The Wrist or the Headlines?
Something is messing with Dwayne Wade's game, the question is whether it is his tender wrist or the sudden MVP hype that he has been receiving over the last week. For the past two months, D-Wade has been destroying people while leading Miami on a torrid run. Then, suddenly, he was being discussed as a leading MVP candidate for the first time all season. He also crashed hard to the floor and seemed to re-injure his sore wrist. In the four games after those two things happened, he has struggled mightily. His scoring is down almost 5 points per game, his boards are down 2, his turnovers are at an all-time high (4.8 per), and his normally terrific shooting (.504 for the season) has been abysmal (.375). Plus, the Heat are 2-2 over that span with a win over New York and a one-point victory over the Bulls. What is going on? It is clear that Wade is either hurt, or is not responding well to all the MVP talk. I would guess the former, because he seems too down to earth to let hype go to his head, but either way, if he can't shake off this recent slump, the MVP chatter will be gone just as quickly as it came.
2 comments:
It's the wrist. D-Wade is too cool under pressure to get rattled by some pub. It could also just be a coincidence. Everyone has their ups and downs, his down (there is no denying he's been off) is just coming at a time when people are talking him up for MVP.
What is amazing to me is that no one was mentioning Wade before (it was all Nash, Billups, Dirk, and Kobe) and now, after one column by John Hollinger, it is considered a two-man race between Nash and Wade. I guess we now need to see whether Hollinger goes into a column slump after witnessing the power of his opinion at work. Wouldn't that be crazy? If Wade went into a slump because of Hollinger's column, the very column that forces Hollinger into a writing slump, because they both realize their own powers as a result of it?
Of course, I still think it is the wrist.
Great stuff right there. I think you blew my mind.
Speaking of MVP debates, I think Dirk took offense to being left out of the discussion. My man went for 51 tonight.
I'm sure we can expect a swarm of columns tomorrow from writers who suddenly decide that Dirk should get it for leading a team with "no other All-Stars" to "one of the best records in the league." I can see it now. These guys are all over the map and I refuse to take them seriously until the final day, when it is time to put up or shut up.
(This, of course, from the guy that wrote a column in support of Shaq winning last year, then changed his mind after the season and gave it to AI on this blog, and then took it all back this year and gave it to Nash in a column. So yes, I have plenty of room to talk here.)
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