Wades 2007 shoulder injury, did it affect his jumpshot?

[FlashKing]

His jump shooting seems to be getting worse every season. I know people say that he was never a good jump shooter, but I disagree. His first 3 years in the league, Wade was a very consistent shooter(not counting 3-point shooting). He had a very smooth release and that bank shot he use to take back then was automatic. I haven't brought up his 2 years prior to LeBron and Bosh coming down here because those were probably his 2 best years statistically, but those years, a boatload of his points came from ferociously attacking the basket.

This is just me, but I feel like that injury severely crippled his shooting ability which he hasn't been able to recapture since. What do you guys think?

[Tim_Hardawayy]

I do think Wade was on a clear linear progression towards becoming a good shooter, and the shoulder derailed that progression. Although statistically, his best shooting season of his entire career was the 08-09 season, so I don't know if the shoulder is actually to blame.

But yeah, he improved every season right up to the 08-09 season if you don't count 07-08, and then has regressed ever since.

[Lightning25]

His jumper just went to hell after that 2009 season. He went from being like a 42-45% mid-range shooter to like 35% mid-range shooter I think he might have stopped working as hard on his jump shot after that but that's just a theory of mine.

[Ratchet_Rio]

I'm not quite sure why these past 2 seasons he's refused to get in the gym and perfect his jump shot. This offense would be much more potent if he had a consistent 20-25 ft jumper

[TRG]

Didn't he claim to have worked on it over the summer too? Looks worse than ever and it's really irritating.

I'm worried for when he really begins his physical decline. Unlike other great SGs like Kobe and Jordan, Wade doesn't have a consistent jumpshot that he can fall back on when he can't blow by defenders anymore.

It's not a problem at the moment but it is definitely going to be one in the foreseeable future. Wade NEEDS to start developing a consistent jumpshot like he had in his earlier days.

[TRG]

Double post.

[toodles23]

Wade has a weird hitch in his shot that I think will prevent him from ever being a good shooter. It looks fine from a distance, you can't tell anything is up, but if you look at it from behind up close, you can see that his right hand is actually on the SIDE of the ball when he's going up, and twists his hand to line up with the basket at the last instant before his release. It looks very weird if you look at it from the right angle.

[420]

Not sure, but Wade's jumpshot has looked silky smooth at times this season. I think it has a lot to do with putting in work and having a consistent shooting mechanic.

[Slot Machine]

While Wade's jumpshot was obviously better, I think you guys are romanticizing how good it was before the shoulder injury. He wasn't a pure shooter then either, and was more of a rhythm guy, his jumpshot was inconsistent but when it was on, it was ON.

[AAAAA1]

I think it might have something to do with his shot selection, his basketball IQ has decreased quite avidly. I find myself think to my self "Why would you take a shot like that???" alot.

maybe he is losing his identity with Lebron running the show, because we have everyone else out there to do pretty much a specific thing, like Ray Allen is to stretch the D and shoot 3's, Battier is to play hard D and hustle and shoot 3's, Joel Anthony is to play D, Bosh is to strectch the floor with his jumpshot mostly.

And wade most the time looks completely lost out there most times.

[TRG]

I think it might have something to do with his shot selection, his basketball IQ has decreased quite avidly.

Stopped reading at this point.

This comment is absurd. While dealing with nagging injuries and learning to play alongside the best player in the world, Wade still managed to average the 3rd highest regular season PER last year. Only two players that were higher were Chris Paul and LeBron James himself.

If that somehow translates to "decreased BBIQ" then I guess the majority of the league's collective BBIQ has plummeted. Wade may not be same guy we saw in '06 but he's still efficient as hell, and among some of the elites in this league in terms of BBIQ.

[Chosen01]

Even with his "decreased BB-IQ" he's still averaging 50% through the 3 games, and this when he was clearly hacked a number of times in the first game.

His shoulder injury isn't a valid excuse as he was in the best shooter for his career in 08-09. It's when he started developing bad habits like fading thinking he's Kobe where his jumper started to take a downturn. Jeff van Gundy always compliments on how Wade's balance on his jumper improved since he came into the league. Funny enough when he actually squares up on his jumper it's much more likely to go in.

I wouldn't really even gauge the team's play right now as they've been uncharacteristically bad on defense and even LeBron playing more passive like he was in '11 and Wade passing up shots as well.

[FlashKing]

^ You bring up 08-09, but really how many of his points came from the perimeter? It seemed like most of them came in the paint. He still had his speed back then so it was easy for him to blow past guys and get to the basket. His shooting form doesn't look the same compared to what it was from 2003 to 2007.

[Chosen01]

^ You bring up 08-09, but really how many of his points came from the perimeter? It seemed like most of them came in the paint. He still had his speed back then so it was easy for him to blow past guys and get to the basket. His shooting form doesn't look the same compared to what it was from 2003 to 2007.

http://www.hoopdata.com/player.aspx?name=Dwyane%20Wade

When you look at his stats from the perimeter, He attempted the most in 08-09 while also making the most with 7.9 attempts from 16-23ft. 2006 numbers would most likely be similar to his 08-09 numbers but slightly worse I believe.

I found it a bit surprising that year he was basically average %-wise but he didn't attempt nearly as much which the effect of Bosh and LeBron's presence.

[ERRDAY3]

He has shot over 40% from 16-23 in 05 06 09 and 11 he has shot 35-40% in 07 08 and 10 he has shot under 35 in 04 and 12. In 04 he was just a rookie and a terrible shooter he improved a lot the next year but he looked better than he actually was cause he played with Shaq. He shot well in 09 and 11 to because in those years he put in a lot of work before the season he was an average shooter in 10 because he didn't put in the work.

[RexBoyWonder]

Funny thing is - the next day after OP started this tread Wade is having his best jump-shooting day i can remember in the last couple of seasons.

[Zasterror]

Wade's J look pretty smooth tonight. I believe he has improved but his rhythm is always knocked.

[bobly]

I don't think it was the shoulder injury as much as getting complacent with where his jump shot was. I also think some around 2008 he started to look more for calls on jump shots than he did previously and would would brick a normally makeable shot trying to fall into his defender. It's when I thought Wade started to look solely for calls a significant amount of the time rather than trying to make a basketball play first. The change in mentality could've been because he felt more confident in putting points up in the board that way after his injury though.

I also think we all as heat fans tend to overrate how good his mid-range game was though. While it has obviously regressed, expectations for players are different when they are still relatively new to the league. As a rising star his mid-range game was very impressive, more so than it usually would be, especially because he was so good so early in his career.

[Ninjek]

His J might not be falling consistently right now, but the form looks better; last year it seemed like his mechanics were terrible and at times this year it has looked good.

[WiseOwlWins]

his jumpshot was MCNASTY in 2009. watch the season again and you will see the reason why he put up legendary numbers that year was the combination of his physical peak and work ethic on his jumper. he was literally unstoppable, not one person could guard him.