Windhorst- Miami is Better with Wade Column Analysis

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/miamiheat/post/_/id/11990/are-the-heat-better-without-wade-no-way

Wade led Miami to a Championship in 2006

In this largely opinionated column, Windhorst dismisses the idea that the Miami Heat are better off without superstar guard Dwyane Wade, who had just returned from a two week absence which happened to coincide with some of Miami’s best basketball of the season.

While Windhorst makes his opinion clear, his column also serves as a character study of Dywane Wade. Windhorst notes Wade’s agitation in missing big games against San Antonio and Los Angeles, acknowledges Wade’s struggles prior to missing games due to injury, and highlights key moments in Wade’s return to signify Wade’s superstar status. In Miami’s nine games without Wade, the Heat have only lost once, which has provided ammunition to the few who believe that Wade has lost a step or two.

In order to explain Miami’s success when Wade sits, Windhorst analyzed Wade’s performance in the four games prior to his absence over the past six games and compared it to his return to action against the New York Knicks. In the four games prior to injuring his foot, Wade shot only 38% from the field and only scored more than 17 points once. Clearly, Wade’s subpar play was due to injury, evidenced not only by Windhorst’s word choices to describe Wade as “ailing,” “not himself,” and “half-full,” but also by Wade’s 28 point return to action in which he dunked five times, “clowned” Landry Fields, and swatted Toney Douglass at the rim.

The way in which Windhorst informs the reader of the media’s criticism of Wade articulates the notion that Wade’s subpar performance at the start of the 2011-2012 season was due to injuries, disregarding that the team was better off without him. After outlining Wade’s two week hiatus, filled with numerous treatments and lots of television, Windhorst utilizes a well-placed quote from Wade responding to media criticism.

Well I agree with Windhorst that Miami is clearly a better and more talented basketball team with Dwyane Wade playing, I think that Windhorst could have backed up his opinion with more facts. The only evidence Windhorst provides to support his opinion is Dwyane Wade’s strong first game back from a stretch in which Miami won five of six games. It would be interesting to see Windhorst use more statistical data to assert his claim that Miami is better with Wade, such as Miami’s offensive and defensive ratings with and without Wade or Wade’s plus-minus for the season.