However, since those games, Wiggins struggled to find his groove. He didn’t shoot the ball effectively and went through a scoring drought. The way Wiggins looked and played, it was if all his confidence had been taken away like the basketball abilities of the hall of famers from Space Jam.

It was quite possibly Wiggins’ worst stretch in his career, but things look to be getting better for the former No. 1 overall pick. The last two games for him have given fans a sigh of relief. In those two games he’s averaged 16.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.5 blocks.

The stats are still down, but the encouraging sign has been his shooting percentage going in the right direction. Through those few games, currently shooting 47.8 percent from the field and 50.0 percent from 3. The scoring is still down, but he only shot the ball 11 and 12 times in those two games.

We’re starting to see more aggression and energy peaking through Wiggins.

He’s been driving to the hoop and getting more foul calls. In the month on Nov. he averaged 1.9 attempts from the line – something that shouldn’t be possible for a guy who’s as gifted as they come.

In the last two games he’s averaged 5.5 free throw attempts. This is a trend that needs to continue because he’s a lot more effective when he gets to the rim. Just look back to his early playing days when he was consistently going to the line.

His shooting and aggression are starting to blossom again, but something that shouldn’t go unnoticed is his defense. He may not have registered a steal or block in the loss against the Boston Celtics, but he did provide solid defense.

The game against the Houston Rockets was a fun one and Wiggins played a big role in the comeback win. His defense in that game was fun to watch. This was one of three blocks Monday night that helped lead the Wolves’ defense to hold the Rockets from scoring over 30 points in the second half.

Wiggins told the media before the Rockets game that he feels like he has confidence back. Players have started to see him feel more confident as of late.

Moreover, this is what Karl-Anthony Towns had to say about his teammate after the game:

Wiggins whole career has been about scoring, but he’s starting to affect the game in other ways. His defense has been progressing in the right direction for quite some time. But, the last handful of games have been good to see.

Moving forward he will need to continue to affect the game on both ends. That also includes the energy he brings to the game, which was on full display against Houston.

The upcoming stretch for Minnesota is daunting and the team will need him to continue to bring his scoring, aggression, defense and energy. This recent surge has been good to see and something that fans could get used to.