All of what I put in the post is true -- or was true when I posted it -- whether you like it or not. There's really nothing else to say.
Advanced stats were created, I would imagine, with the thought in mind of disabusing false "eye tests." I think that's kind of the point of having 'numbers within the numbers.'
Now, as I said in my original post, the Wolves play better without Wiggins on the floor. Or they have so far this season up until this point. Let's examine two other measures of this phenomenon.
Oh, but there has been a change it would seem between the previous game and the win for Minnesota at Denver. And here it is:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/pla ... _pbp::none
Before the Denver win, Wiggins was negative in On-Off Court. Which meant, as I said, that the Wolves played better with him off the court. That was an accurate statement. And here is another affirmation of the truth of what I said about the Wolves playing better without Wiggins on the Court. This data was from the start of the season up until 1/7/15:
http://www.82games.com/1415/14MIN7.HTM
So, these things are or were true whether or not you and I want them to be true. And they are true regardless of whatever narrative you feel I want to push.
* Until the win over Denver, the Wolves played better without Wiggins on the court according to the statistics
* After the win over Denver, the Wolves are playing better with Wiggins on the court according to the statistics
* The Wolves are 7-32 and the second-worst team in the league by record as I write this post
* Andrew Wiggins is currently ranked 491 out of 505 listed players in Basketball Reference's VORP listing as I write this post
Now, if people want to talk about splits or progress then there is a discussion to be had. Is Wiggins improving? Yes he is. What I'm discussing is the totality of the season up until this point. And the stats are what they are.
So if people want to compare Wiggins with someone like Durant, they can do that. If they want to compare Wiggins with someone who turned out to be a bust, they can do that. I'm not stopping anyone from making any argument they choose to make, I'm simply putting out the data I have come across as well.
I think Wiggins will be a good player in the league. Statistically, or in terms of impact measured in wins or advanced statistics, he's not there yet. That doesn't mean he won't get there, just that he's not there now. Maybe that will all change from now through the rest of January and on for the rest of this season. I don't know.
As far as watching Wiggins, I have watched Wiggins. I am both a "stats guy" as well as an "eye test" guy. In fact, I've been watching the NBA since Wiggins' dad Mitchell Wiggins played for my Houston Rockets back in the 1980's.
Someone else mentioned Love and Wiggins, or Wiggins fitting better with the Wolves than Love is with the Cavs. That's simply not statistically accurate. And I say that with the full knowledge that Love:
* isn't being used properly in Cleveland
* has apparently had a bad back for like a month
* is part of a very disappointing team at this point in time
As Bill Simmons said and I said here on Real GM some time ago, Love's 26/13/4 season last year produced a higher WS/48 number than any of Bird's 3 MVP seasons. That's freaking crazy. And that Wolves team was in the hunt for the playoffs for a good portion of the year.
Am I surprised that Love is having more of a positive impact with the Cavs than Wiggins seems to be having with the Wolves at the moment I write this post? No, I'm not. Love is an incredibly productive, multiple All Star level player. If he's not outperforming a rookie than something is probably seriously wrong.
I like Wiggins. I like Love. There's no incompatibility for me in that. I don't need Wiggins to suck to help Love look better. I don't need Love to suck to help Wiggins look better. I hope they both do well.
If you want to try to defeat an argument the best bet is probably to bring a counter-argument, not solely to try to pick at the existing argument. Is Wiggins rocking? Talk about his splits, talk about his last 13 games. Bring something more than a red pen to the other person's argument.
You'll almost certainly have more success and likely convince more people of your position.