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Let’s hope he doesn’t “leave it all out on the floor”
Say what you want about honor and about wanting to prove yourself against the best. If the “flu-like symptoms” experienced today by Dwyane Wade prevent or inhibit his playing tonight, you won’t find me disappointed. The Boys in Blue are travelling to a hostile environment (albeit slightly less intimidating, with the whole “white t-shirt” thing) with hopes of winning their first road game of the series. And they’ll need all the help they can get. Pat Riley, on Wade’s chances of playing tonight:
“If the guy misses, you’re not going to replace him,” Riley said. “But the point is, he’s going to be there tonight.”
Wha ha? Did you understand that? I think Pat’s been in the sun a bit too long.
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He loves you, he loves you not
Elsewhere, Chris Sheridan, who has divided his time equally between the Heat and Piston bandwagons this series, is kind enough to remind Heat fans that their beloved have been in pressure situations like tonight’s Game 6 before…and have lost every time. Heat fans can enjoy reading snippets like:
Five times since 1998, the Heat have watched an opponent celebrate after bringing an end to Miami’s season, each devastating loss adding a chapter to the franchise’s brief and brutal postseason history.
Or reminiscing about the good ‘ol days:
May 16, 1999: Allan Houston drained the biggest shot of his career, a 14-footer that kissed off the rim and fell through with 0.8 seconds left as the eighth-seeded Knicks defeated the top-seeded Heat in the deciding Game 5 of the first round. New York won 78-77.
No word yet on whether Chris plans on verbally abusing Heat fans’ grandmothers, just to round out the day. But you wouldn’t be surprised if he did after that brutal trip down Miami memory lane.
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Detroit’s death wish?
Tony Mejia — consistent in his Piston-hate since the beginning of the playoffs — makes a valid point in taking the Pistons to task for their on/off play in the Heat series.
What are you smiling about, Detroit? The pressure is on you, too. The way the two-time defending conference champs opened this series was disgraceful.
Aren’t you the best team in the league? Are you really supposed to find yourselves in this situation time after time?
Congratulations, you’ve entered a situation where the price for failure is extinction, and the obstacle just happens to be the toughest you’ve faced since last season’s Finals. You lost that one, in case you forgot.
Detroit is going to be prepared to play this game. It has too much experience and pride not to. Unfortunately, it has too large a death wish, as well. The Pistons messed around, and against the two greatest talents the league has seen in the past 20 years.
You hate to hear it, Blue fans, especially from a Piston-hater. But that doesn’t make way he says untrue.
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Coach Lindsey?
Finally, a novel idea that I had never considered (but after reading makes perfect sense):
Could Lindsey Hunter follow Avery Johnson’s lead and eventually become head coach of the Pistons?
That is the question almost lost amidst a frustrated fellow Piston fan’s post-Game 3 rant. The similarities between the two players are striking. I’d be curious as to what you all think about that possibility. Personally, I’d be all for it so long as somone other than Lindsey is responsible for teaching concepts like “error-free dribbling,” “layups,” or “passing during a fast break.”
Wade misses practice with flu-like symptoms [ESPN]
Heat know a thing or five about playoff meltdowns [ESPN]
Daily Essentials: Both teams plagued by the P-word [CBS Sportsline]
Pistons-Heat Game 3 [The Passion of the Ben]
The same way that Dwyane Wade “poses” after every fall after a made basket or fantastic play is in essence the same thing as how everytime he misses a shot and falls down or gets tapped he will go into Oscar Mode and act like he is hurt and limp for a few seconds or hold a certain part of his body to add effect and make him look better when he comes back the next play and scores. The fact is hes not hurt, hes just a huge fucking drama queen who loves to make it look as if he is hurt ALL the time so when he comes back the world can kiss his ass because he knows the cameras on him. This latest flu like syptoms practice escapade is just the latest example of the drama queen trying to add more shit into the fire so if he wins tonight, the media will praise him as a warrior with a huge heart for playing when hes sick, because he knows the cameras are on him. And this metrosexual knows it and he plays to it every second of every game
I hate dwyane wade.
Blah, blah, blah re: Wade’s “flu.” Is this the set-up for his version of Jordan’s 1992 finals game of 35 points in a half? I wonder if someone at the hotel the Heat were staying at pulled a Sacramento/Kobe trick on him. Either way, I’m already preparing for tomorrow’s Dwyane Wade is a Bird-flu-beating, basketball messiah headlines.
