NBA 2014-2015 Regular Season - Page 21

Dwyane Wade's strong hands, anticipation skills and wingspan make him a great shot-blocking guard.

Welcome to the 700 club, Dwyane Wade.

On Wednesday night, Charlotte Hornets guard Lance Stephenson drove baseline past Wade and rose for a high-flying dunk in the fourth quarter. It didn't work out as planned. Wade came up from behind and swatted the ball cleanly, sending it into the front row.

And with that, Wade became the first 6-foot-4 (or shorter) player ever to break the 700-block barrier. To put it in perspective, the next-tallest player listed 6-4 or under on the active list is Tony Allen at 257 blocks, followed by Kirk Hinrich (227) and Andre Miller (221). Those three combined? 705. Just about Wade's total all by himself.

Pulling up my Block Party database from NBA StatsCube, there are 340 NBA players on Wade's career victim list. That was Wade's second block of Stephenson, making him the 150th player to be blocked by Wade multiple times in his career.

Wade currently has the highest block rate for any guard in NBA history (minimum 150 games), according to Basketball-Reference.com. He has blocked an estimated 1.4 percent of all 2-pointers taken while he's on the floor. He has averaged 1.0 block per game, which is more than any guard.

But if you look at Wade's 700 blocks, one trend jumps off the page: He has a knack for denying the big man.

We've seen this recently. On Sunday, he blocked the near-7-foot Jonas Valanciunas twice. Want to guess the player Wade has blocked the most?

Dwight Howard. Yep. Nine times.

Actually, Wade has blocked Joe Johnson, Vince Carter and John Salmons nine times each, as well. But Howard's name is right there with them. (Below is an infographic that illustrates which NBA players Wade has blocked the most; the larger the player's name, the more times Wade has blocked him.)



On Tuesday night, I caught up with Howard in the locker room after the Rockets beat the Heat and told him that Wade was coming up on 700 blocks for his career.

I began to ask him: "You know who he has blocked the..."

"Me," Howard interjected.

Yup.

"I could see that," Howard said with a grin, "especially when Orlando and Miami had that rivalry. He was good at coming weak side going in on my hook shots. I was worried about my man and he'd come block it."

But the one that stands out for Howard was not of the hook-shot variety. It was a dunk attempt gone wrong.

"He had one where he pinned it to the glass," Howard said. "With two hands."

Indeed, it came in the second quarter of a game in Orlando back in the 2010-11 season. Howard, a bit stunned by the move, slowly trotted back on defense as Wade zigzagged the other way for a lay-in. One of nine.

"For a guard, most of those guys stay out of the way," Howard said. "But he likes to come block shots and amp up the crowd."

No doubt Wade has been on his fair share of posters before. Taj Gibson can tell you that. No shot-blocker hasn't been embarrassed at the rim at times.

But Wade has also had his glory at the top of the mountain. Howard isn't the only big man who has gotten the Wade treatment. Wade has blocked 7-footers Brook Lopez and Pau Gasol six times each. Jermaine O'Neal, Amar'e Stoudemire, David West, Spencer Hawes -- all blocked at least four times by Wade.

The tallest player that Wade has ever blocked? That would be Zydrunas Ilgauskas at 7-3. Wade has also blocked four players who stand 7-2: Roy Hibbert, Greg Ostertag, Loren Woods and Jake Tsakalidis. All in all, Wade has blocked a 7-footer 48 times in his career.

In fact, 68 percent of Wade's blocks have come against players taller than him. Nearly half (47 percent) have come against players who stand 6-7 or taller. This is Wade's specialty.



Miami coach Erik Spoelstra has been on hand for every single one of those 700 blocks, either as an assistant coach or head coach. What makes Wade such a good shot-blocking guard?

"He has ridiculously strong hands and high-level instincts," Spoelstra said. "But really it's..."

Spoelstra fully extends his arms out to his sides.

"His wingspan is a legit 7 feet."

Wade's go-go-gadget arms are essential to the craft, but to get to 700 blocks at 6-4, it can't be all about physical attributes. One NBA scout points to Wade's intuition on the court.

"He has a very high IQ and he understands that most big men, when they get it down low, aren't going to pass much," said the scout. "So he can gamble at least knowing that they won't find his man for an open shot. His length and athleticism are a big help, as well."

Another factor is the Heat's unique defensive scheme that often calls for Wade to be the low man protecting the basket. While most of Wade's blocks come on the weak side, he has met plenty of players at the rim who are expecting to get an easy layup. Wade often finds himself at the right place at the right time. But he also has the right disposition to make the play.

"There just aren't many guards who are willing to play like a big man," Spoelstra said. "But [Wade] is just wired like that."

Among Wade's current teammates, Luol Deng has been swatted the most by Wade: six times.

"He's got six blocks on me?" Deng said, laughing. "Thanks for telling me that, man."

Deng also praised Wade's ability to sneak in without getting noticed.

"He gets a lot of blocks from the weak side," Deng said. "You just don't see him. He's really mastered that. He's probably the best at it."