Dwayne Wade Unofficial Fan Site

There are so many variables sportswriters have to consider before casting their votes for the MVP award. Should team record play a role in determining who the MVP is? Is it simply the best player on the best team? Is it a player who could take an O.K. team to a championship-contending level? Or is it a player who can take a 15-win season to the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference?

“MVP” stands for Most Valuable Player. And “valuable” is defined as, “having considerable monetary or material value for use or exchange: a valuable diamond; of great importance, use, or service: valuable information.” If every single sportswriter construed the MVP award in its most strictest form, which is the definition of the word “valuable”, the person who deserves this award is Dwyane Wade, bar none.

Let’s wind the clocks back to February 21, 2007. That was the night Wade dislocated his left shoulder and had to be assisted off the court in a wheelchair. The 2006 NBA Finals MVP wasn’t the same player after that injury. He didn’t take over games in Chicago’s first round sweep of Miami months after the injury, and had shoulder and knee surgery that summer. In the 2007-08 season, Wade never had the explosiveness that made him such a great player. He had a disappointing season, and so did the Heat, falling to the bottom of the League with a 67-loss season.

Throughout that year-and-a-half period, pundits were questioning Wade’s status as an elite player. Instead of being compared to Michael Jordan, Wade was thought of as possibly being the next Penny Hardaway or Grant Hill. The 6-foot-4 guard spent five weeks with former Jordan trainer Tim Grover regaining his strength, conditioning and confidence. The player who had seemingly fallen off the radar as one of top players was soon called upon to compete against the best basketball talent in the world in the 2008 Olympic team.

Wade silenced all the doubters quickly in Beijing, China. The moment when all the sportswriters knew he was back came in an exhibition game against Lithuania. Wade stole the ball and threw an outlet pass to Chris Paul, who gave a soft lob pass to the Miami Heat guard. The Marquette product snatched the rock and moved the ball in a windmill fashion before slamming the ball through the hoop.

Now the so-called basketball experts said that Wade was back to his 2006 NBA Finals form (or close to it), but wondered if he could carry a very young team on his back. Before the season started, Wade called his teammates to Miami, took them out to dinner and spoke to them about the season. And that was an adjustment for Wade. He used to lead by example and just let Shaquille O’Neal, Alonzo Mourning, Gary Payton, James Posey and Antoine Walker do the talking. But now in the post, Wade has Jermaine O’Neal instead of Shaquille O’Neal — two players with the same last name, but who never get mixed up. Rookie Mario Chalmers has replaced the veteran Payton. And without battle-tested players Posey and Walker providing a spark, rookie Michael Beasley and second-year guard Daequan Cook are providing the punch off the bench.

The supporting cast has had its ups and
downs — as expected — but Wade has always been the constant. He is
doing a lot of everything for his team — driving to the rim,
stepping out to the three-point line to hit shots, finding open
teammates, being a floor general at times, blocking shots, collecting
steals, grabbing rebounds and the list goes on. He has been the
cornerstone of this 42-38 team that stands just behind Boston,
Cleveland, Orlando and Atlanta in the East. How many people would
have predicted that before the season started?

The rebuttal
from the Bryant and James fans is evident. “Giving the MVP to
Wade would be a slap in the face to Bryant and James. Bryant averaged
35 points per game in 2005-06 on a team with Kwame Brown and Smush
Parker as his supporting cast and led them to the playoffs. LeBron
James averaged 30 points per game in 2006-07 and took the eventual
champion Boston Celtics to seven games in the playoffs.”

Bryant should have won the MVP award in the 05-06 year, and
Wade deserves it this year, and moreso than Bryant that year or last year with James. Neither Bryant nor James were coming off
of two injuries that required surgeries, neither of them were coming
back on a team that has one year removed from winning 15 games and
neither of the two had a team in which six players had two years of
NBA experience or less.

 It is arguable that there is
not one player who has had to deal with as much adversity as Wade has
since winning the 2006 title — on and off the court. He’s had a
nasty divorce battle with his soon-to-be ex-wife Shiovaughn Wade that
has been fodder for tabloids and talk shows. Through it all, he
remains resilient. Miami has won 27 more games this season, the
record for the greatest single-season improvement in franchise
history. He’s played in 79 of Miami’s 80 games this season after
missing 62 games the past two seasons.

These sportswriters
have to ask themselves a few  questions: Is it Wade’s fault that
he doesn’t have Mo Williams or Pau Gasol on his team? Is it more
impressive to lead one’s team to the best record in the League with
an experienced suppporting cast or to lead a team with two rookies
and two second-year players — and a 40 percent change in the
starting lineup at the All-Star Break with the additions of O’Neal
and Jamario Moon — to the fifth seed in the playoffs after being the
laughingstock of the NBA?

