Monday, June 6th, 2011 at 9:00 am  |  193 responses

Dwyane Wade: Dallas Mavericks Killer, Again


by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni

He’s doing it to them again.

Five years later, Dwyane Wade is once again becoming the Dallas Mavericks’ worst nightmare in the NBA Finals. Largely due to favorable matchups, the Heat have turned to DWade late in games to bring it home for them, and he has.

This has predictably led to some pretty awful (and wildly incorrect) assumptions from certain members of the media about Wade’s teammate, LeBron James, but the truth of the matter should be obvious to anyone who has ever watched the NBA for more than 10 minutes: both Wade and James are doing exactly what has been asked of them, which is inching them ever closer to their first title together.

In the NBA Finals, Dwyane Wade has once again taken over the familiar role of team leader both on and off the court.

NBA.com has the quotes:

Wade only got to the line four times on Sunday, but he finished with 29 points on 12-for-21 from the field, hitting two of his four attempts from 3-point range. Before Bosh’s game-winner, Wade had the Heat’s previous three buckets, one off a post-up and two pull-up jumpers (one of them a trey) from the top of the key. “We allowed him to bring us home offensively,” [LeBron] James said.

“He played spectacular basketball,” [Chris] Bosh said of Wade. “He was aggressive and took good shots. We rode the wave for a little while. He set the tone for us.” For the series, Wade is averaging 29.0 points, 8.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists. He’s shooting 57 percent from the field and 6-for-15 from 3-point range. His scoring and free-throw attempts are down from the 2006 Finals (when he averaged 34.7 points), but he’s still the Heat’s go-to guy. And on Sunday, Wade wasn’t just making buckets. He was trying to get his teammates to come along for the ride. “He had every right to say what he said to me,” James admitted. “As a competitor, you love when guys challenge you. He challenged me in the locker room at halftime. He challenged me on the court. As a competitor, like I said, I respect that.” … Wade wanted this game, and he got it. “I’ve been here before,” he said.

The Miami Heat is using a tried-and-tested formula against Dallas in these Finals: play suffocating defense, and let Dwyane Wade carry the offense.

Sounds a lot like 2006, and looks like the Mavs still haven’t figured out how to overcome either obstacle.

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  • JTaylor21

    Jukai, I too only idolize Bird because dude was white. Oh, wait…..I’m black.
    Where is Malcom X when you need him? I’m cheering for the wrong team!

  • http://Philosophervision@blogspot.com The Philosopher

    Barkley was a big man, too. 6’4 1/2″.
    So was Hakeem. 6’10 1/2″.
    So was Karl Malone. 6’9″.
    All of those players had different styles. But, they were big.

  • http://www.bulls.com Rigo Gonzalez

    That’s the fugazi Jukai.

  • http://Slamonline.com Nbk

    All those guys played bigman positions Philo. Bird played the wing, he was just tall and smart, so he put up bigman rebounding numbers. I mean he played some PF but not enough to ever be considered a bigman.

  • http://Slamonline.com Nbk

    *bigman in terms of play style/position. He’s obviously a big human being

  • http://fivemag.de Speedy

    Cosign Conoro.
    And definitely Cosign Dagger.
    Some of the truest words ever spoken on this side.
    I Just read this discussion here and wanted to write the same.
    I mean how can you argue about who is more important on the heat after you saw all the playoffs and have a at least partly functionating brain .
    They wouldn’t be where they are if they wouldn’t play together.

  • http://fivemag.de Speedy

    One last point.I said this a few weeks back.
    BULL 22 is ignorant and stupid and a hater.
    This came from a guy that doesn’t like LeBron but knows the game.

  • T-Money

    i’ve enjoyed nba basketball more in the last month because i’ve decided to completely block the noise. i don’t read or watch whitlock, simmons, bayless or woj (still follow woj on twitter only for the scoops). i also refuse to engage in any discussion about who’s “batman and robin” (skip is playing ya’ll) and what one single game means for the legacy of players that are not even halfway into their careers (as if!). you will figure out how stupid this all is once you realize that writers who kill wade or bron when they defer in crunch time are the same writers who criticize them when they go into “hero mode”. they’re playing ya’ll for column hits.

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    NBK
    Bird played the four initially in his career from what I understand. He moved to the three for McHale’s sake. Look at his numbers compared to Maxwell and it’s clear who was the “big” in that tandem.

  • http://www.bulls.com Rigo Gonzalez

    T-Money’s on point.

