Word: waded
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Especially when it came to stopping Wade, who shined when the Heat needed him most, scoring 15 points during the fourth quarter of Miami's crucial Game 3 victory (he finished with 42), and 17 in the fourth quarter of Miami's Game 5 win (finishing with 43). Last night, a 36-point outing, he hit the bank shots, fall-aways and foul shots that made the difference. "[His teammates] had so much respect for him because they trusted him," said Miami Heat coach Pat Riley, who won his fourth NBA title, and his first since 1988, when he coached...
...predicted Wade's stunning ascension to the top of the basketball world. He wasn't one of the overhyped high school stars who expect everything handed to them. While growing up in a suburb near Chicago's South Side, idolizing Jordan's Bulls, Wade was seriously recruited by only three colleges. He chose Marquette, in Milwaukee. "My hope was just that he would get some quality playing time at Marquette," says Wade's high school coach, Jack Fitzgerald. But he has improved his game every year in college and the pros, and in 2004, Shaquille O'Neal demanded a trade...
...doubt, Wade's slashing style benefited from NBA rules changes that require referees to call the game much closer - even slight contact might get you to the foul line. In Game 5, Wade shot 25 foul shots - as much as the entire Dallas team. In Game 6, he shot 21 more. For years, Dallas will be smarting over a foul call against Nowitzki in the waning seconds of game 5 - he barely touched Wade, but the refs awarded Wade the winning free throws. So yes, Wade's stats might be a bit inflated - but getting questionable foul calls was also...
...Some basketball purists have griped that the very success of Wade's one-on-five isolation game is a setback for a league that had only recently, with the help of rule changes, brought back the beauty of old-fashioned team basketball - the kind practiced by the Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs and, yes, Dallas Mavericks. But most are just happy to celebrate a superstar unique in his own right...
...other words, just talk about Wade as Wade. "To me, it's still crazy when I walk around and I see people wearing my jersey, people wearing my shoes," said Wade, whose jersey sales are tops in the NBA, and who has a sneaker contract with Converse. "It's still weird to me but I'm sure some kid will go out in the backyard and try to be like me, and that's great." An NBA great who is startled by his own stardom? Now that's rarefied...