Dwyane Wade's fadeaway

His knee injury can officially be termed chronic as they are now attempting electro-shock therapy to it, a treatment I have only heard used for the knee in a directly post-op sense, to help get blood flow back to freshly cut muscle.

Three years ago, I posted that Wade's inability to hit the 3 was a major flaw in his game and would, sooner or later, be a significant issue.

Now, he did take the Heat, almost singlehandedly to the title a few months after that post, but here we are now.

All those drives into the teeth of a defense, sagging back because he can't convert from outside the arc, have caught up with him.

As an aside, I also don't like his taking the final quarter of the season off so he can be ready for the Olympics, and potentially shot for the next Heat season, too.

Though, he may very well be a somewhat broken-down facsimile of his former self from here on in regardless of that Beijing trip.

 

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Totally different players.

Who was the last perennial all-star guard who averaged fewer than 20 3-pointers made per season?

Bizarre.

BTW: Everything Sam Mills was inaccurately insinuating people were saying about Federer in that thread? That's exactly what I am putting forth about No. 3 in this thread.

 

I agree with the idea that Wade is fading, and definitely agree with the assessment that his hard-charging ways have contributed to it. It's why I never put him in Kobe's class, even after the 06 title: the lack of reliable jumper kept him behind Kobe.

But the 3-pointers are interesting. It struck me while watching the DVDs of the 1985 NBA finals (great gift for any laker fans you know). How there were hardly any 3s taken, by either team. There were a couple of games where neither team made any threes. It's really remarkable how the game has evolved to the point where the three is such a weapon. And speaking of all-stars who didn't make 20 threes...

Jordan made 9 threes in 85, three in 86 (injury season), 12 in 87 (the year he averaged 37), 7 in 88, 27 in 89, and even in the title year of 91 he only made 29.

And Larry Bird: We think of him as the great long-range shooter, but watching old tapes of him, I'm always struck by how few threes he actually took. Especially early in his career: 11 in 82, 22 in 83, 18 in 84 (his first MVP season).

And Magic: 3 in 81, 6 in 82, 0-for-21 in 1983 (!!!!), 6 in 84, 7 in 85, 10 in 86, 8 in 87 (first MVP year), and 11 in 88. Of course, what made Magic so good as his career went on was that he did develop a solid outside shot, even if it was a set shot. He made 106 in 1990.

Just thought it was interesting how the three has gone from something that was hardly used, even by the greats, to something that is so routine now. Yet scoring was obviously a lot higher back in the 80s. The three is actually one reason college ball has sort of lost its appeal over the years to me. It seems like it's become so drive-and-kick oriented and the three is so dominant, that the games all look the same.

 

Wade's career may end up being the basketball version of Earl Campbell's. Incredibly brilliant in the beginning but faded way too soon because he played with almost too much reckless abandon.

 

Didn't Wade take the four year max contract like Lebron and Carmelo? Looks like a mistake.

 

Sit out the Olympics.

 

Perhaps Penny and Wade are totally different players, but they are taking the same career path.

Penny blazed into the NBA, combined with Shaq to take his team to the NBA Finals in his second season, then succumbed to a devastating injury after his third season. He averaged 16, 20.9, and 21.7 ppg, between 4.4 and 5.4 rpg, and between 6.6 and 7.1 apg in his first three seasons. In his next four, he played 59, 15, 50, and 60 games.

Dwyane Wade blazed into the NBA, combined wtih Shaq to take his team to the NBA Finals (and win) in his third season, then succumbed to a devastating injury after his third season. He averaged 16.2, 24.1, and 27.2 ppg, between 4.0 and 5.7 rpg, and between 4.5 and 6.7 apg in his first three seasons. In his next two seasons, he played in 51 games both times.

 

He needs to learn to play like Shaq, only once in a while.