Wade exudes none of the frustration
Bryant felt with the L.A. Lakers two summers ago when he publicly
demanded a trade (and then retracted that statement). He is not
flirting with his destination plans when he becomes a free agent in
2010, as James has done. He willingly accepts the role as papa bear
among a bunch of young cubs at the age of 27 with coolness. This
season, it’s on him, and he knows it. And he’s done as good of a job
to deserve the MVP award.

I’ll give the last word to LeBron
James.

“So I don’t know what the [MVP] voters want. But
whatever they’re looking for, I’m pretty sure D-Wade has it.”

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A cornucopia of Miami Heat fans wore “MV3″ t-shirts to Miami’s home game against the New York Knicks this Easter Sunday. His performance that day gave Heat fans another argument in the MVP debate as the Heat defeated the New York Knics, 122-105.

It also locked the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference for the Heat — with a little help from Shawn Marion and the Toronto Raptors, of course.

After building a 14-point lead late in the first quarter, the Knicks came all the way back to take a two-point lead heading into intermission. The game would remain tight until Miami blew it open in the fourth quarter. With eight minutes and 18 seconds left, Joel Anthony blocked a Nate Robinson jump shot. Mario Chalmers quickly pushed up the ball and threw a nice lob to fellow rookie Michael Beasley. Beasley’s alley-oop dunk made it 106-97 with 8:11 left.

But it was Wade who dashed the Knicks’ hopes. The MVP candidate made a running jumper to make it 110-101 with 6:31 left. Moments later, Chalmers drove in for a layup to give the Heat a double-digit lead after Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni sent two defenders at the 6-foot-4 guard out of Marquette. Wade faced an open lane to the basket on a finger-roll that made it 114-101 with 5:31 left. It was Daequan Cook, Anthony and Beasley who all made key buckets to wrap this game up and put a bow on it, however.

The win, combined with Toronto win against the Philadelphia 76ers, secured Miami’s spot in that fifth seed. Marion picked up the game-sealing steal, adding a bit of irony on the night. This win very important, though, not only so that Heat coach Erik Spoelstra won’t have to show his hand against Atlanta Tuesday, but because it will allow Spoelstra to rest Wade and other ailing players.

The latter could be very important for the Heat. Jamario Moon, Udonis Haslem and Luther Head were all out for Miami, but Jermaine O’Neal had to leave the game because of a strained left calf he sustained with 59.3 seconds left in the second quarter. Daequan Cook did play as he continues to recover from his sore right shoulder. Wade even suffered a left ankle sprain in Friday’s loss to Boston, but he showed no signs of it against New York.

The 2006 NBA Finals MVP had 50 points through three quarters, the first time that’s been accomplished since Kobe Bryant had 52 through 36 minutes of action against Utah Nov. 30, 2006. Wade, who had converted on 85 triples through this first five seasons in the NBA, left the AmericanAirlines Arena with 86 on this season.

Wade had a career-high 55 points, one shy of the franchise record Glen Rice set 14 years ago. That mark tied Tony Parker and LeBron James for the second-highest point total of the season, second to a mark Bryant accomplished with 61 points against (wait for it) the New York Knicks). He shot 19-of-30 from the field, 6-of-12 from downtown and 11-of-13 from the foul line. Additionally, Miami’s man of steel had nine rebounds, four assists and a blocked shot. From the first quarter, he was focused on the win. And when the other Heat players saw how focused its leader was, they followed.

Beasley certainly followed. The rookie out of Kansas State tied a career-high for points with 28 on 12-of-19 shooting from the field and three-of-three shooting from beyond the arc. Beasley also had a career-high in rebounds, 16.

It’s amazing to see how much Beasley’s game has gotten better since the season began. The player who tore it up in college would commit offensive fouls, wouldn’t get rebounds in traffic, could not stay with his man and did not protect the ball well when he drove to the hoop. Against the Knicks, Beasley was very controlled with the ball, got strong rebounds with Knicks around him and had the lateral quickness to block two shots.

Chalmers also took Wade’s lead. The champion from Kansas’ 2008 title-winning team brought his Sunday best, scoring 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Chalmers converted on two triples while also having the strength and focus to finish his layups, something he’s struggled with all season long. The 6-foot-1 guard did a good job of directing the traffic, with nine assists — taking considerable pressure off Wade — while also being a pest defensively with four steals.

