Lebron has had the MVP since the start of the season. So there is no way in this world Wade is going to get it. I personally think the MVP trophy is pretty silly and I agree with Charley Rosen in his analysis o the MVP award,
but did anyone just peep that block by Wade?
http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/9319144/Wade's-contributions-too-big-to-be-overlooked
90 comments
Game Time: Heat 140, Jazz 129 (3 OT)
The universal consensus is that the MVP award should come from among LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade. And D-Wade's most recent performance against the Jazz certainly won't diminish his chances.
Let's take a closer look.
OFFENSE
Flash's output was gargantuan — 19-39 from the field, 10 rebounds, nine assists and 50 big points. Even more impressive was his scoring "only" 18 points on isos. The point being that 32 points were scored either on the run or within the context of Miami's offensive schemes.
Also impressive was that none of his shots were forced. Indeed, Wade's decision-making and his general unselfishness were nothing short of incredible. The only stubbornness he exhibited occurred early in the game when he tried stuffing two passes into a congested area in the paint and thereby committed two of his six turnovers. (Additional TOs consisted of a moving screen and three errant dribblings.)
Despite going for 51 against the Kings, LeBron James may be the league's third-best player behind Wade and Kobe Bryant. (Steve Yeater / FOXSports.com)
On his mid- to long-range jumpers, Wade was 8-21, a success rate of only 38.1 percent. And, in fact, it's his shooting that represents the weakest part of his offensive arsenal.
For Wade to get the proper stroke, he needs to shoot with his feet set, or to have the time and space to move into a step-in rhythm. Off-balance shots where his body is moving laterally are bound to be misses.
Most often, Wade initiated his basket-attacks after receiving a handoff in the middle of the court and a few steps above the arc. Because of his incredible cross-over dribble, his tricky changes of pace, his strength, his quickness, his extension and the huge gobs of ground he covers with each stride, Wade rarely was presented with high screens. In fact, it was rather easy for him to split any double-teamings that occurred when he did utilize such a screen.
His highlighted scores would include a behind-the-back dribble followed by a dramatic change of pace that nearly caused Andrei Kirilenko to sprain both his ankles — and eventuated in an uncontested layup-plus-one. Also a slick driving flip from 10 feet as well as a forward-leaping off-balance jumper in which he landed at least eight feet from his takeoff spot.
The only blots on Wade's offensive production were a pair of missed layups in critical situations, and being tied up by the quick-handed defense of Ronnie Brewer (Wade lost the ensuing jump ball and was therefore discredited with a turnover).
DEFENSE
Because he was guarding Brewer for most of the game, Wade was never really challenged to play aggressive man-on-man defense. Instead, he literally ignored Brewer and roamed the lane looking to give aid to his teammates. As a result, Wade came up with four steals and two blocks.
In head-to-head confrontations, Brewer tallied six points against Wade — four on 16-foot jumpers when Wade was nowhere in sight, plus another pair from the stripe when Wade fouled him on a drive. Add to Wade's defensive deficit a trey dropped by Kyle Korver on a switch. Still, 50 to 9 isn't a bad trade-off.
Even though he wasn't required to defend a skilled scorer, Wade showed terrific anticipation. He has a knack for being where the ball is and for reading the opponents' offensive designs.
In short, Dwyane Wade is easily one of the top three non-bigs in the game. (I'd put Kobe ahead of him, and drop LBJ to the show position because of his errant jumpers and because both Kobe and Wade are much better all-around defenders.)
There were several reasons why the Heat prevailed over the Jazz in their latest set-to:
# Miami's defensive focus and intensity were better in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter as well as in each of the extra periods.
# Jermaine O'Neal — five blocks, 28 points — had the bounce and energy of a rookie.
# A pair of egregious mistakes by Kirilenko at the end of regulation time — an offensive foul and a lost dribble — helped the Heat make up a seven-point deficit in the last 50 seconds.
# With the fourth-quarter time clock down to a single digit and the Jazz up by two, the refs actually stole the game from Utah with a horrible call. In a rebounding scrum, the ball clearly bounced off the shin-bone of Udonis Haslem, but the ball was awarded to the home team. Funny how neither of the Heat's TV announcers mentioned this mistake, even though several replays from several angles offered undeniable proof that the refs had erred.
Okay, so Wade is a phenomenal player. Nobody can question this. But is he truly worthy of becoming the league's MVP?
That depends on what the requirements of the award really are.
If it goes to the NBA's best player, then Kobe Bryant should have a closet full of MVP trophies.
If it goes to the best player on one of the best teams, then Kobe and LBJ should share the award. At this printing, both the Lakers and the Cavs are tied with league-leading winning percentages of .800. On the other hand, the Heat, at 36-29, have the league's 13th-best record.
Does "valuable" mean highest paid? Then it's Kevin Garnett.
How about the player who makes his teammates the best they can be? Then the league's assist leader should win.
The best player in the clutch? Oh, you mean the Reggie Miller Award?
