2013 NBA Playoffs

MDLT said:

Think it all depends on Wade. If he's healthy I think Heat win in 5 or 6. If not, I think Spurs will make them pay in ways the Bulls and Pacers cannot, either because of the roster, experience or coaching. Would take Spurs in 6 or 7 in that case.

All in all though, it seems like a decent matchup for the Heat

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Eh...Wade has almost become an expensive role player at this point. He's really become an 18 foot jump shooter that bails Miami out deep into the clock. And he's been great at knocking that shot down, but offensively, I think Miami has looked SIGNIFICANTLY better when Ray Allen is on the court spacing things for LeBron.

As crazy as it seems, I think teams are trying to funnel the ball to Wade at all costs, and then hoping he takes the shot. Again, he's been hitting it, but that's where you want the ball as an opposing defense right now. There isn't a coach in the NBA that would turn down the opportunity for Wade to be taking 17-18 foot jumpshots all game.

jay_em said:

Another thing SAS can do when the Heat go small is go with a small lineup of:
Parker
Manu
Green
Leonard
Duncan

thats a better defensive unit that should be able to switch all (non James) pick and rolls put pressure on the Heat defensively as one thing I've noticed about the Heat is that they are unusually lazy in getting back on defense after a missed shot. That Spur lineup should have no problem pushing the tempo and finishing after a missed Heat shot.

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Now we'll see if Danny Green has anything up his sleeve from all that time guarding Lebron in Cavs practice. Or maybe he just learned dance moves. We'll see.

AFA Wade, I've got my voodoo doll ready.

billmac91 said:

Eh...Wade has almost become an expensive role player at this point. He's really become an 18 foot jump shooter that bails Miami out deep into the clock. And he's been great at knocking that shot down, but offensively, I think Miami has looked SIGNIFICANTLY better when Ray Allen is on the court spacing things for LeBron.

As crazy as it seems, I think teams are trying to funnel the ball to Wade at all costs, and then hoping he takes the shot. Again, he's been hitting it, but that's where you want the ball as an opposing defense right now. There isn't a coach in the NBA that would turn down the opportunity for Wade to be taking 17-18 foot jumpshots all game.

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Don't really disagree with you, but it seems to me that Wade still has that potential for a monster game if healthy. If he can give James a couple 20-25 pt games, that's all James needs.

<article style="margin-bottom: 30px;"><header style="width: 640px;"></header><footer style="margin-bottom: 30px; font-family: Ubuntu, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(8, 32, 70); line-height: 1.4em; margin-top: 10px;"><article style="margin-bottom: 30px;">Way of Wade: Flopping, dirty plays for the win!

Someone has to say it, so I'll be the bad guy. No, wait. Dwyane Wade is the bad guy.

And that's how I'll say it:

Dwyane Wade is the bad guy. He's the worst guy in the NBA, when it comes to bad-guy stuff. Dirtiest player in the league? Yeah. That's Dwyane Wade. Look no farther for The Next Bruce Bowen, because he's here and headed to the Hall of Fame. Rare that a player as good as Dwyane Wade would be as devious, as dirty, as Dwyane Wade ... but there we are.

Dwyane Wade is the most devious, the most dirty player in the NBA.

And I say that as a guy who fell (back) in love with Wade last season, during the 2012 NBA Finals, when Wade's family went through some trauma and Wade was reunited with his sons before Game 4 and he was hugging them courtside and I was getting goosebumps -- getting goosebumps, right now, thinking about it -- because there's nothing more beautiful or pure orlikeable than a parent's love for his/her children. How can you not like Dwyane Wade after seeing that?



But at the same time, how can you like Dwyane Wadeafter seeing this?

Or this?

Or this?

The guy's dirty. He doesn't just foul people -- he hurts them. He hurled Rajon Rondo to the ground during the 2011 playoffs and Rondo suffered a dislocated elbow. He raked his arm down on Kobe Bryant's face and broke his nose ... during the 2012 All-Star Game. He kicked Ramon Sessions in the groin earlier this season and was suspended a game for that.


