i have no problem with wade at all. all i know is that he prevented the disgusting dallas mavericks from winning their first ring. just for that, i love him.
also, everyone says he gets all the calls but i mean, look at the way he plays! he is always driving to the basket! when you are that aggressive and attack the basket, you WILL get some type of contact. there is a reason he wears all these pads underneath his shorts. he attacks the basket so much that he often gets dead-legged.
This is what gets lost in the discussion, before Shaq, before the hype, Wade was on his way to greatness as his rookie year demonstrated. Problem is, too many people discovered him after Shaq arrived. Then, another large number of folks didn't discover him until the NBA Finals last season. He was destined for greatness from the beginning and he is great without the refs help. Wade is one of my favorite players in the NBA and I will be forever grateful for beating the Mavs last year. Still, some of the calls he gets are just crazy. This is undeniable and it's a shame this has tarnished him in some people's eyes.
YOU cant get to the line if you only settle for jump shots (statement to Mark Cuban) and also isnt this what most people complained about MICHAEL JORDAN al his career??
Some of these are ridiculous, i don't mind since it happened to Dallas http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lX_qMS9bRY&mode=related&search=
Watching Dirk get his calls (another example was last night, though I was routing for Dallas actually) makes me not feel bad in the least that Wade and AI get theres. Dirk gets calls on fadaways and flops, at least the other guys are going all out with their bodies in getting to the hoop.
Wade flops way more than his share. Just because he goes harder and therefore flops harder doesn't make him much less of a cheater.
wow. after awhile it's just hilarious. Watch this LMAO how many times does he travel? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QLTtl6sbnE
But he and AI (who takes even more FTs) sure takes more physical punishment than Dirk, thus IMO worth of more margin of error on close calls. He isn't flopping on the perimeter with no contact whatsoever a la Dirk, Manu, Jazz players.
It's midway through the 2nd quarter against the Lakers and Wade already has 9 FTAs, none of them cheap. He forces teams to foul him because if they don't he will get all the way to the rim and throw it down. He's is the most relentless driver & finisher in the game, by far.
I call those cheap points. Those are not pure basketball plays. Dwayne Wade throws himself at people Wade started to become a star when the new "no touch" rules came into effect. Ever since, he has been taking advantage of the rule. Old school stars like Kobe and Tmac don't do it as much because when they started to reach stardom it wasn't part of their game. They are not used to playing that way, although Kobe has done a better job of taking advantage of the rule than Tmac. Also, they have a better regard for their body. Wade is reckless. He goes in there with no abandon. I wonder how long he can keep getting knocked down.
Your last paragraph is the main point, IMO. He attacks the rim with no regard for his body. How long he does this and how he adapts his game later on in his career will be important. For now, he dares anyone to try and stop him. He's either too quick or jumps too high and cannot be denied. I've said it before that Wade is a dominate tweener. Sometimes he throws himself at people but Kobe does too.
Correct me if I am wrong but isn't Iverson and Jordan older than both Kobe and Tmac? Wade is like a bigger, stronger, more efficient (better shot selection), Iverson. You can't hold it against them because Tmac or Kobe aren't as aggressive as Wade or AI going to the rim--and AI and Jordan (relentless in attacking most of his career) are way more "old school" than Kobe/Tmac. Cheap points my a**. And yes AI is still doing it into his 30s. Doesn't mean Wade can, but it doesn't mean he can't be effective (devastating really) for a very long time.
the lakers are being royally ****ed in this game with miami, which doesn't happen often. wade again has outshot an entire team from the free throw line (13 to 12). kobe has been fouled at least 4 times without a call going to the basket. the nba must really wanna make sure miami doesn't slip up and somehow miss the playoffs. i mean to start the 3rd, wade drove and it looked like kobe cleanly stripped him, 2 ft's for wade. then kobe gets hit by zo, no call. then bumped on a 5 footer he misses, no call. then tnt even replayed one where he drove baseline and got fouled by zo. then just now wade hit him on the arm on a jumper no call, then walton drives down for a layup and gets obviously smacked on the head with no call. and then the final play haslem slides right into kobe with no call (he was moving right into him). i mean holy crap. and i've never seen role players from both teams make so many 3's like this. walker, kapono, parker, cook are just raining 3's. edit: now kobe pump fakes wade and gets him to land on him and the officials just look the other way as wade gets a breakaway.
kobe's gonna miss here, wade will either score or get fouled or they'll get an offensive rebound to score, and then kobe will miss at the other end and that will be it. wade always seems to win these (with a little help from his friends, kobe still at 1 fta). edit: why would you put payton on kobe there? all he did was just reach out and foul him. edit edit: seriously, payton is slow, can't keep up and hadn't even been playing. were they just hoping for a foul to save time?