How about the one player whose absence would be the most costly to his team? See the relative winning percentages of the Lakers, the Cavs, and the Celtics — and compare to Miami's current non-seeded status.
Maybe the most effective team leader? But exactly how should this be measured by the sports media who aren't present in locker rooms, practice sessions and huddles? The player who pats the most fannies? Or who most visibly excoriates his teammates' errors?
I've said this before and I'll say it again: The MVP award is nonsense, a chimerical honor that's designed to promote public arguments and therefore gain beneficial publicity for the NBA.
Anyway, the only MVP definition that would make Dwyane Wade a lock would be this: The best player playing with the worst teammates.
Straight Shooting
What do the following players have in common?
Shaq, Joel Pryzbilla, Josh Boone, DeSagana Diop, Reggie Evans, Adonal Foyle, Dan Gadzuric, Andris Biedrins, Mark Madsen, Michael Ruffin, Ben Wallace and Wilt Chamberlain.
They're all big men, and their respective career (in)accuracies from the stripe are less than 55 percent. In fact, the relevant rule is that only big men perform so poorly from the line. Since Renaldo Balkman is the only runt who misfires his free throws at the same general rate, he qualifies as the exception that proves the rule.
The question is this: How can world-class athletes be so inept at such a fundamental skill?
Here are some answers:
# Big men usually concentrate on rebounding, defense and setting screens. Only Shaq and Wilt were also required to score.
# Some bigs can't successfully shoot free throws for the same reason that most pitchers can't hit and most hitters can't pitch — specialization.
# The coordination necessary for bigs to play in the NBA involves much grosser skills than those required of smalls and in-betweens.
Ordinal out of range
# During a normal NBA game, big men cover more ground that other players do. Bigs must move from baseline to baseline, while guards mostly run from foul line to foul line. Also, while guards and wings can often rest on the weakside, centers and power forwards are always involved in every play — especially on defense. Plus there's the incredible physical exertion that rebounding calls for.
# On several unexpected occasions during this constant moving and banging, the whistle blows, the action comes to a dead stop and a big man finds himself all alone at the stripe. For all of the big men mentioned above, it's a difficult task to change from a full-speed-ahead mode to a stationary one — both mentally and physically.
# Which is why even the worst free-throw shooters can shoot much higher percentages when practice sessions are temporarily halted for team-wide free-throw rehearsals.
With all of the aforementioned reasons in mind, the most incredible individual feat in NBA history wasn't Chamberlain's triple-single in 1962. Instead it was the fact that, during that game, Wilt — a career 51.1 percent FT shooter — converted 28 of his 32 free-throw attempts.
However, in normal conditions for normal big men, free throws are far from being free.
but did anyone just peep that block by Wade?
http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/9319144/Wade's-contributions-too-big-to-be-overlooked
90 comments
Game Time: Heat 140, Jazz 129 (3 OT)
The universal consensus is that the MVP award should come from among LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade. And D-Wade's most recent performance against the Jazz certainly won't diminish his chances.
Let's take a closer look.
OFFENSE
Flash's output was gargantuan — 19-39 from the field, 10 rebounds, nine assists and 50 big points. Even more impressive was his scoring "only" 18 points on isos. The point being that 32 points were scored either on the run or within the context of Miami's offensive schemes.
Also impressive was that none of his shots were forced. Indeed, Wade's decision-making and his general unselfishness were nothing short of incredible. The only stubbornness he exhibited occurred early in the game when he tried stuffing two passes into a congested area in the paint and thereby committed two of his six turnovers. (Additional TOs consisted of a moving screen and three errant dribblings.)
Despite going for 51 against the Kings, LeBron James may be the league's third-best player behind Wade and Kobe Bryant. (Steve Yeater / FOXSports.com)
On his mid- to long-range jumpers, Wade was 8-21, a success rate of only 38.1 percent. And, in fact, it's his shooting that represents the weakest part of his offensive arsenal.
For Wade to get the proper stroke, he needs to shoot with his feet set, or to have the time and space to move into a step-in rhythm. Off-balance shots where his body is moving laterally are bound to be misses.
Most often, Wade initiated his basket-attacks after receiving a handoff in the middle of the court and a few steps above the arc. Because of his incredible cross-over dribble, his tricky changes of pace, his strength, his quickness, his extension and the huge gobs of ground he covers with each stride, Wade rarely was presented with high screens. In fact, it was rather easy for him to split any double-teamings that occurred when he did utilize such a screen.
His highlighted scores would include a behind-the-back dribble followed by a dramatic change of pace that nearly caused Andrei Kirilenko to sprain both his ankles — and eventuated in an uncontested layup-plus-one. Also a slick driving flip from 10 feet as well as a forward-leaping off-balance jumper in which he landed at least eight feet from his takeoff spot.
The only blots on Wade's offensive production were a pair of missed layups in critical situations, and being tied up by the quick-handed defense of Ronnie Brewer (Wade lost the ensuing jump ball and was therefore discredited with a turnover).
