Thursday, April 8th, 2010 at 3:53 pm  |  26 responses

The Divine Nine + DWade 4 MVP

‘The Miami Heat have won nine in a row? Who knew…’

by Eddie Maisonet, III / @edthesportsfan

Dwyane Wade without a shadow of a doubt has to be the MVP of ‘The Association’ and it’s not even close.

The simple fact that the Miami Heat are on a nine-game winning streak this late in the season, given the surroundings around No. 3 and his upcoming participation in “The Season Of 2010” is astounding. The talent that surrounds Flash this season reminds me of a disgruntled quarterback who was recently traded to an inter-divisional rival where for the last 11 years the quarterback had wide receivers nicknamed “Trash” and “Stinkston.” (Can you tell I’m still a bit flustered from the news that broke Dwyane Wadeearlier this week?) Nevertheless, this might be the finest season Wade has put together since the Heat’s championship run back in ’05-06 as a veteran-laden squad led by Shaquille O’Neal, Alonzo Mourning, Gary Payton, Antoine Walker, James Posey & Co. overcame all struggles (and some beneficial officiating) to bring the first NBA title to Liberty City.

What does Dwyane have this season? Well, the second most talented player is Michael Paul Beasley, a mercurial and loquacious forward whose day-to-day performance is more up and down like Rasheed Wallace’s mood. Jermaine O’Neal is the resident big man on this squad, and his knees are basically made up of paper clips, balsam wood, hot Velveeta, Cray paper, fairies’ wishes, and baby’s breath. All hail the Boricua floor general Carlos Arroyo for bringing some stability to the point guard position, but even he has seen better days. As a matter or fact, I think there’s only one man who’s carried his weight on behalf of Wade. Who is that?

Udonis freaking Haslem.

Maybe it’s because Udonis is from Dade County (Miami) is the reason the man plays with pride everyday for the Heat. Hell, he probably realizes this might be the last time he ever gets to play with Dwyane again. Regardless, Haslem’s averaging 12.4 points and 11.5 rebounds a game during the nine-game winning streak, and has been a fixture for the Heat for years. Haslem is probably one of the most underappreciated players in the League, he’s almost a guaranteed double-double (off the bench no less) every night and you know he’s going to bring it on the defensive end.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the improved play of Quentin Richardson (who’s been revived from the dead), Dorrell Wright and Mario Chalmers who it seems that one of the three pick up the slack for the Heat each game.

Yet, at the end of the day this team doesn’t move until Dwyane starts pushing. I mean come on…Wade’s averaging a ridiculous 27 points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds (oh, and if you care…2 steals and 1 block per). It’s unfortunate he plays in a league were a 6-8 defensive end who moves like a tailback puts up even better numbers than Wade’s, but that man’s team (LeBron, Cavs) have a significantly better squad than what’s in Miami. Yet we’re already ready to crown LeBron as the MVP? Look at LeBron’s numbers this year compared to Dwyane’s:

LeBron: 29.7 pts, 7.3 rebs, 8.6 asts, 50.3% FG/33.3% 3PT/76.7% FT
Dwyane: 26.6 pts, 4.9 rebs, 6.6 asts, 47.4% FG/30.1% 3PT/76.1% FT

Now, I’m not here to say Dwyane’s better…that would be blasphemy. What I am saying is Dwyane is doing much much more with much much less. The man has no other consistent scoring threat whatsoever. Their defense is average at beDwyane Wadest, and their coach is still in fear as he looks over his shoulder wondering if Pat Riley’s going to steal his job.

Simply put, Miami would be doing the John Wall Dance if Dwyane wasn’t on this team, they’d be lottery bound. The Miami Heat are finally doing something quality teams do, they are beating the teams they are supposed to beat. I won’t try and hype up their nine-game streak (only three of the nine wins were against teams that are currently Playoff bound) but there’s something to being able to go in and consistently execute against a gameplan and knowing your personnel. Maybe head coach Erik Spolestra is figuring it out, maybe DWade’s balling out for “The Season of 2010,” maybe this team finally gets it. But if they can carry this momentum into the Playoffs then anything can happen.

