Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Summer Flash

Echoing Sponge's comments from a few days ago, how encouraging has it been to watch Dwyane Wade perform in the pre-Olympic exhibition season for Team USA? In case you haven't been watching, Flash leads the Americans in scoring, averaging 17.3 points a game - and this coming off the bench.

I dare say that he looks more explosive now than at any time in his career, coming off of shoulder surgery that kept him out of 31 games last season for the Heat. His defensive effort has been inspiring this summer - he is quick to jump into the passing lane and when he's got himself a steal, it is "good night, sweetheart" for a clear path monster dunk. A healthy and rejuvenated Wade, along with a squad that looks menacing (outscoring opponents in the exhibition season by an average of 36 points per game) and hungry, will likely signal a return to world basketball supremacy for the United States.

It was not a foregone conclusion that Flash was going to ever get back to his old form - surgeries have a funny way of making has-beens out of former stars (read: Penny Hardaway). It is awesome to see that Wade not only is back in old form, but may be better than ever. Watch out, NBA - he's baaaaack.

3 comments:

Andrew said...

Wade led Team USA with 22 points this morning - 9 points in the 4th quarter to hold off the Aussie National Team...

Glad to see that he is still strong closing out games...

Anonymous said...

Very astute point, Andrew. It's one thing that he has his explosion back. Probably of more significance for the Heat is that his clutch leadership and performance is back to pre-injury levels as well.

Anonymous said...

Dwyane Wade + a basketball = Unstoppable