D Wade's Poor Play

[tlance]

I have commented on other threads a couple times about Wade and about how the Heat have been better with him on the bench. I just read an article on Y! that brought up some interesting stats.

Not counting the garbage time crew, the Heat have used 9 different player groupings. 5 of these have either been even or have been significantly outscored by the Spurs. The common thread in these personnel groups is Dwayne Wade.

There are 4 groups that have been significantly better than the Spurs over the first 6 games and none of them contain Wade. The 3 core members of the top performing groups are LeBron, Miller and Allen. Either PG and either Anderson or Bosh can complete the unit.

Stats don't lie. Wade significantly hurts the Heat's ability to score because he is not a perimeter threat. The Spurs are able to help off of him and clog driving lanes without repercussion when Wade is in.

Perhaps this game 7 will come down to one thing: Does Spoelstra have the courage to bench his "second best" player? If he doesn't, the series numbers suggest that the Heat could be in trouble.

 

[lakersrule]

I don't put much into +/- statistics, but the Heat are something like -56 when Wade is on the floor. He is clearly hurting. He's not as effective of a player if he can't get to the basket. His jump shot hasn't been good enough. It's almost like the Spurs can play defense 5 on 4. As you say:

Wade significantly hurts the Heat's ability to score because he is not a
perimeter threat. The Spurs are able to help off of him and clog driving lanes
without repercussion when Wade is in.

The Spurs can effectively limit Lebron's ability to get to the rim by sloughing off of Wade. The fourth quarter comeback Tuesday night came with Wade on the bench. Lebron had space to penetrate.

 

[bksballer89]

If Wade play as well as he did in Games 4 & 5, Spo would be an ass to bench him.

The reason the 3 core players are Allen, Miller, and James is because those 2 open the floor up for LBJ because the Spurs can't risk leaving those 2 open.

IMO our best lineup (unless Wade plays like he did in games 4/5) is Chalmers, Allen, Miller, James, and Bosh/Bird

 

[shitsho]

You gotta ride with who you came with. Wade is a threat to light it up at anytime. My guess is he takes whatever drugs he needs to and comes out swinging. He does make it harder for Lebron to get to the rim but if he ducks in for offensive rebounds he hurts the Spurs.

 

[bksballer89]

I smell a 20+ game for Wade tonight unless he injured his left knee in G6 more than I thought

 

[BOTSLAYER]

poor wade, if he was willing to take a pay cut and come off the bench oh baby...


I understand the emphasis on not putting too much stock in certain stats but what is the reasoning for +/-?

 

[tlance]

If Wade plays like himself, then I agree that he needs to be on the floor. If he plays like the guy we have seen for most of the playoffs, then his presence is not helping the Heat one bit. I respect him for his grit and his willingness to play hurt, but they have weapons who compliment LeBron much better than a hurt Wade.

 

[wildturkey]

Stats do lie or at least exaggerate. It's a small sample size. There's too many other factors to just rule them as fact. But there is something to his struggles. He can't shoot (really, over his career) perimeter shots of the Spurs are playing off him to clog the paint. The issue is Wade is playing into their strategy. When he gets the ball, he's taking bad shots. He has to be smarter, making timely cuts, etc to make the Spurs pay for how they're defending him. Really for most of these playoffs, Wade's b-ball IQ on both sides of the ball has been lagging

 

[bksballer89]

Told you guys good D-Wade would show up

 

[PPhan]

If Wade play as well as he did in Games 4 & 5, Spo would be an ass to bench him.

The reason the 3 core players are Allen, Miller, and James is because those 2 open the floor up for LBJ because the Spurs can't risk leaving those 2 open.

IMO our best lineup (unless Wade plays like he did in games 4/5) is Chalmers, Allen, Miller, James, and Bosh/Bird

Meh, I'd still replace Chalmers with Wade. Even when he's not playing well, Wade still plays like a big dude on D.

 

[Shanemansj13]

I can trash this thread

 

[tlance]

Wade played with an energy tonight that has been lacking in every game except game 4. I still think the Heat offense clicks better with the shooters surrounding LeBron, but Wade more than made up for it with his defensive effort and his hustle after loose balls. It did not hurt that he knocked in a few jumpers too.

It was good to see a strong game from Wade tonight. Hopefully he can rest up and get healthy for next season.

 

[BiffMcFly]

Yeah he had a few bad games but the issue was how deep this team is that they have so many different players who can dominate a game on a given night making the difference in a series. Factor in how he's never a slouch on defense and it just points out how much this team wins because of its depth in a 7 game series more so than individual players.

 

[BiffMcFly]

Spoelestra was ashead of the curve in taking advantage of this teams depth by knowing when to go to which player like when he went to Wade in game 4. Have to give credit there, he was a clever hack in weaseling their way out through team depth....not really that much individual heart. If you look at the final stats, Spo went to a deeper bench much more than Pop had the luxury of.

 

[lakersrule]

Wade was great last night. Had the jumper working. Grabbing a bunch of rebounds. He gutted it out for sure.

 

[BOTSLAYER]

now maybe we can get some trade value for him 3

 

[shitsho]

Spos evolution is food for thought. That first season I though he sucked. Is he becoming a great coach because of Lebron or was he already destined to become a great coach?

 

[lakersrule]

Spos evolution is food for thought. That first season I though he sucked. Is he becoming a great coach because of Lebron or was he already destined to become a great coach?

How much of Spo's evolution is a result of Lebron's evolution? It is easier to be a successful coach when you have the best player in the world. Lebron is a better player now than he was in that first season in Miami.

 

[BOTSLAYER]

I think once he had the players that allowed him the option to be creative he took it to a whole new level. So he was a great basketball mind but did not have the opportunity to utilize it. Once he did he quickly developed into a good almost great coach.

 

[shitsho]

How much of Spo's evolution is a result of Lebron's evolution? It is easier to be a successful coach when you have the best player in the world. Lebron is a better player now than he was in that first season in Miami.

Nice progression! You may have a point there. So can we say that any coach is as great as his players are? Or....Some coaches just have a better understanding of the game and it doesnt matter who is on the roster?