This was such an important win for the Heat that it makes Heat fans forget about the close losses to the Boston Celtics, New Orleans Hornets and Dallas Mavericks. Miami will close the season with a winning record and a message to the Atlanta Hawks, the Heat’s first round opponent: Dwyane Wade looks ready for the playoffs.  
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This game went back and forth in the fourth quarter. Jermaine O’Neal’s layup tied the game at 95 all with two minutes and 51 seconds left. The Celtics came up empty on its subsequent offensive trip, and the Heat had a chance to take the lead. Unfortunately, Michael Beasley made a bad pass in what went down as a 24-second violation.

From then on, it was all Boston. Paul Pierce made two free throws for the Celtics, and Dwyane Wade threw up an errant three-point attempt on Miami’s next trip down the floor. Glen Davis hit an open jumper to make it a 99-95 game with less than a minute to go. After O’Neal and Wade missed on layup attempts, the Heat was forced into a fouling mode.

It was a tough loss. After Philadelphia’s loss to Cleveland, Miami was essentially two minutes away from going up two games on the Sixers for the fifth seed. Instead, this ended as just another game the Heat let slip away.

Not only were Luther Head and Udonis Haslem out of the lineup, but Jamario Moon did not dress because of a strained groin and lower abdomen. That opened the door for Coach Erik Spoelstra to start Yakhouba Diawara and Beasley as the forwards. The rookie out of Kansas State is taking full advantage of his increased playing time. This time against Boston, the 6-foot-9 forward had 23 points on 10-of-20 shooting, 13 rebounds and two steals for the Heat. Those are the type of numbers Miami will need from him come playoff time.

Beasley played sidekick to Wade, who finished with 31 points on 11-of-20 shooting from the field. The Heat’s 6-foot-4 guard also had nine assists and a blocked shot, but missed six foul shots. Additionally, Wade was very testy with officials again, and was fortunate not to pick up a technical foul. This probably has something to do with the mounting games the Heat should have won, but gave away. He’s continuing to produce, but he’s angry. And he’s channeling that anger at the officials.

O’Neal had 16 points on 8-of-13 shooting, nine rebounds and four blocked shots. But the 13-year NBA veteran only had two points after halftime. In two consecutive second quarter instances, a perimeter player drove to the rim and found O’Neal under the basket for two thunderous jams. Those were two high-quality shots for the Heat and it worked, but it was puzzling to see the Heat not run that play again.

It was nice to see Wade, O’Neal and Beasley all have their moments. One of those guys can go for 40 or 50 on any given night and the other two can go for 20 apiece on any given night. The only problem was that no one else scored in double figures for the Heat.

Diawara was non-existent on offense and let Paul Pierce toast him defensively. Mario Chalmers was again off with his shot (can someone please tell him to work on his floaters?). Jamaal Magloire had eight points and five rebounds off the bench, but Spoelstra can’t rely on Magloire for offense off the bench. James Jones was not given the ball when the Heat still had a chance, and Daequan Cook did not even get off the bench in the second half. Cook did say that his injured right shoulder that kept him out Tuesday against New Orleans was still sore, though.

With Atlanta’s win over Indiana, the Hawks have now clinched the fourth seed in the East. Miami still has three for games left, beginning with hosting the New York Knicks Sunday at 6 p.m. This will be an important game for the Heat in its quest to lock up that fifth seed. Miami needs to do its job against lottery-bound teams.  
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TD BANKNORTH GARDEN — Stephon Marbury and Ray Allen, who were both
sent home from practice yesterday with a stomach virus, are in uniform
and will play tonight against the Heat. - Gary Dzen, Boston.com Celtics Blog. Story.

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Even so, these last four games for the Heat should be played at a playoff-level intensity. The Heat will begin to try and sew up that fifth seed in tonight’s visit with a Boston Celtics team without Kevin Garnett, Leon Powe and Brian Scalabrine. Meanwhile, LeBron James and Co. will visit Philadelphia in a game that could clinch home-court advantage through the Eastern Conference Finals for the Cavs. Still, a Heat loss and a Sixers win, definitely within the realm of possibility, would put the two teams in a dead lock.

It doesn’t look good when Coach Erik Spoelstra is still sorting out his rotation after more than six months of directing the team. However, Spoelstra still has a lot to decide for these next four games. Will he start Michael Beasley, who arguably put together the best game of his rookie season with 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting, nine rebounds, just one foul and only one turnover in 48 minutes of play? Spoelstra may do what he did with Beasley in Tuesday’s loss to New Orleans, having Beasley come off the bench for the first half and possibly start him in the second half. I guess it’s Spoelstra’s way of saying to Beasley, “If you lose focus defensively or get into foul trouble, your minutes will get cut. If you help boost the second unit and be a legitimate option for Dwyane Wade, you’ll start for the third quarter.”
But a rotation move that has been floating under the radar is whether James Jones will challenge Jamario Moon for the starting spot at the three. It seems as if Moon peaked way too early upon his arrival in Miami, and he has been inconsistent for the past few weeks. Jones has been just the opposite. It looked for a long time as if Jones’ pre-season wrist injury and subsequent surgery may have gotten the best of him. But once Jones took off his protective glove March 27, things have been falling for Miami’s prime off-season acquisition.

