Last season, people called Wade a "poor man's Francis". How about this year? Is Wade on par with Francis now? Is he better? Personally, I think they are about equal. But if I have to take one, I'd take Wade over Francis. I watched Wade on many occasions this year, and found his game to be more fun, more effecient, smarter and less frustrating to watch than Francis'. It's kind of ironic to take Wade over Francis, because Francis does have a better overall game, especially in term of making jump shot. Francis takes five times as much 3-pointers as Wade, yet he has a better 3-point fg%. That's very telling about who can shoot better. Francis and Wade have very similar bodies. Both have amazing athleticism and excel at driving to the hoop. However, the difference is that when driving, Wade has a quicker first step. His cross-overs are more deadly, and when they got to the hoop, Wade simply makes better decisions. Wade doesn't take that many jump shots. All he needs to do is taking it to the basket again and again, and when he does so, he's nearly unstoppable and good things usually happen. He either finishes himself(he's clearly a better finisher than Francis) or makes a good dish to someone who's open(most noticeably, Shaq). When Francis takes it to the hoop, bad things happen in alot of times, because Francis doesn't have the court awareness, decision making and passing ability that Wade does. The difference is not substantial, but still noticeable, and significant. Francis has the body, the heart and the skills to be a great player, but his bball intelligence limits his potential. That's the only reason I'd take Wade over Francis.
the only problem with wade is he is much more injury prone than francis.... maybe bcos he is just driving too much.....
But Wade is fortunate to play with a talented big man. Maybe if Francis ever got that opportunity, he'd......oh wait.
talented is one thing, but dominate... not even close yet. Wade is a very good player that is taking advantage of playing with the most dominating center in the league right now. his numbers will drop once Shaq is gone, not much, but so will the entire team numbers...
since this is a comparison with Francis, it is just fair to say that Francis has better stats when he doesn't play with Yao..... just for comparison sake.....
I would say at this point, Francis is a better player than Wade.... but since this is only Wade's 2nd season, I believe he will be better than Francis in a few season time.....
Well they are both really good players. I think the edge goes to Francis, because he can carry a team, I have yet to see that from Wade. Wade may get there, but Francis naturally has that attitude to take over. That's also one of his weaknesses, but all the great players had that drive.
Francis' stats without Yao < Wade with Shaq < Wade without Shaq. Wade also has high FG% (49%). Wade can take over games. He's the actual 1st option and Heat plays very well without Shaq.
Wade has already proven he's clutch in his short career and while everyone is stating he's benefiting from playing with Shaq, I think he's actually the guy leading that team. Like someone said his numbers are better w/o Shaq. Even as a rookie last year, he became the leader over guys like Odom, Butler and Jones.
I see Wade as being a small notch below Francis as far as athleticism, quicks, and explosiveness. I see him as being a couple notches below him as far as his shooting range and consistency. He makes up for it hugely with better playmaking instincts and willingness to play within a team concept. Francis can do more, but Wade looks like a better guy for a contender. Evan
just so u know..... in no way am i comparing their stats..... just comparing their own stats with and without the big men
I'd have to go with Wade, but he's just as turnover prone as Francis. The reason I give him the edge is his high fg% for a guard. Not even the T-Macs and Kobes of this league can shoot at that clip.
Rather not nitpick their games since I think they're pretty much equals but different. I can't imagine either of them making that big of a difference if they switched teams. Miami would still be a contender and Orlando would still be another All Star caliber player away from contending.
I agree.. When Wade first came onto the scene I thought of him as Francis Lite. Similar body, style of play, explosiveness.. SF3 still has more shooting range and better hops Wade seems to penetrate at will and has a knack for finishing or getting to the line. J
The high shooting percentage is indicative of the fact that Wade never shoots 3s. Shots inside the arc are supposed to be a higher percentage. Also, Shaq makes a difference, look how Kobe's shooting dropped.
while i think it's a small difference, i think it's also a clear difference in favor of wade. francis has him beat on athleticism (who doesn't he have beat on athleticism?), but explosiveness? wade just seems like he can go 0-60 in a heartbeat when he's on the perimeter and once he gets to the rim he's all power. the number of times i've seen him take a huge amount of contact and get an and1 when i didn't even think he'd get the shot off is amazing. and i don't get where francis is a better shooter or more consistent. while wade definitely doesn't seem to have any range out to the 3 point line, on mid range jumpers he is very solid. francis seems very hit or miss on those whereas every game i see wade he seems to at least hit a reasonable amount of jumpers if not an above average amount (though admittedly i watch almost every orlando game and only a select few heat games). i mean he can't be shooting 49% on accident (compared to 42.2 for francis) and 49% is amazing for a guard. they both dish out the assists and francis rebounds better and they both seem to be good at hitting big shots and they both love to rack up the turnovers, but due to the big fg% difference and wade's finishing on tough near range shots (not quite layups but close in) i'd have to go with wade. he just seems scarier on a game by game basis though obviously francis can torch a team on any given night.
but wade also shot a very high percentage last year (46.5%). he also shot 30% on 3's last year on 0.9 attempts per game though this year he has almost completely eliminated the shot down to 0.3 attempts per game. he just seems to have made the same huge leap lebron made to where they are both just so much better than they were as rookies even though they were already great rookies.