As far as Lindsay coaching? The Avery Johnson set-up was as unique a transition as you’ll ever see in professional sports. How many head coaches are going to work with a guy who essentially has the title “Head Coach-in-Training”? And I can’t say I want to directly hand over this squad to someone with no experience. And I can’t say it’s not dangerous to have a guy become a coach the year after he plays back-up to the very teammates he’s now supposed to order around. Sounds more like a pipe dream at best. And not that good of one.
I’ll post my pre-game thoughts in the appropriate space later, but let me close with this: Chris Sheridan is a tool.
I got lost in Robbie’s paragraph, but yes, the “flu” is part of Dwyane’s Jordan-esque complex. If he comes into the game hurt and they win, he’s the hero. Ugh.
I hope he DOES play so that we can beat them at full strength, and people can stop putting an asterisk next to everything the Pistons do.
Dwyane Wade is my most hated player in the NBA , and it has everything to do with his persona and the type of person he is and the way he carrys himself….
One little random note on wade… in the post game he brings his gatorade bottle and conviently turns it so the gatorade logo is facing the camera perfectly.
We all know your freaking a gatorade commercial whore wade, but wallace is in gatorade commercial too u dont see him being there lil bitch doing product placement!!!!
I HATE U MAN I HATE U SO MUCH WADE I HATE U AnD UR LIPS ARE TOO BIG MAN U NEED GET THEM CUT AN HALF AND THEN THROW THEM INA RIVER SO THE SEAGULLS CAN EAT THEM
Well Wade isn’t my most hated, but he’s quickly climbing the ladder. It’ll be tough to take the number 1 slot as long as Mourning is in the league.
But yes, he is a drama queen. Yes, he’s a little bitch. Yes, he loves to be talked about all game. And yes, he loves having excuses if he loses. It just sucks that now we’re going to have to hear the announcers talk about this illness all night long. I miss hockey, because hockey players don’t sit there and bitch about every little bruise they have. Even Rasheed, who I think is still bothered by that ankle, hasn’t used it once as an excuse. But you know if the Heat lose tonight… ahem… WHEN the Heat lose tonight, this will be what’s talked about. Unless Ben just happens to put Shaq in his place in a similar fashion.
Meanwhile, a friend ran into Tay and Rip last night. Check out my blog for the story.
And 1 more thing….
I cant stand how dwyane wade pads up for a basketball game like he is a freaking running back in the NFL. All he is missing is the helmet.
They need to outlaw all that crap he wears so next time he goes down the metrosexual will not get back up.
I think Lindsey will make a great coach.
I’m sorry to hear that Wade is feeling under the weather. I would prefer not to have any excuses hanging around, especially since I agree with a friend of mine who suggested this Pistons will do this to the Heat tonight.
AMEN! I hope the league is happy now that the pussification of the officiating has produced players like Wade, who lay on the floor pretending to be hurt only to get up to complete a cherry-pick dunk on the next play. His Converse commercial celebrates it no less!
No more comparisons to MJ. Please! If Wade had to contend with the sort of physical play that the Bad Boys used to dish out to Jordan he would be a non-factor.
GO PISTONS!
I’m too lazy to come up with something more creative, so I’ll just copy the same comment I posted elsewhere:
Maybe I don’t read enough comments on NBA blogs, but this is the first time I’ve read a lot of anti-Wade sentiment across the board.
And the first thought that popped into my head was Jordan vs. Utah and Scottie helping him off the court near the end.
I’m hoping Wade does go off for at least 30, Shaq goes for 25 and 12, and atones for being embarrassed by that Big Ben block last game.
Then instead of focusing on this supposed “built-in excuse for losing Game 6″ we can focus on how the Pistons threw their coach under the bus after they put it on cruise control in the playoffs and expecting the entire league to lay down and give them a trip the Finals.
Just because the entire Pistions starting 5 looks like they came from some alien freaks womb doesn’t mean D-Wade has to be hated just because he looks half-way decent.
And by the way the Pistons do their fair share of complaining about calls, but then again you guys are Pistons fans so you problably overlook this. And if you lose this series it’ll be the biggest choke jobe since “Deep Throat”. This team was practically give the title throughout the year.
So Miami and D-Wade were involved in some gamesmanship? BIG DEAL … get over it.
Guys it’s sad that your minds are so closed and unwilling to accept Wade’s talents. It’s unfortunate that he was ill various times in the playoffs, but the media set the tone for all of the hype, he just gave the Heat fan’s what they wanted to see, “A damned great B-Ball player”.. As for the gatorade commercials, this man advertises for products he believes in, it’s more than just a check,,,, unlike Wallace’s situaion. Sorry haters, and as far as the lips, they are gorgeous, and even the haters have to admit, the man sure can wear a make a suit “do what it do” and represent the professional that he is….
I Love you Dwyane Wade, “All day Baby, All Day”!