靜待花開 奔跑吧，威金斯!

There’s an old saying in professional sports that potential will get you killed. Valuing a prospective future at the expense of immediate or medium-term production is a recipe that can get executives and coaches fired.

職業體育中有這樣一句諺語：潛力會殺死你。以犧牲短期或中期利益爲代價去換取一個有希望的未來，這是許多經理和教練被炒魷魚的原因。

Does this apply to Minnesota Timberwolves guard Andrew Wiggins?

這句話適用於明尼蘇達森林狼的後衛安德魯-威金斯嗎？

It’s a fascinating question given that the way he’s evolved through three seasons in the league.

考慮到近三個賽季他的進步這一點，這是一個極好的問題。

Wiggins’ shot selection has improved as he’s gained experience and acquired a better grasp of where to get his looks from, and his ball-handling is now at a point where the Timberwolves can regularly utilize Wiggins in pick-and-rolls.

隨着威金斯的經驗更加豐富，能夠更好地拿捏出手時機，他的投籃選擇有所進步。由於他的處理球能力，他是森林狼現在打擋拆時常規運用的一個點。

He’s morphed into a somewhat efficient scorer who can take advantage of the opposition in the right matchups. Passive diminutive players that lack strength are in trouble against Wiggins, because he will punish them on switches in the low-post area.

他演變成了一個頗有效率的得分手，能在對位中能從對手那佔到便宜。那些力量不足且消極防守的矮個球員在對位威金斯時會陷入麻煩，因爲他會在低位區域懲罰換防後的他們。

That growth in his offensive game will make most general managers salivate at the idea of building a nucleus around him. After all, Wiggins is only 22 years old, and he seems poised potentially to evolve as the second coming of Tracy McGrady or Paul George.

他進攻能力的提升讓絕大多數總經理垂涎三尺，想要圍繞他建隊。威金斯才22歲，他看起來有可能進化成第二個特雷西-麥克格雷迪或者保羅-喬治。

The 6’8'' Wiggins is one of the most athletic players in the league, and he appears destined for stardom in a league where more and more franchises are adopting the pace and space identity for their teams. With increased spacing, Wiggins would get additional opportunities to attack off the bounce and finish at the basket.

6尺8的威金斯是聯盟中最具運動天分的球員之一。在這個越來越多的球隊加快節奏和拉開空間的聯盟裏，他似乎註定成爲一個明星球員。隨着空間的拉開，威金斯有了額外的機會在運球后完成進攻，以及在籃下完成終結。

That isn’t the case yet, though, which is important to note when assessing where he is now and what the future holds.

儘管情況還並非如此，但是評估他現在如何以及未來的發展時這一點很重要。

The Wolves often utilize No. 22 as a pick-and-roll ball handler, where as one would guess it, he’s average on most days, per . The lack of surrounding floor spacers makes it easy for opponents to collapse on these plays, and Wiggins isn’t great (yet) at getting from one spot to the next while handling the ball in traffic, which limits the areas he can access.

據顯示，森林狼經常把22號（威金斯）當做一個擋拆球處理人，像人們之前猜測的那樣，他大多數時候都處在平均水準。由於沒有可以在場上拉開空間的人，對手很容易就能收縮防守。威金斯不擅長於帶球跑動，這限制了他可以跑動的區域。

One way to counter that is by inverting the offense by stationing frontcourt players – within shooting range – on the perimeter while Wiggins operates near the block. He is effective at backing down his man and turning around for a jump shot, but he faces issues against active defenders.

改變這種情況的一種方法是顛倒進攻佈置，將有射程的前場球員安排在外線，而威金斯在低位持球進攻。他在背身單打併轉身跳投上頗爲高效，但是在面對積極的防守人時會陷入麻煩。

Because he lacks upper body strength, it’s difficult to maintain position and seal his player as he awaits for the ball to find him. What’s more, even when he is in possession of the ball, Wiggins will have trouble against bulkier defenders that can push him off his spot.

