Dwyane Wade has been commenting quite a bit at his fellow backcourt companions, mentioning before his being impressed with Shabazz Napier’s growth. Now Wade is talking about long-time teammate Mario Chalmers. Chalmers has long been Wade’s partner in the backcourt as a point guard, but Erik Spoelstra has been playing Chalmers at the 2 much of this preseason.
According to the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson, Wade likes what he has seen from him so far.
"Mario Chalmers has played well at backup shooting guard and Wade said he told Chalmers “he’s more aggressive when he’s at the two [guard spot]. We need him that aggressive when he’s at [point guard]. Sometimes he holds himself back. We want him to mix that in more. That would make us more dynamic.”"
Wade’s comment alludes to the fact that Chalmers will not be relegated to playing just the shooting guard spot this season. Though it doesn’t mean he’ll be played exclusively at point guard either.
This aggression has been noticeable from Rio, and is the center of my argument for making him the sixth man and starting Norris Cole at the point. Chalmers needs to be in attack mode–as much as that may sound crazy to Miami Heat fans.
The fact is, Chalmers’ best when aggressive and his all-around scoring is his best asset. He’s not the defender he once was, nor is he a particularly skilled facilitator. Without LeBron James in the mix, Chalmers will need to pick up his scoring numbers.
Bringing Chalmers in as the sixth man will allow him to play the 1 or 2 and be an aggressive scorer against second-units almost the entire time. Spoelstra has, basically, two rotation options if he brings Rio off the bench. (1) Chalmers comes in for Cole, then slides over to the 2 to spell Wade with Napier coming in to fill the point. Or (2) Wade is the first off the floor with Chalmers coming in at shooting guard, then Shannon Brown enters and Cole heads to the bench with Chalmers taking over the point.
Either way, the Heat will need Chalmers to be aggressive. That could be, uh, fun?