  • Dagger

    JTaylor: you don’t have to denigrate Dirk to praise Bird. Dirk’s an amazing basketball player – an all-timer at his position – it’s just that Bird was much more complete. As far as scoring: granted, Bird’s better, but in my opinion Dirk has a more unstoppable shot. I’m not usually one to diminish the importance of race, but the fact that so many people can even think about comparing the two as scorers has less to do with skin colour and more to do with their similar styles of excellence. They’re two tall guys who move surprisingly well for their size and can score from anywhere on the court, especially in the clutch.

  • http://slamonline.com The Fresh Prince of Nsam

    The Silver Surfer!!! The coolest superhero ever! 2nd Iron Man, 3rd Wolverine (the perfect antihero!), The GhostRider, Krom…

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    Why do I have to look at numbers? wth are those going to show me other then that Bird was a better player? Was LeBron a bigman in cleveland? his stats would tell you he was. Was Bird also the back up point guard? he was 2nd in assists too. McHale came to Boston in 1980, its not like Larry had to wait for very long for him anyway. (Bird always outrebounded McHale but your not gonna tell me he was the bigman there) Bird was the best rebounding SMALL FORWARD in NBA history. Elgin Baylor and him are the only wings to average over 10 boards a game for their career. The key word there is wings.

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    Rigo, you see the article on TrueHoop about Corey Brewer?

  • JTaylor21

    Word, Bird was a forward who played mostly in the low post and mid-range area. He rarely ventured out to the perimeter like other SFs did, the only time being was when his team needed a 3.

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    And Larry’s rookie year Maxwell started at the other forward, with Dave Cowens at center. I don’t know who guarded PF’s but I would be willing to bet it was Maxwell. Judging by Cowens being an over the hill defender at that point, and Bird being so important offensively, I bet Maxwell was used to guard the opposing teams best post scorer, he outblocked Bird and still averaged 8.8 rebounds (generally the guy scoring the best post scorer will get the lest % of the rebounds, if that’s not obvious). Offensively it’s completely clear by the stats who was the PF and who was the SF, Maxwell shot over 60% from the field, led the team in offensive rebounds, didn’t attempt a single 3, while Bird put up 17 shots a game at 47%, shot over a 3 a game, and led the team in scoring, but only averaged 2.5 offensive rebounds a game,which when coupled with his below 50% shooting would imply that most his shots are taken away from the hoop, and not in the same area that would be used by a PF in the same era of the league.

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    And taylor, nobody shot a ton of 3′s back then. Nobody. The 3pt line was brand new, and shooting was never at a premium before that time. Mid Range shots made up the majority of attempts from all perimeter positions. Bird would probably be more of a power forward in todays NBA then he was 25+ years ago.

  • http://www.bulls.com Rigo Gonzalez

    Nah, can’t access it at work.
    What’s it about?

  • http://slamonline.com The Fresh Prince of Nsam

    Shout out @ my main man The Philosopher, t’as l’air en forme vieux brethen…

  • JTaylor21

    Well, I must be Ray Charles’ long lost son because I’ve seen bird launch 3s like it was nothing but hey, what do I know.

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    How good Brewer is defensively, and how he should be playing in Stojakovic’s minutes. And Taylor, Birds highest attempted season at 3 are – 3.3 in 1990-91 (which is a good amount, but that’s 1991 when his back as almost done), he had 5 seasons of over 2 attempts, and 3 total of more then 3 per game. in 85-86 Bird led the league in 3pt attempts at 2.4 attempted per game. Compare that to today, the league leader in 3pt attempts, Dorrell Wright – 6.3 3ptAPG. (FOr the record, in 1986 a “bigman” that led the league in 3pt attempts would have caused some kind of meltdown in basketball fundamentals)

  • http://slamonline.com The Fresh Prince of Nsam

    People from the Chi seems 2 be either very cool n passionate dudes (Rigo, airs, Thawindy) even Twista, Common, Obama… Or stuborn hard haided “morons” (BC, bull22, The Yeezy of late)…
    Maybe it’s the cold…

  • http://www.bulls.com Rigo Gonzalez

    I see, this is going back to that twitter convo we had with BC, huh?
    JTaylor, you know blindness isn’t heriditary, right?

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    I was wrong, I had some bad information on Maxwell.

  • http://Philosophervision@blogspot.com The Philosopher

    Shout out @the good brother, The Fresh Prince of Nsam!
    @Nbk:
    If Bird would be more of a PF in today’s game, that would make him “big”, no? What was the difference back then?
    And, in Bird’s day, there were guys 6’7″ playing center. Bird was big. Especially for what he can do.

  • http://Philosophervision@blogspot.com The Philosopher

    Hey Rigo, what happened on twitter??

