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Andrew Wiggins experiencing early ups and downs at Kansas

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Kansas swingman Andrew Wiggins has hit his first NCAA speed bump.

The Thornhill-born phenom is going through the natural adjustments all freshman do, but he’s doing it with more attention and pressure than any frosh in years, leading to naysayers.

Wiggins has caught flack for averaging just eight points on 29% shooting in two games in the Bahamas last week (one, a loss to Villanova), but what most weren’t aware of, was that he was fighting a bad case of the flu.

“The kid was sick in those games, in hindsight, probably shouldn’t have played, I think people should give him credit for playing,” Tony McIntyre — who coaches CIA Bounce, the Toronto-area AAU team that counts Wiggins and No. 1 overall NBA draft pick Anthony Bennett (among many others) as alumni — told the Sun on Thursday.

McIntyre isn’t surprised doubters have emerged, but believes they’re making a mistake in claiming Wiggins is overrated.

“Every great player goes through that, where you back up and then everybody wants to bring you down,” McIntyre said.

“He’s not on a team that’s absolutely revolving around him. He’s going to pick his spots, pick his shots in the offence.

“It’s going to take two or three games where people are going to say: ‘Oh my god, look at what this kid has done,’ and then it’s right back to where it was ... I think Andrew right now is figuring it out and will be very, very good and will prove everyone wrong by the end of this year, that’s for sure.”

ryan.wolstat@sunmedia.ca

 

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