Dwyane Wade, still one of the best attackers

Dwyane Wade was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week on Monday. Here's a link to my story in the paper.

With less than two months remaining in the regular season, Wade is in top form and playing like a younger version of himself. Remember all the talk of Wade being on the backside of his prime at the beginning of the season? That might be true, but Wade is still one of the best shooting guards in the NBA. The Heat's plan to gradually work Wade back into shape after his knee surgery is paying off.

Take a look at these numbers. This is a list of the league's top finishers at the rim (dunks, layups and putbacks) in order of number of shot attempts. Wade is still one of the best attackers in the NBA

                                    MAKES    ATTEMPTS    %

Greg Monroe                 4.7            7.6            61.4
Nikola Pekovic              4.5            7.3            67.7
LeBron James                5.3           6.7            79.2
Russell Westbrook         4.1            6.6            62.1
David Lee                     4.4            6.4            69.3 
Dwight Howard            4.5            6.4            69.8
James Harden               3.9            6.2            63.7
Carmelo Anthony          3.4            6.2            55.5
Brook Lopez                 4.4             6.2            70.7
Thaddeus Young            4.2            6.1            68.7
Dwyane Wade               4.6            6.1            75.0

The only guards on the list ahead of Wade are Russell Westbrook and James Harden. The only player more efficient at the rim is teammate LeBron James. Pretty incredible.

(Sorry for the uneven chart. My TPS reports are a mess, too. Oh, and all this info is from Hoopdata.com.)

Professional-athlete treatment with Heat team doctor Harlan Selesnick

First, the bad news: the left ankle is purple and blue and swollen after a bad fall last week.

The good news: It's not LeBron's ankle; it's mine!

Even better news: Heat team doctor Harlan Selesnick says I'm going to be fine.

Sunday night's game against the Pacers was my first day back from a snowboarding trip to British Columbia. Long-time readers of this blog will know that every year my wife and I take a snowboarding trip in March. Well, this year's trip was to Whistler-Blackcomb and it didn't go so well. 

I wrecked my ankle on the second day and spent most of my vacation laid up in my hotel room. I'm man enough to admit that my wife is about 10 times a better snowboarder than I'll ever be. I was trying to keep up with her on the slopes and down I went, tumbling, tumbling, head over heels, rolling, never stopping, and then popping something in my left ankle. Thought it was broken. And, yes, ski patrol had to sled me down the mountain. The shame!

Anyway, I was limping around the Heat's locker room on Sunday night and Selesnick asked me what happened. I told him about the injury and he asked me to come see him on Monday to make sure nothing was broken. Hey, sometimes this job has its benefits.

I've covered athletes for many years now but Monday was the first time I have ever received the "professional-athlete treatment." Selesnick and his staff were excellent. They checked out my ankle, cleared me to walk and set me up with a physical therapist.

Recovery time: two to four weeks. Good thing I'm a writer. Thanks, Doc!