  • http://www.bulls.com Rigo Gonzalez

    Just a convo we had on there about Corey Brewer

  • http://slamonline.com Tae

    Ok im a Lakers fan so i watched every game last year, 1-7. Can someone please help me understand how Gasol was tha MVP instead of Kobe. Cus from watching those games tha only bad game Kobe had was 7. He beasted tha whole series, almost like he did against Orlando

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    Philo I think we misunderstood one another. I meant, like bigman as in a position on the court, you have setup guy (point guards generally) wings (sg’s & sf’s) and bigmen (Pf’s and Centers) that was where my “Larry Bird should never be considered a bigman” stance came from. In todays NBA Bird would be playing a whole different position then he was in Boston, he would be a stretch 4, but he didn’t/doesn’t play in this era so we can’t call him that. He was a 3/small forward, every single year of his career. That’s where I was coming from. — And yeah Rigo that Corey Brewer thing was about that twitter convo. An elephant never forgets. (i’m an elephant in that way)

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    Tae – I don’t know if you really did watch the games then. Kobe shot was 41% in wins in that series? I don’t remember, I laid it all out in the comment section one day, Gasol led LA in shooting %, rebounds, and assists, in every single Laker win. He was the only laker that was efficient and consistent, but only in wins. Kobe was clearly the best player in the series as a whole, but he did the majority of his damage in losing efforts. Which IMO doesn’t make someone the “most valuable,” its the guy who performs the best that contributes most to his teams victories. Which in that series was Gasol

  • http://fkjslf.com Jukai

    Guys, just relax, there’s good news— Isiah isn’t returning to the Knicks. Everything is well.

  • http://Philosophervision@blogspot.com The Philosopher

    Nbk:
    Maybe you are right.
    I always figured that if you are 6’9″ who rebounds, makes hustle plays, does the dirty work, guards players who are the same size or bigger, and plays mainly in the low post, then you are big.
    I always figured guards are traditionally small. Forwards – centers were traditionally big. Even if not in size. I could be wrong.
    Today’s game is indeed different.

  • http://thetroyblog.com Teddy-the-Bear

    Well, in today’s game we have a 6’6 man playing center and guarding 7 footers too: Chuck Hayes.

  • http://www.bulls.com Rigo Gonzalez

    Or as Shaq calls him, “Chuck Hayes’ wild ass”.

  • http://Philosophervision@blogspot.com The Philosopher

    I guess at the end of the day, when you are Larry Bird, you are big. Just not “big” in the traditional sense to some. He did things that a traditional big man does. This is indeed true. But he did things that a traditional big man doesn’t do as well, to this day.
    Not to beat a dead horse, but one more time, Joe Bird was a big man.
    The very first of his kind.

  • http://Slamonline.com Nbk

    Yeah we both know this argument is remedial lol, bird was great, no matter how you define him.

  • http://fkjslf.com Jukai

    Would Bird definitely be a stretch four, or would it depend on the makeup of the team, who the team has defensively and offensively at the three and four position for that decision to be made?
    I’ll give you a hint, it’s the latter.

  • http://Slamonline.com Nbk

    Idk I guess if he played on a team that goalie didn’t care about guarding the most deadly players on the league he’d play the 3. But athletically and physically, today, with weight lifting & the way players train, I’m pretty sure he’d be a 4. But you are probably right, there are likely to be situations where he’d be a small forward. The league being so much more defensive, perimeter orienteD today makes me believe that would be the case only occasionally.

  • http://Slamonline.com Nbk

    really*. Autospell strikes again with goalie, ironic in it’s own special way.

  • http://fkjslf.com Jukai

    NBK: I mean, if you had Blake Griffin on your team, Bird would be a three. If you had Lebron on your team, Bird would play the four.
    It’s not like Bird didn’t go up against his share of hyperathletic threes in his day: Wilkins, Worthy, King… they all are athletic in today’s standard but Bird guarded them well-enough (it helps to have McHale and Parish making up for your mistakes, of course). Which brings up the other point that you’re thinking too much about isolation defense. If you got some good help defense on your team, you don’t have to worry about those mismatches as much.

  • http://fkjslf.com Jukai

    But I’ll also give you that for the majority of teams, Bird would be a four. I just don’t know if that’s 55% or 85%.

  • http://excite B Brown

    I tried to watch the game last nite; but after watching Dallas yawn, jump up, turn their heads, and or talk to each other during the national atem. What is wrong with these guys they make big money from our country and they can’t even place their hand on their heart during this song.

  • Ken mav fan

    Ay…the heat lost…

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