As it stands, Boston and Atlanta would be the two teams that would matchup again Miami in the first round. It’s conceivable that they could lose to Miami at all, plus how can you bet against Wade? You can’t. So folks from Dade County, get to American Airlines Arena and witness what’s going on in the arena…you might miss Flash and the Heat spoiling the Eastern Conference Playoffs party.

Eddie Maisonet is a freelance sports writer, blogger and big time hoops fan from Oklahoma who currently resides in Cincinnati. Keep up with Eddie at SLAMonline as well as his blog Ed The Sports Fan and on Twitter.

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  • cru_thik305

    am i the only one who remembers when the cavs 2nd best player was LARRY HUGHES???? talk about doing more with less, lebron carried that team to the finals, and even though they got swept it still shows how much of a load he was carrying by himself. not to take anything away from d.wade, but winning 9 games in a row
    (6 to sucky teams) does not make him the mvp.

  • http://stapledesign.com Spaceship Jay

    I know he was MVP last year for sure.

  • http://Www.slamonline.com Myles Brown

    If you’re gonna play the “does more with less” card, you spelled Kevin Durant wrong.

  • http://www.another48minutes.com Gerard Himself

    Myles, are you kidding me? Green? Westbrook? No?

  • cramzy

    Dwade is my favorite player but I don’t think he’s MVP this year with the seasons Durant & Lebron have had. Now if we’re being literal about most valuable player—no doubt! I had to watch a Wadeless heat team play the mavs and it ain’t pretty (the one game i get tickets to,Dwade is hurt! D***IT!). But you can’t front on Lebron with those numbers and that record, same for KD. Dwade actually had a better case last year going 30-7-5.

  • Sparty’s Law

    Durant has WAY better talent around him than Wade does. This, of course, will change next year with the arrival of Chris Bosh and his big hair used to compensate for his little head.

  • ai come back

    lol its ironic that lebrons got 4 all stars (career wise) around him ands still gonna get mvp i kno i kno 2 of those all astars are gonna be gone in like a year but hey lebron bettern wade no competition

  • blah

    Sorry Wade might have benefitted from some officiating but Walker, Haslem, Williams, Shaq and Zo all NEVER got to the line which is something I laugh about when Mavs fans whine.

    Look it up Wade was at the line like 20 times but NO ONE else but Shaq even took a free throw attempt in most of those games

  • blah

    Wade received ALL the credit for the 2006 title and not once was anyone else ever given any credit for getting to the finals despite the fact they don’t get past NJ without Walker and they don’t get past Chicago without Walker and Haslem and they don’t get past Detroit without Shaq.

    Wade is a very good player but when he was playing with the likes of Shaq, Walker and Williams he had help and it made him look better then he was. Now that he has very little help he can’t win but not once has the other members of the 06 team been acknowledged and that is a shame/.

  • ronak

    i HATE to bring it up, but kobe in 05-06 anyone…

  • ripslice

    Wade should have been MVP last year. He always turns it up heading to the postseason.

  • will

    the cavs without lebron are not a bad team and can win games, but miami without wade suck and nowhere near good enough to make playoffs, making wade more valuable.

  • Lai Wai

    I tend to agree Wade is a one trick pony in Miami.
    They better hope they get hom help or he will be in Chicago.

  • JD

    after all said and done – i don’t think Wade care much who’s gnna be the MVP as long as he can get his team to the final which is unlikely. Please Wade please – surprise us in the post season!

  • Saami

    I dont think that putting those two lines together is the best way to make the point, LeBron has better numbers in every single category…

  • A.

