Just in case you’ve forgotten, the Miami Heat did play in the playoffs this season. Against the Chicago Bulls? First round? Four game sweep? No, not coming to you? Well they did, so just deal with it. Now, I’m not saying with a healthy Wade we could have won the whole shibang, but at the very least we could have taken care of the scrappy (see flopping, see sissy, see Dallas) Bulls. Game 1, in Chicago, final 96-91 Bulls. Wade’s night, 21 pt, 3 ast, 2 ribs. Not exactly your classic Dwayne Wade playoff night (see 30+ pts averaged in last year’s finals). More telling than that though was the fact that he dunked only once (to my knowledge) in that game (though my memory is forcibly fuzzy on the whole subject). Three similar games followed, but without defense or the benefit of 20 points from Antoine Walker. The closest, game three, didn’t even have that close of a final score (104-96) due in part (see whole) to the fact that Miami was outscored 32-20 in the final period, something that’s usually the other way around with a healthy Wade on your side. So, no we probably would not have been able to beat the Spurs, but Chicago was well within our ability.
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This is the second part of my Offseason Moves Series. You can use the table of contents above to navigate to any other part of the series that you want to read about! At any rate, in this issue, we are going to be talking Forwads; both small and power. Incidentally, the difference between saying small and power is huge! I mean, who wants to be called a small forward… It is just embarrassing. They should change it to quick forward, or something less demeaning. I mean, look at king James. He is technically a small forward, but there is nothing about him that is diminutive or weak. However, let’s get back to the Heat. This is a position where the team definitely needs to get better. But how? Younger, more athletic players? Bigger, stronger rebounders? Well, let’s analyze the situation.

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It has now been about 5 weeks since Dwayne Wade underwent surgery to repair both his left knee and left shoulder. If the Miami Heat are to have any hope of being a contender for the upcoming season, they will need Wade to be full strength. The former Finals MVP, who proved capable of carrying the team when healthy, has been showing marked signs of improvement lately. While he still has a long way to go in the rehab process, he is confident that he will be ready for next season.

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