March 8, 2014; Morgantown, WV, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers guard Juwan Staten (3) shoots against Kansas Jayhawks guard Andrew Wiggins (22) at WVU Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Dan Friend-USA TODAY Sports
The Breakdown
Andrew Wiggins finally got to show his talent on both ends of the floor. What is scary to note is, he is this productive based on his high school skill level. It has only been one summer, but his NBA level length and athleticism is so outstanding, it makes his basic skills seem unstoppable. More importantly, he uses his physical tools at the defensive end as well. The combination of his reach, positioning, and ability to just quickly allows him to force turnovers at a surprising rate. With refinement at the NBA level, he may be able to shut down one side of the floor altogether.
Offensively, his ball-handling could use refinement. He’s able to get away with average ball-handling for the NBA level because of his athleticism and length. Those strides are Olympic-sized. Still, it has to be a likeable trait that a vast majority of his shots are balanced. He’s not fading away at weird angles or flying laterally away from the hoop to get the shot off. He’s taking shots, straight-up from the perimeter. His shot pocket is compact and he shows good touch from the perimeter. Fortunately, he gets so much elevation on his jumpshot that it doesn’t need to be a quick release. Still, for an NBA level small forward, he has a great foundation of skills to build upon.