It was as if he said, “Okay, no charging fouls this time, I am just going to shoot over this little guy.” So he pulled up and hit a jumper from the deep corner. Then he stopped in transition and hit a 19-footer. And then Flip Saunders gave up and put Hamilton back on Wade. Big mistake. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why Saunders did this. Yes, Wade hit two jumpers, but wouldn’t you rather take your chances there than let him get to the rim? It makes no sense.
In Game Four, Saunders went with Hunter for longer stretches, but Wade simply shot over him, took him to the block and spun away (to eliminate the chance that Hunter could flop and draw a charge), and went backdoor for alley-oops. Hunter didn’t have a chance. And you know what? Hinrich wouldn’t have had a chance either. Nobody would have. Not against a guy playing perfectly in every aspect of the game.
What does it all mean?
It means that Superman is here to stay and that there may be no kryptonite. And it might just mean that LeBron is going to have a fight on his hands for the title of “best player in the game” for the next decade.
Yes, Wade is that good. And he’s back. All the way back.
Article comments
1 - Matthew T. Sussman
It's a shame that a great player like Wade has to be given a goofy name like Dwyane. Let alone a misspelled name like Dwyane.
2 - El Bicho
It would have been intersting to see an uninjured Wade take on Detroit last year in Game 7 and probably moved ont the Spurs in the finals.
Wade might be surrounded by too many marquee names, not necessarily players, for the writers to consider him MVP.
God, thorough write-up, but I take issue with your overall premise. While Wade is having a great series, Shaq is known as Superman. He even has the "S" tattooed on his arm. Wade is Flash.
3 - Adam Hoff
That is a good point. I actually meant to include a throwaway line saying something like, "With apologies to Shaq and his tattoo, Wade makes for a better Superman." I forgot. Plus, I was drawing more on the comparison to the upcoming Superman movie as opposed to the actual nickname. Don't worry, I won't start calling him Dwyane "Superman" Wade!
4 - Matthew T. Sussman
I've got a problem with Shaq hoarding all the nicknames. He can't be Superman, Big Aristotle, and Kazaam rolled into one.
5 - RogerMDillon
Now, Matt, you know there's nothing with having more than one nickname.
Besides, Kazaam was a role, not a nickname, so you can have that one.
6 - Matthew T. Sussman
Kazaam wasn't just a role, Roger -- it was a way of life.
Shaq also had two other clutch nicknames -- Donovan Perot and Vladmire Mandingo. He used them as aliases while on the road. But why two? Maybe he used one of them to be a cool guy and another to be a total dick. But we'll never know.