The day after the glove came off, Jones hit was three-of-five from downtown in an 11-point effort against the Milwaukee Bucks. Against the Charlotte Bobcats, Jones had eight points on two-of-four shooting from downtown. The very next game against Washington, the 6-foot-8 forward had 13 points on four-of-eight shooting from beyond the arc. And in Tuesday’s game against the Hornets, Jones was made three triples.

Jamaal Magloire could also be eating into Jermaine O’Neal’s minutes. Despite his reduced lift, Magloire has been a good rebounder for Miami. The 6-foot-11 veteran had 10 boards against New Orleans and six against the Wizards. Now, I don’t expect Magloire to start over O’Neal, but Miami’s headline trade deadline acquisition needs to bring his A game on both ends of the court if he wants to play more than 30 minutes per game. Against a Celtics team without Garnett, O’Neal can make a statement as to why he was brought to this team.

The closing moments of games haven’t been good for the Heat. Miami could have won 48 games so far with some quality plays in crunch time. But there’s nothing the Heat can do about the loss to New Orleans or the loss to Dallas. It can do something about tonight in Boston, and good fourth quarters will be the key if the Miami Heat want to send a message to the rest of the world that the Heat is back.
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“When, where: Tonight, 7:30, at TD Banknorth Garden.

TV, radio: CSN, WEEI (850).

Scoring: Dwyane Wade 29.9, Michael Beasley 13.3, Jermaine O’Neal 13.2.

Rebounding: Udonis Haslem 8.2, O’Neal 5.3, Beasley 5.1.

Assists: Wade 7.5, Mario Chalmers 4.8, Luther Head 2.3.

Head to head: This is the fourth of four meetings. Boston leads the season series, 2-1.

Miscellany:
Wade had 32 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists during a 93-87 overtime
loss to New Orleans Tuesday . . . Beasley tied a franchise record with
his 10th 20-point game off the bench Tuesday . . . Wade has a steal in
21 consecutive games, which is six games short of Sherman Douglas’s
franchise record of 27, set in the 1989-1990 season . . . Head is out
four to six weeks with a broken left hand, and Haslem is likely out for
the rest of the regular season because of six-stitch laceration on his
left thumb.” – Boston.com. Story.

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In 2010, when the stars from the class of 2003 become eligible for free agency one move could change the future of the Miami Heat. If some how, some way, Pat Riley can land Chris Bosh and let Jermaine O’Neal and his ridiculous contract expire this team would become a perennial championship contender. Bosh was Riley’s original pick before he got scooped up at number four by Toronto in ‘03. If players contracts do not interfere with Micky Arison’s resilience to pay the luxury tax this could be the 2010 Miami Heat team: Starting: Chalmers, Wade, Moon, Beasley, Bosh; Bench: Haslem, James Jones, Cook, Dorell Wright, and anyone else Riles can add at big man to complete the squad. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to say they are a lock to win the O’Brien every year but they should be consistently in the conversation as long as they had a healthy Wade and Bosh. There are a lot of potential free agent moves, but this one would create a fun combination for South Florida.

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Send me one (or as many as you want really) question every week that
you would like me to answer. I will pick the four best questions every
week, and then I will post them. If you would like me to post your name
say so. If not, please tell me and I will put “anonymous.” My email is
celticsfanatic@gmail.com.

What (potential) first-round match-up are you looking forward to the most
BESIDES Boston Vs (whoever the first-round opponent is)? - Geoff

Celticsfanatic: The match-up I would probably like to see the most besides the Boston series would be a series between the Miami Heat and the Atlanta Hawks. It would be a thrill to see superstar Dwyane Wade and superstar Joe Johnson throw down in a seven game series. Also, it seems like no other series is going to be close, considering the other top teams include the Celtics, Cavaliers, and Magic.

I am also eager to see if Mario Chalmers can step it up, and neutralize the match-up he’ll face when playing against veteran point guard Mike Bibby. Chalmers has been a huge part of the Heat’s success this season, especially with his ability to knock down the three, distribute the ball, and he also excels in stealing the ball (2.0 per).