DEFENSE
Because he was guarding Brewer for most of the game, Wade was never really challenged to play aggressive man-on-man defense. Instead, he literally ignored Brewer and roamed the lane looking to give aid to his teammates. As a result, Wade came up with four steals and two blocks.
In head-to-head confrontations, Brewer tallied six points against Wade — four on 16-foot jumpers when Wade was nowhere in sight, plus another pair from the stripe when Wade fouled him on a drive. Add to Wade's defensive deficit a trey dropped by Kyle Korver on a switch. Still, 50 to 9 isn't a bad trade-off.
Even though he wasn't required to defend a skilled scorer, Wade showed terrific anticipation. He has a knack for being where the ball is and for reading the opponents' offensive designs.
In short, Dwyane Wade is easily one of the top three non-bigs in the game. (I'd put Kobe ahead of him, and drop LBJ to the show position because of his errant jumpers and because both Kobe and Wade are much better all-around defenders.)
There were several reasons why the Heat prevailed over the Jazz in their latest set-to:
# Miami's defensive focus and intensity were better in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter as well as in each of the extra periods.
# Jermaine O'Neal — five blocks, 28 points — had the bounce and energy of a rookie.
# A pair of egregious mistakes by Kirilenko at the end of regulation time — an offensive foul and a lost dribble — helped the Heat make up a seven-point deficit in the last 50 seconds.
# With the fourth-quarter time clock down to a single digit and the Jazz up by two, the refs actually stole the game from Utah with a horrible call. In a rebounding scrum, the ball clearly bounced off the shin-bone of Udonis Haslem, but the ball was awarded to the home team. Funny how neither of the Heat's TV announcers mentioned this mistake, even though several replays from several angles offered undeniable proof that the refs had erred.
Okay, so Wade is a phenomenal player. Nobody can question this. But is he truly worthy of becoming the league's MVP?
That depends on what the requirements of the award really are.
If it goes to the NBA's best player, then Kobe Bryant should have a closet full of MVP trophies.
If it goes to the best player on one of the best teams, then Kobe and LBJ should share the award. At this printing, both the Lakers and the Cavs are tied with league-leading winning percentages of .800. On the other hand, the Heat, at 36-29, have the league's 13th-best record.
Does "valuable" mean highest paid? Then it's Kevin Garnett.
How about the player who makes his teammates the best they can be? Then the league's assist leader should win.
The best player in the clutch? Oh, you mean the Reggie Miller Award?
How about the one player whose absence would be the most costly to his team? See the relative winning percentages of the Lakers, the Cavs, and the Celtics — and compare to Miami's current non-seeded status.
Maybe the most effective team leader? But exactly how should this be measured by the sports media who aren't present in locker rooms, practice sessions and huddles? The player who pats the most fannies? Or who most visibly excoriates his teammates' errors?
I've said this before and I'll say it again: The MVP award is nonsense, a chimerical honor that's designed to promote public arguments and therefore gain beneficial publicity for the NBA.
Anyway, the only MVP definition that would make Dwyane Wade a lock would be this: The best player playing with the worst teammates.
Straight Shooting
What do the following players have in common?
Shaq, Joel Pryzbilla, Josh Boone, DeSagana Diop, Reggie Evans, Adonal Foyle, Dan Gadzuric, Andris Biedrins, Mark Madsen, Michael Ruffin, Ben Wallace and Wilt Chamberlain.
They're all big men, and their respective career (in)accuracies from the stripe are less than 55 percent. In fact, the relevant rule is that only big men perform so poorly from the line. Since Renaldo Balkman is the only runt who misfires his free throws at the same general rate, he qualifies as the exception that proves the rule.
The question is this: How can world-class athletes be so inept at such a fundamental skill?
Here are some answers:
# Big men usually concentrate on rebounding, defense and setting screens. Only Shaq and Wilt were also required to score.
# Some bigs can't successfully shoot free throws for the same reason that most pitchers can't hit and most hitters can't pitch — specialization.
# The coordination necessary for bigs to play in the NBA involves much grosser skills than those required of smalls and in-betweens.
Ordinal out of range
# During a normal NBA game, big men cover more ground that other players do. Bigs must move from baseline to baseline, while guards mostly run from foul line to foul line. Also, while guards and wings can often rest on the weakside, centers and power forwards are always involved in every play — especially on defense. Plus there's the incredible physical exertion that rebounding calls for.
# On several unexpected occasions during this constant moving and banging, the whistle blows, the action comes to a dead stop and a big man finds himself all alone at the stripe. For all of the big men mentioned above, it's a difficult task to change from a full-speed-ahead mode to a stationary one — both mentally and physically.
# Which is why even the worst free-throw shooters can shoot much higher percentages when practice sessions are temporarily halted for team-wide free-throw rehearsals.
With all of the aforementioned reasons in mind, the most incredible individual feat in NBA history wasn't Chamberlain's triple-single in 1962. Instead it was the fact that, during that game, Wilt — a career 51.1 percent FT shooter — converted 28 of his 32 free-throw attempts.
However, in normal conditions for normal big men, free throws are far from being free.
