Just saw a comment asking about Dwyane Wade's three-point shooting and what he's doing to improve it.
Well, no, he's not a three-point shooter. But, really, for a guy whose strength is attacking, three-point shooting should be the last aspect of his game to develop. The reason is, the three-point shot tends to become a crutch that guys rely on too much. How many times have you watched Tracy McGrady or Gilbert Arenas play and say, "Why settle for that three? Take it to the hole!"
Look at the way Michael Jordan did it. He went to this strength over and over and over again until later in his career. Then he needed an outside shot and developed that.
Dwyane, as good as he looks now, is still improving his current style of play. His scoring is up, his turnovers are down from last year. Steals, assists, rebounds, FT percentage and shooting percentage, all up. So until he really needs to add that three-pointer, there's nothing saying he needs to add that consistent three-pointer.
How many times this year can you remember Dwyane getting caught with the ball on the perimeter and you saying to yourself, "Man, he needs to shoot that three." I can't remember one, because he always has a higher percentage option, and that's either a drive to the hole or a pull-up mid-range shot.
Another writer and I joke regularly about the subject of Wade's threes, because Dr. Jack Ramsay wrote a column earlier this year pointing to Dwyane's three-point shooting percentage as a reason to criticize him... "even phenom Dwyane Wade, while averaging 27.3 ppg, is shooting a miserable 7.7 percent from 3-point land," the ESPN column read.
That's like questioning Dan Marino's greatness by saying he averaged 0.3 rushing yards per attempt in his career. It's just not a part of his game right now.
Plus, if you've seen Heat games, you know that most of Dwyane's 35 three-point attempts this year have been desperate heaves as a clock is expiring.
I'm sure Dwyane is still shooting threes on his own and trying to improve that aspect of his game. And, yes, he actually can shoot from that distance. But it won't be something he turns to until he feels he needs it. And right now, at age 23 (he turns 24 on Tuesday), he doesn't need it. Right now, one-on-one defense is probably a greater concern.
Comments