由於他上肢力量不足，他很難在等球傳到他時站好位置並對抗。另外，甚至他拿着球時，對抗能把他頂開的大個球員也頗爲困難。

Wiggins has struggled against the San Antonio Spurs this season precisely because of this. Kawhi Leonard has swarmed him with his physical defense and bothered his every move. In three games, Wiggins has made 14-of-44 (31.8 percent) shots and turned the ball over 10 times. Granted, few players have actually solved the Kawhi riddle, so it’s not a damning fact that Leonard has given Wiggins fits.

這恰恰是威金斯這賽季打聖安東尼奧馬刺隊頗爲吃力的原因。科懷-倫納德對他進行身體對抗並干擾他每一次移動。在三場比賽中，威金斯投籃44中14（31.8%的命中率）且轉移球超過十次。的確，很少有球員能真正搞定倫納德，所以倫納德對威金斯做的顯得沒有那麼致命。

However, there are weaknesses in his game that other teams have been able to exploit.

然而，他在比賽中也有弱點，其他隊伍已經利用了他的缺陷。

For instance, he is not a great or even good open shooter. Indeed, tells us that he only converts 37.4 percent of his wide open shots (no defender within six feet), which is somewhat problematic given that he doesn`t excel at anything other than finishing at the rim.

比如說，他不是一個很棒的甚至不怎麼樣的空位投手。根據統計，甚至他的外圍空位投籃命中率僅有37.4%（6英尺內沒有防守人時）。考慮到他只擅長籃下終結，這就有點問題了。

What’s more, his lack of upper body strength makes routine appearances in screen setting (average at best on this front) and on defense.

更重要的是，上肢力量不足使他在掩護（在這方面最多算是平均水平）和防守端表現很一般。

Wiggins gets hung up on picks and gets pushed around for rebounds, which he acknowledged to ’s Brian Windhorst coming into this campaign:

威金斯也苦惱於作掩護和拼搶籃板球，他在節目中對的Brian Windhorst承認了這一點：

"I looked at my stats, and I was like, ‘I’m too big and too athletic to average three rebounds a game,'" Wiggins said. "A lot of people can score. What else can you do?"

我看了我的技術統計，我覺得就像‘我太大而壯以至於平均一場拿不到三個籃板’”，威金斯說，“許多人都能得分，而你還能做點其他的什麼嗎？”

He is self-aware enough to understand his limitations and has taken steps every year to correct them little by little, and that suggests his growth mindset will remain.

他有足夠的自知之明，知道自己的不足，並且每年都在逐步改進。這意味着他還會繼續成長。

If I were the Minnesota general manager, some of these details would concern me and perhaps lead to some hesitation when it came time to decide on whether or not he is worth a max extension.

如果我是明尼蘇達總經理，這些細節可能會影響我，或許到決定他是否一份頂薪時會有些猶豫。

And then, one would be forced to come to the realization that it’s absurd to even contemplate a world where Wiggins does not get paid.

然後，我也不得不意識到，如果說有哪個世界的球隊不會給他頂薪，那顯然是荒唐的。

After all, the third-year player turned 22 in February and is averaging 22.5 points per 36 minutes while shooting 46 percent from the field.

畢竟，這個三年級生二月份才22歲，現在已經能在場上每36分鐘能拿到22.5分，命中率有46%。

His scoring and efficiency have risen every year, which is somewhat remarkable considering where he started. Indeed, during his rookie season, Wiggins was a weird cog in a democratic offense that made little sense.

他的得分和效率值逐年上升，回頭看他剛進聯盟的表現，這就頗爲引人注目。事實上，在新秀賽季，威金斯離奇地在毫無意義的常規進攻中扮演着配角。

He was forced to fend for himself and find shots alongside Kevin Martin, Thaddeus Young, Ricky Rubio, Nikola Pekovic, Shabazz Muhamad and Mo Williams.

他被迫爲自己力爭在凱文-馬丁，賽迪斯-楊，裏基-盧比奧，尼古拉-佩科維奇，沙巴茲-穆罕默德和莫-威廉姆斯身邊尋找投籃機會。

It was difficult for Wiggins to find his way in this setting given that he lacked the experience to understand where to get his shots in the offense. Thus, he got out in transition and tried to attack the offensive glass given his imperfect fit in the team scheme.

