Anyone but Dwyane Wade (to shoot a 3 at the end of the game)

The Heat lost a nail biter last night against the Charlotte Hornets, 109-106. At the end of regulation, down 3-points, Coach Spoelstra designed a play for Dwyane Wade to take a 3-point shot. Why, Coach Spo, why?

First, let me begin by saying I think Erik Spoelstra is one of the top coaches in the NBA. To the fire Spo crowd, I say, “Fire Spo? Heck no!” The Heat have been without their best player, Chris Bosh, since the All-Star break. Yet, they are fighting for home court in the first round of the playoffs. That alone is testament to Spo’s coaching skill. But having said that, the decision to let Wade take the final shot is inexplicable.

The first and, perhaps, most questionable decision was the personal grouping Spoelstra put on the floor at the end of the game. He went with Dragic-Wade-Johnson-Deng-Whiteside. Why wasn’t Josh Richardson on the floor? He is the hottest 3-point shooter on the team right now. He has hit a ridiculous 18 out of his last 24 3-point shoots. On the year, Richardson is shooting an amazing 46.9% from 3 (albeit on a relatively small sample size).

Spo says Whiteside was in over Richardson to set a screen. Ok, so put Richardson in instead of someone else (I’ll let you decide who).

Next, why not draw up a play for one of your true 3-point shooters. Two of the best in the NBA right now are on the Heat! Since the all star break, Josh Richardson is hitting over 60% of his 3’s and Joe Johnson is hitting over 50%.

If not Joe Johnson or Josh Richardson, why not go with Luol Deng or Goran Dragic? Dragic is a medicore 3-point shooter for the most part. He is hitting 31% of his 3-point attempts. Deng is better at 35%. But both are proven clutch 3-point shooters. In endgame situations, both are hitting over 50% of their 3-point attempts.

What you probably should not do is draw up a play for the guy who is hitting 18.9% of his 3-point attempts and hasn’t made a 3-point shot since Dec. 16. That’s right. Dwyane Wade hasn’t made a 3-point shot in over 3 months. It’s not the best idea in the world to try and break Wade out of that slump with the game on the line.

Of course, Spoelstra says the final play wasn’t neccesarily for Wade. The goal was to get an open look for someone. But, Spoelstra misses the point. Why not get an open look for someone who might actually hit the shot? Wade is one of the smartest basketball players in the NBA. Why not let him take the ball out? Trust Wade to inbound the ball to the player with the best shot to win the game.

In his defense, Wade says he hit that same shot a few years ago. Unfortunately, Wade is not the same player he was a few years ago. Sometimes the hardest thing for an aging superstar to accept is the fact that his skills have declined.

I am pro-Wade. He brings a lot to the Heat and can still play at a high level. Wade had an off night against Charlotte. And he has earned the right to play more than he should when his shots aren’t falling (3/13 shooting) and he has as many turnovers as assists (3 each). However, both he and Coach Spo need to acknowledge that Wade is not necessarily the best player to close out games anymore. Especially, when the Heat need a 3.