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Wade is still pretty efficient. I think Lebron has been stealing his thunder obviously, so he is just kinda sitting back and being the other guy sort of speak until late in games. He even admitted a few weeks ago that Lebron was better. I still think Wade should and probably will be a closer for them unless teams double him late in games. As far as his attitude, no big deal. Some of Lebron's people are probably rubbing off on him, but i don't see the fuss really. His jumper has waned somewhat, but his defense is still there when it needs to be. These two guys will alternate having big games, so nothing new. Funny that once Lebron decided on the Heat, everyone was saying that this is still defnitely Wade's team. Don't think there is a consensus anymore is there? ....especially when Lebron wins his 3rd MVP in a few days here.
My guess is that LeBron is slowly taking over the team, with Wade's blessing. I think that one of the chemistry issues that had to be sorted out was who the go-to guy was going to be. I think it's still going to be a question as the Heat go deeper into the playoffs, and we could begin to see that in the Indiana series. James is going to be the go-to guy...but will he close out the big games. Wade's performance probably appears worse because he's adjusting to a new role, one in which he doesn't have to be 'money' in terms of creating offense, but just has to be there in case James can't finish.
My guess is that LeBron is slowly taking over the team, with Wade's blessing. I think that one of the chemistry issues that had to be sorted out was who the go-to guy was going to be.
Agreed, and given Lebron's age( coming into his prime) compared to Wade( will be out of his prime in about 2 years) it was inevitable. I'll give Wade credit for adjusting his role and most importantly his mentality, because that's the only way this duo was going to work. Wade is very dangerous and a threat to go off at any time though......
What do you guys think about the current state of his game? When he won the Ship back in '06, I thought he had developed a fairly consistent jump shot, and that his future would hold many scoring titles and MVPs. After he got injured, I thought his jumper would improve, but it seems like it's actually gotten worse. Today he seems to be a player who scores primarily off cuts to the basket and shores up point guard responsibilities from time to time. I used to think he was a Top 5 player, but I'm not so sure about that anymore.
Am I far off the mark?
Wade should have won the MVP back in 09. He was the scoring champ and he beat LeBron in every statistical category except rebounding(Wade even had more blocks, and assist than LeBron that year). To me, Wade is either 2nd or 3rd best player in the league because of all the intangibles he brings. Wade plays better defense than 99.9 percent of the players in the league. Who else his size can block 7footers straight up and face to face like he did last year to Chandler in the finals? He does that, and he chases people down and blocks them. He's the greatest shot blocking gaurd in NBA history. And he's a great on the ball defender, and a decent rebounder. Even when Wade's not scoring he contributes in other ways. I would put Wade lower than 3rd best player in the NBA. His 33ppg in the 06 finals was the 3rd highest scoring average in NBA Finals hisotry behind 01 Shaq(I think) and Jordan sometime in the 90's. Wade had a 71.6 % shooting game in 09, was the only man to have 15 assist with a 50 pt game other than wilt Chamberlain, and became the first NBA player to have at least 2,000 points, 500 assists, 100 steals, and 100 blocks in a season and the NBA's first 6'4 player to have over 500 blocks in one season.
Still one of the top players in the league? You bet!
Top 10? Probably.
But I don't think we could put him ahead of Russell Westbrook or a healthy D. Rose right now.
He's fallen off quite a bit. These last couple of series have proved my point.
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....especially when Lebron wins his 3rd MVP in a few days here.
Wade erupts for 41