    Compare Wade’s numbers this season to LeBron’s when they went to the Finals with Larry Hughes. And then you can see what LeBron does with a team that has nothing. The Cavs this year are a very good team, top to bottom, therefore LeBron does not need to score as much. And yet, his numbers are better than Wade’s all across the board. And he hasn’t kicked into Playoff mode yet. And please stop with the “LeBron plays with 4 All-Stars”. It’s not true. Yes they WERE All-Stars, but this year, only LeBron was invited. So this year he isn’t playing with any All-Stars, and those players who were All-Stars aren’t playing up to their All-Star level. So, you’re saying LeBron is playing with guys who aren’t as good as they were before. And still they are #1 in the League. LeBron wins MVP, hands down. Despite injuries and personnel changes, the team never missed a beat. Whatever the team needed, LeBron provided. No point guards? LeBron averages over 10 assists for a month. No Centers? He’s inside fighting for rebounds like he’s never done before. Add his scoring, and you’ve got the MVP.

  • COLT6

    D-Wade > L Train, pound-for-freaking-pound!Where you at Jukai, Z? D-Wade=MVP.

  • Jon W.

    D-Wade fights hard. But yesterday he looked kinda distracted when they lost, kinda out of it. I can’t blame him for giving up sometimes. He gets a double-team and then there’s no one left to go out and score 30 points. Beasley needs to feel challenged and motivated, or get outta Miami. He settles for jumpshots way too much, and doesn’t help. The last two weeks he seems to always be in the background, barely doing anything……….

  • http://sdifjlc.com Jukai

    COLT6: Lebron’s better, but I’ll throw you a bone… Kobe, Durant, Howard, nobodies. Wade is the second best player in the NBA by a long-shot, and he’s reminding people of it, a little: “just incase you forgot, I wasn’t trying before. This is what happens when I try. We get Ws. Thanks, see you in free agency.”

  • http://sdifjlc.com Jukai

    I mean, everyone hear talks about Iverson’s 32 and 7 like it was the greatest thing ever done in basketball… does anyone remember last year? Wade with 30 and 7.5 with 5 rebounds, 2+ steals and 1+ blocks? 49% shooting? C’mon, it’s just unfair what this guy can do.
    A Durantless OKC would cream a Wadeless Heat by about 20 points.

  • http://yahoo.com Chi-Town Stand up!

    Wade is better than Lebron. Greatness is defined by rings, and last time I checked D-Wade dug himself a 0-2 hole the same way Lebron did the very next year, and D-Wade took over the series and brought a trophy 2 Miami! Lebron got swept, so i’ll still take D-Wade, especially in the clutch. If u r on a team thats good enough 2 get 2 the finals then u should be good enough 2 win it all! D-Wade did, and Lebron didn’t! Thats cause hoopas from the Chi know that nobody cares about 2nd place! We play 2 win! Chi-Town stand up.

  • http://sdifjlc.com Jukai

    ^^^ Robert Horry better than MJ

  • http://Egotastic.com Michael

    D-wade took the first three months of the season off. They’ve had an insanely easy three week strech that he’s taken advantage of.

  • liam

    Wade was better than Lebron last year but Lebron was better this year.

    Wade shouldve showed up in shape to start the year and played at this level the entire season, then his averages would be there with lebrons just like they were last year and this time he woulda had enough wins to win the mvp award…….. if wade brought it all season like he has in the last 25 games than the heat wouldve won 50+ and wade woulda won mvp. but he’s waiting for next year and played himself into shape because he thought the team couldnt win, and he was wrong….. almost as wrong as riley was for wasting 3 years of wade’s prime with a garbage supporting cast around him

  • liam

    “Jukai Posted: Apr.10 at 4:59 pm
    I mean, everyone hear talks about Iverson’s 32 and 7 like it was the greatest thing ever done in basketball… does anyone remember last year? Wade with 30 and 7.5 with 5 rebounds, 2+ steals and 1+ blocks? 49% shooting? C’mon, it’s just unfair what this guy can do.
    A Durantless OKC would cream a Wadeless Heat by about 20 points. ”

    absolutely right, put last years wade with this years cavs team in lebrons spot and theyre 67-15 and wade gets them to a championship, fact

  • g

    i agree with liam if you put wade on a team like the lakers or cavs he would have had 3 rings by now the problem is that he doesnt have that supporting cast around like lebron or kobe does honestly he should have deff won MVP last year but this year i believe goes to lebron but i think wade is a better player when he has a successful team cause he will actually get that ring and nobody is getting in his way not even Orlando

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