He's dirty, man. Dirty. Dirtiest player in the NBA? I think that goes without saying. Does anybody else have a rap sheet as long as Wade's rap sheet? Did I mention the forearm shiver to Lance Stephenson's head yet? That was in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals, and it was so bad, so dirty, that after studying it on film the NBA assessed Wade with a flagrant foul.


The NBA didn't suspend Wade for Game 3 because he's Dwyane Wade and that's the Miami Heat and suspending Wade for Game 3 might have thrown the Eastern Conference finals even further out of balance, and the NBA would prefer the Miami Heat to reach the NBA Finals. We all know that, right? That the NBA prefers the Heat (and LeBron James) to reach the NBA Finals? I'm not suggesting the referees would affect the outcome, but I am absolutely suggesting the NBA didn't suspend Dwyane Wade for smashing Lance Stephenson in the head because he plays for Miami, and he plays with LeBron, and the NBA would prefer the Heat reaches the NBA Finals.


Which brings me to Sunday night. Game 3.


The flop.


You saw the flop, right? Wade was under the basket, near the baseline, nowhere to go. Well, there was one place to go -- out of bounds. With Pacers big man Ian Mahinmi nearby, Wade threw himself out of bounds. He wanted the call, the foul, the ball. He got none of it.


I want a fine.


The NBA now fines players for flopping, and I want Dwyane Wade fined for that egregious flop on Game 3. I'd like him fined for the two or three flops he does every game, and even Miami Heat fans have to know what I'm talking about. Two or three times a game, Wade rises for a shot and a defender contests the shot, maybe even fouls him across the hand or arm, and Wade falls to pieces like a skeleton suddenly missing a pelvis.


All the bones come tumbling down because somebody touched Dwyane Wade on the forearm.


It's hilarious to watch, really, but not in a laughing-with-you sort of way. I see it and I'm laughing at you, Dwyane Wade, because it's pathetic for a player of your stature and skill to resort to such blatant cheating. And that's what flopping is -- it's cheating. Trying to gain an unfair advantage, help your team and penalize theirs, by getting a call you don't deserve.


Wade's a cheater.


Dirty, too.


These facts are undisputable. Someone had to say it, so I'll say it. And I'm not worried about being the bad guy anymore, because everyone knows who the bad guy is in this story.


He wears No. 3 for the Miami Heat.

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Gregg Doyel is a columnist for CBSSports.com. He covered the ACC for the Charlotte Observer, the Marlins for the Miami Herald, and Brooksville (Fla.) Hernando for the Tampa Tribune. More importantly, he is 4-0 as an amateur boxer, with three knockouts. Follow Gregg Doyel on Twitter.
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I wanted to supplement the above story with one of the more comically implicating ESPN articles in recent years. They essentially have the Heat condoning flops on written record and they will still not be sanctioned for their actions. I pasted the highlights of the "story":

LeBron James sees point to flopping

INDIANAPOLIS -- LeBron James vehemently denies he's a flopper but openly recognizes it as an effective strategy.

"Some guys have been doing it for years, just trying to get an advantage," James said Monday in the lead-up to Tuesday's Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals. "Any way you can get an advantage over the opponent to help your team win, so be it."

During Game 3 on Sunday, Dwyane Wade appeared to be caught exaggerating contact from the Pacers' Ian Mahinmi when he fell out of bounds after Mahinmi put a hand on Wade's back. Officials did not call a foul on the play, but the clip of the move spread on the Internet as one of the more egregious cases of the maneuver seen in the postseason.

Still, fines have not seemed to stem the tide. No Heat players were officially warned or fined for flopping during the regular season or in the playoffs.

"It happens," Wade said. "We would have no NBA possibly if they got rid of all the flopping."

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And some of the better comments in the forum section relating to the article:

flexylexy9000
"It happens," Wade said. "We would have no NBA possibly if they got rid of all the flopping."

We'd have an NBA, you just wouldn't be able to play in it.

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FeedMeCarnage
"I don't beat women, but I recognize it as an effective way to get them to shut up."