考慮到他在進攻端把握投籃位置的經驗還不足，他很難找到自己的方式。所以他不能很好適應球隊計劃，他就打轉換進攻，並嘗試去拼搶前場籃板。

He was often forced to stand around and watch others operate before the ball eventually found him in seemingly uncomfortable spots. Because he was a poor ball handler, he was incredibly limited on the perimeter and had to hope others would create for him.

他總是被迫站着看別人運球，直到最後在看起來不大舒服的點接球。因爲他的處理球很糟糕，他被迫呆在外線，只能期待其他人能爲他創造機會。

This is why a little over 60 percent of his field-goal attempts came with either zero or one dribble in his rookie season. Contrast that with today, Wiggins is now among the top scorers in the league (ranks 13 in points per game), and he is doing this in a variety of ways.

這就是爲什麼在他的新秀賽季他有60%出頭的概率在投籃前不運球或者只運一次球。今非昔比，如今的威金斯已經在聯盟的頂尖得分手之列了（場均得分聯盟13），而且他的得分方式多種多樣。

I’m still betting big on his long-term success. Wiggins will be an All-Star. Will he be a top-5 or even a top-10 player? Maybe not. But when did that become the standard? When did anything but that become a failure?

我現在依舊堅信他會有一個長期的成功。威金斯會成爲全明星。他能否成爲聯盟前十甚至前五的球員呢？或許不能。但是什麼時候這變成了評判成功的標準？什麼時候只要沒達到就是失敗者了？

He is going through an adjustment period, and he will have to maintain the workload and potentially even increase it to turn himself into a complete player. Minnesota head coach and president of basketball operations Tom Thibodeau believes so as well.

他正在步入一個調整期，他讓自己轉變成一個全面的球員必須保證訓練量，甚至可能需要更多訓練。明尼蘇達主教練兼籃球運營總裁湯姆-錫伯杜也這樣堅信着。

"I want Wigg to improve, to get better, to be strong on both sides of the ball," Thibodeau stated, according to the Minneapolis StarTribune’s Jerry Zgoda. "He can make this whatever he wants it to be. But he’s got to work.’’

據明星論壇報（明尼阿里波斯市）的Jerry Zgoda報道，錫伯杜說：”我想要威金斯進步，變得更好，在攻防兩端都很出色。他能做到所有他想完成的事。但是他得投入工作。”

Sure, he’s a work in progress, but he’s light years ahead of where he stood two seasons ago at this point. Heck, Wiggins’ last 10 games offer a glimpse into what the future might possibly hold. He’s averaging 28.9 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.1 steals on 50.2 percent shooting overall and 38.9 percent from long range.

確實，他還在進步的過程中，但是目前而言，他比兩年前的表現要好上幾光年。威金斯過去十場比賽讓人們窺見了他可能擁有的未來。他場均28.9分，4.1個籃板，2.1個搶斷，整體命中率達到了50.2%，其中長距離命中率38.9%

That’s Kawhi territory folks. That’s the biggest issue plaguing Wiggins in Year 3.

夥計們，這可是倫納德級別的表現。而這正是三年級生威金斯現在最大的困擾。

Expectations.

人們的期待。

One easily forgets how young and inexperienced he is, and thus expect him to join the elite now while forgetting that most of the top players in the league truly ascended right around their third seasons in the NBA.

人們很容易忽視他多麼年輕，而且經驗還不豐富，所以期待他現在就加入精英行列，卻忘記了這個聯盟裏的大多數頂尖運動員第三個賽季前後還在上升期。

As much as one would like for Wiggins to become a terrorizing once-in-a-generation force, it will take at least another year before it’s known for sure whether he has that in him. The process may be mundane on some level, but he has continuously augmented his repertoire, which suggests Wiggins will improve on a year-to-year basis and reach the elite.

人們想要威金斯差不多成爲一個恐怖的千載難逢的球員，但是在確定他是否能成長成那樣至少還需要一年才能知道。在某個階段，過程可能平淡無奇，但他已經在不斷自我突破，這意味着威金斯在逐年進步，到達頂尖球員行列。

The potential coupled with production is there, and that tells me Wiggins will be good for a long time coming.

潛力和成果都有，這告訴我們威金斯在接下去很長一段時間裏都會很出色。

That’s what we should all make of him.

我們應該就這樣去看待威金斯。

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