Kerr: Warriors need ‘aggressive' Wiggins with Steph out

SAN FRANCISCO – It’s that time again for Andrew Wiggins. Time for the Warriors to give him chili peppers or a 10-pound overcoat or, if all else fails, a big bowl of gunpowder.

Whatever it takes to crank up the temperature of his temperament.

“Yeah,” coach Steve Kerr said Friday, “we want Wiggs to be more aggressive.”

Kerr said what he said. He said it because he realizes that with Stephen Curry out for most, if not all, of what remains of regular season, the Warriors are going to need Angry Andrew to help them generate any traction in the weeks before the playoffs.

Wiggins knows because he’s heard it before. It’s his responses that have been inconsistent. There have been nights when he took over significant portions of games and nights when he practically vanished into the ether.

Returning to practice Friday after missing two games with “congestion, sore throat at a cough,” Wiggins also understands that the latter response, with Curry out and the Warriors seeking optimal postseason seeding, would be detrimental. Perhaps ruinous.

“I’ll just try to do more,” he said. “Be more aggressive and do what I can to help the team win. Whatever they need.”

What the Warriors need is the Andrew Wiggins of the first half of the season. The guy who played solid defense against the opponent’s most dangerous perimeter player and also averaged 18.5 points while shooting 48.6 percent from the field, including a team-best 42.3 from distance.

It was on the night of Nov. 10, when Wiggins torched his former team, the Minnesota Timberwolves, for 35 points – including two emphatic dunks over All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns – that his impact took an appreciable leap. His teammates noticed, commented on it and reveled in it.

So did Wiggins. An All-Star Game campaign was launched. It was so successful that Wiggins was voted in as a starter. Given his two-way performance and number of frontcourt players unavailable because of injury – specifically perennial All-Stars Anthony Davis, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George – he was deserving. 

Since Feb. 1, four days after Wiggins was announced with the starters, he has averaged 13.9 points, shooting 41.4 percent overall and 35.3 percent beyond the arc. After scoring 20 or more points in 16 of his first 47 games, he failed to reach that total in his next 14 games.

There were times when Wiggins seemed unwilling to drive into the paint, which led some to wonder if he was consciously or subconsciously avoiding the free-throw line, where his shooting plummeted to career-worst percentages.

He receded into the shadows, taking much of his heralded defense with him. The Warriors followed, going 8-9 in the 17 games since Feb. 1.

“There were some times when we made little mistakes,” Wiggins said. “I’m guilty of that too, just falling asleep sometimes. It happens to everybody. 

“But as the games ramp up and as we get closer to the playoffs, we’ve got to shut out the little things out because that can make a difference.”

Wiggins last Saturday scored 21 points in an impressive win over the defending champion Bucks. It was his highest-scoring game in eight weeks. There was defensive improvement. He missed the last two games but should be ready to return Sunday against the Spurs.

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Curry’s absence creates a huge vacuum, particularly on offense, for the Warriors. Guards Jordan Poole and Klay Thompson will have to fill most of it. But the need for Wiggins to score becomes essential.

“It’s going to be different on the court without Steph,” he said. “Steph is Steph. Everyone is going to have to step up. We’re going to do it collectively. We’ve got to play for each other. That’s how it’s going to be. We have the talent to still compete at a high level and beat anybody.”

That’s a true statement, and it is particularly accurate when Wiggins shows up not only to roam the court but also to bring enough velocity and production to make a statement about how badly he wants to win.

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