Do you think the Celtics can win their first round match-up without KG (even though that most likely won’t be the case)? - Edwin

CF: It depends who they face. If they face the Bulls, surprisingly, I think it will be tough. This is because of their depth at the big man position. Aaron Gray, Joakim Noah, Tyrus Thomas, Brad Miller, Jerome James, and Tim Thomas gives them a huge advantage, especially if the Celtics don’t have KG.

However, if they play the Sixers, who don’t have much backup, or good backup I should say, I think the Celtics can manage to pull one out. Even against the Pistons, who have decent big men, I think the Celtics can still use Davis, Powe, and Perkins effectively and come out victorious.

Marc Stein wrote an article that had the Celtics as a possible destination for A.I. this offseason… Could it work out? - Paul

CF: I think it could work out; but would I want to take the risk? No.

Allen Iverson isn’t a guy like Stephon Marbury. Marbury wanted to rebuild his shattered reputation, and worked hard on trying to fit in with the team, getting back in shape, learning the system, become a good defensive player, and passing the ball more. Iverson is a still a guard that should be feared anywhere around the league, and while he may not be what he used to, he is still looked at as an All-Star.

Not only that, if he didn’t want to play a back-up role in Detroit, why in Boston? He said he’d play coming off the bench if the team was winning. Detroit was a contender, but hey, they were going to be in the playoffs! Thanks, but no thanks Mr. Iverson.

The most recent poll question was “Will Tony Allen have a bigger impact coming off the bench than you
think he will? Remember, he averaged around 15 points in 2006-07 the
stretch when Pierce was out.” What do you think?

CF: I think he will have a big impact. He can slash to the basket, has a decent jump shot, and plays excellent defense. Also, he greatly improves our depth. Though small, he plays smothering defense, and could possible contain Bron-Bron in the playoffs when guys like Pierce and Garnett are resting (especially Garnett).

He can play the two and three on offense, which also helps Pierce, but gives Ray Allen a chance to take a breather as well. If he can get back to his normal form, he could give the Celtics a big boost late in games.
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James Jones connected on three decisive, fourth quarter three-pointers that held off a late Wizards rally after the Heat built an 18-point lead. Dwyane Wade then made two consecutive triples as daggers in what ended as a 118-104 Miami win.

Without Haslem, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra surprisingly did not move Michael Beasley up to the starting position. The rookie head coach instead went with Yakhouba Diawara to defend Antawn Jamison for the opening minutes, essentially starting two small forwards with Jamario Moon also getting the starting nod. Diawara was very good offensively, with 16 points on four-of-nine shooting from downtown and 6-of-12 shooting overall. Diawara did little to slow down Jamison, however, as the former North Carolina Tar Heel had 23 points on 8-of-15 shooting and seven rebounds. By starting Diawara, Spoelstra gave up rebounding. Beasley grabbed three more rebounds than Diawara in less minutes.

Moon put together an active game after it was hard to tell he was on the court over the past couple of weeks. The 6-foot-8 athletic freak had 11 points on a perfect five-of-five shooting from the field. Moon went back to his smart cuts to the basket, with two alley-oops against Washington.

The problem was that with Spoelstra giving substanial minutes to Moon, Diawara and Jones, it left things muddled for the rest of the rotation. Now, all three small forwards played well, so I’m not complaining. But what happens to Daequan Cook’s confidence after he was rewarded six minutes on the court, especially since he put together two consecutive double-digit performances after Luther Head went down with the injury? For the record, Cook has been way more consistent than all three of those guys, and I’d rather see him on the court in the playoffs.

Wade tallied 33 points on 15-of-17 shooting from the foul line, four-of-seven shooting from three-point range and 7-of-13 overall. The 6-foot-4 guard out of Marquette also had five rebounds, eight assists and two steals, but six turnovers. Wade did make an adjustment and turned the ball over once in the second half, though.

Jermaine O’Neal played Robin to Wade’s Batman, with 16 points on 8-of-13 shooting and six rebounds in just 29 minutes. The Heat needs O’Neal to put together these types of performances in the playoffs. If he can shoot well from the field and be a stalwart defensively, he’s done his job.
Beasley had 13 points on 6-of-14 shooting. Jamaal Magloire added six rebounds in 17 minutes and Mario Chalmers had seven assists to go on the night.

The bad news is that the Sixers edged out Detroit earlier today in a game that clinched a playoff spot for Andre Igoudala and Company. Philadelphia still is ahead of Miami by one percentage point and thus retains the fifth seed. The Sixers will now have five of its last seven games of the road. By contrast, the Heat will play five of its final seven games at home. Haslem may miss up to a week, though.
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