Dwyane Who?
The Heat were 26-27 with Dwyane Wade. They are now 11-3 without him. My question is why nobody is talking about this? Are the media not allowed to write anything negative about Wade? Is Dick Bavetta somehow involved in all of this? There are many questions, but the one clear fact is that the Heat are better with just Shaq than they are with just Wade.
It all makes sense when one considers how the offense runs through the two players. Though Wade was averaging a career best 7.9 assists before his injury, most of them come of drive-and-dish type plays where all his teammates can do is stand there and hope Wade kicks it out or passes it down low to them. With a big man such as Shaq, it’s much different. When Shaq is double teamed in the post, it necessitates movement from all four of his teammates. Now instead of Jason Kapono or Udonis Haslem standing there waiting for a dish or a kickout, there is a lot more happening. The shooters such as Kapono have to rotate around the 3-point arc to find an open spot. Haslem now has the option of flaring out to the elbow for an open jumper. Guys like Antoine Walker or James Posey can cut to the basket and get a feed from Shaq for an open layup. When the offense is run down low through Shaq, it presents the Heat with more options than when it’s run through Wade, and it gets all the guys on the floor involved. That’s why the Heat are 11-3 since Wade went down.
Speaking of Wade’s injury, I initially thought it was a huge mistake for him to try and rehab instead of immediately having surgery. It seems that in most sports, particularly baseball, when it comes to serious injuries rehabbing rarely works as a substitute for surgery. The players usually end up going under the knife eventually, and all they get for their attempted rehab is lost time. But here’s the thing with Wade—he doesn’t need to be healthy. Just stepping on the court will earn him 15-20 free throws a game from the officials. The only skills Wade really needs are jumping and free throw shooting—those two skills account for about 80% of his effectiveness on the offensive end. Because of the treatment Wade gets from officials, he could be an effective offensive player without physically being able to shoot the ball more than 18 ft. Perhaps Wade knows this, and that’s why he elected to see if his shoulder would heal enough for him to get back on the court—even if he wont be at full strength.
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