- Chris Brown

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Suspended605Names
I'm not a muderer... But I do see the advantage in it

-OJ Simpson

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:chuckles::chuckles:

Flopping has been going around since the 90's. Since the refs started to decide how much contact constituted a foul.

Example A: As a defender you move in and take contact square in your chest without falling. Referees ignore it. Same contact and you fall to the ground is called a charge. Players learn if you want a charge call you better hit the ground.

Example B: As an offensive player you take the ball strong to the basket and contact is made on a layup/dunk attempt. You play threw the contact no call is made. You play threw the same contact, yell and flail your arms refs make the call and you're on the line. Players learn if I want that call I have to flail and yell.

Example C: As an offensive player you come off a screen and get bumped by defender jumping out on the screen. If you play through it nothing is called. If you upon same contact you got stumble back, throw your head back and flail your arms you get the call. Players learn if i want that call i have to stumble throw my head and flail.

Bottom line is if officials call all plays consistently then there would be no need to flop or draw attention to contact. The NBA and its officials have themselves to blame here. Young players aren't stupid. They see the vets get away with this behavior and they put it in their repertoire.

I remember watching the 07 Finals and LeBron first attempting the Chauncy Billups/Manu Ginobli (see Example C), defender comes out contacts Bron and he badly acts like he was killed, feigns losing control of his dribble and gets no love from official and has to call a timeout. He's soo much better at that now...see 2nd and 3rd acts below.

[video=youtube;1ZpGKC62qvs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZpGKC62qvs[/video]

ImWithDan said:

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Your eyes are seeing what you want it to see , I clearly see the pacer player give wade a shove right on the lower torso. Hes already leaned over, it doesn't take much for a player to lose his balance when in that position with someone also shoving your in the lower torso. The biasness towards Indiana is just getting stupid.

cavsfan889 said:

Your eyes are seeing what you want it to see , I clearly see the pacer player give wade a shove right on the lower torso. Hes already leaned over, it doesn't take much for a player to lose his balance when in that position with someone also shoving your in the lower torso. The biasness towards Indiana is just getting stupid.

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Loosing your balance is one thing, but watch his feet. He didn't lose his balance, he jumped out of bounds. He even had to move his feet into position to do it...

cavsfan889 said:

Your eyes are seeing what you want it to see , I clearly see the pacer player give wade a shove right on the lower torso. Hes already leaned over, it doesn't take much for a player to lose his balance when in that position with someone also shoving your in the lower torso. The biasness towards Indiana is just getting stupid.

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Seeing what I want to see?

Do you understand the amount of strength it would take for someone to barely push a 220LB man down like that?

Wade accelerated well after the push and I just found it hilarious. If he was barely off balance he would have held on and attempted to pass the ball.

Instead he fell down like a sack of bricks. As BigErieCavsFan stated, watch his feet.

I appreciate the amount of skill Miami shows, I just think things like the above are unnecessary and take away from some brilliant basketball.

I don't really have a reaction either way to Miami wins or losses. I just find the amount of flopping they do incredibly lame.

Miami has the most talent of any team in the NBA and they have to flop to win? Embarrassing.

cavsfan889 said:

Your eyes are seeing what you want it to see , I clearly see the pacer player give wade a shove right on the lower torso. Hes already leaned over, it doesn't take much for a player to lose his balance when in that position with someone also shoving your in the lower torso. The biasness towards Indiana is just getting stupid.

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He got pushed a little and flopped.

Both of you win, and lose....

Shake your dicks fellas, this pissing contest is over.

As much as I hate to side with the Heat, I don't really see this as their fault. This is an issue with Miami because A.) the NBA doesn't crack down on flopping, and instead essentially gives the benefit of the doubt to the person flopping (even after they allegedly tried to stop it) and B.) the big reason, which is that NBA officiating massively favors superstars. Heat have two and half of them on their roster, more than most.

If the Heat flop, and they do, it's mainly because the NBA incentivizes that kind of behavior. James was dead on when he said they should take advantage of anything they can - they know they'll be rewarded for it, so only following the rational course - which is to flop around and complain.