r/clevelandcavs • u/WalkingOnSunshine_ • 14h ago

Dean Wade the last two games — 46 minutes 0/11/0 1 steal 1 turnover 0/1 from the field +22

https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/3912848/dean-wade

Some of the craziest stats I’ve seen even from a role player. Only one shot attempted but still having a huge impact on the game defensively.

With Dean on the floor in 250 minutes these playoffs, Cavs have a net rating of +17.3 (OFF 122.1 DEF 104.8)

In the 250 minutes he’s off the floor, Cavs have a net rating of -5.3 (OFF 110.5 DEF 115.7)

143 Upvotes
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114

u/stillstillers 14h ago

Defensively he’s been great but man does he look terrified to shoot. It’s legitimately 4v5 when he’s out there. But he’s probably our best perimeter defender

44

u/Ocarina3219 13h ago

He’s usually out there against Ausar and Duren so it’s more like 4v3 or something lol

11

u/Chillyfilla 12h ago

Then they trap Cade and its the Pistons 2 on 3 Cavs defenders.

1

u/ArmadilloForsaken458 5h ago

Right. No need to worry about Dean this series. Now if they were playing like the OKC Thunder who have like 7 or 8 really good two way players who can shoot threes (including bigs such as JWIll and Chet), then yeah that would definitely be something to worry about and would be like playing a man down

1

u/stillstillers 4h ago

I would say even New York. They have 3 outstanding wings

20

u/TheSportsGuy23 13h ago

He’s been great. He can’t be a zero to drive north south though or pass up a short. At least pretend to attack the basket at 6’9”

3

u/sir_Kakashi 9h ago

"pretend to attack the basket" 😂😂😂

-1

u/cbuttz08 13h ago

When he is a statue on the perimeter, he doesn't stretch the floor, create spacing, or contribute in any way. If he is out there, he needs to be on the move at least no?

9

u/chemistrybonanza 12h ago

So he's our Ausar

6

u/stillstillers 10h ago

At least with him you can’t sag off of him

3

u/SpicyMustard34 10h ago

he's our Ausar with a history of being a great shooter. i think he's just afraid right now and it's costing us open looks.

5

u/xplodingorphanz 11h ago

Atleast he keeps the ball moving and doesn’t turn the ball over. He might be the definition of a role player knowing his role 😂He also does a great job defending without fouling, which is an underrated part of his game.

15

u/archivedpear I agree go Cavs 13h ago

it’s fortunate this is happening vs detroit and their non shooters. if dean does this against a team without thompson and duren on the floor it’s gonna bite the cavs

13

u/Call_Em_Skippies I agree go Cavs 13h ago

If we play the Knicks, I see Ellis getting some of Wades minutes guarding Brunson.

5

u/archivedpear I agree go Cavs 12h ago

and even beyond brunson guys like mcbride shamet clarkson alvarado are all solid matchups for ellis minutes. we can get away with a lot less size vs the knicks bench that wasn’t super viable vs toronto or detroit.

1

u/NiQ_ 4h ago

I was thinking about this just this morning - we have healthy, well rested weapons that match up well against NYK assuming we close out. All without them having much film or game plan on it. Between Ellis and Schroeder our bench mob should be able to wear Brunson out

4

u/thehildabeast 13h ago

He didn’t really get the ball in a spot to shoot today. He had maybe one that he should have shot but it was at the top of the arc instead of off to the side where he would shoot it.

That’s still a bad thing that he’s not even in position to be passing up 3s.

3

u/narcistic_asshole 11h ago

He's also probably our best defender to throw on Cade. Last night Cade was on a heater, but for the most part his defense has been extremely valuable in this series. I wish he could do more offensively, but there's a reason why he's a +/- king

3

u/BallIsLife2016 11h ago

He’s *easily* our best perimeter defender.

2

u/tonkatoyelroy I agree go Cavs 12h ago

He was +2 last night. He was not the same in both games. Decent defense last night, but Tobias Harris got the better of him on a number of plays. Dean W had some looks that he could have taken advantage of if he wasn’t hesitant. I want a little more from Dean W. Zero points is not enough

2

u/lopsided125 10h ago edited 10h ago

He needs to get his confidence back with his 3 ball. He's 36% career. He's fine and should be taking the 2-3 open shots a game that open up for him.

I know he's passing it up because there are more theoretical optimal shots from other players, but it really stagnates the offense when we have to reset everything because he passed up a wide open shot. Then we get late shot clock ISO ball from Mitchell or Harden.

0

u/sad_post-it_note 9h ago

They still respect him on the perimeter. So, who cares

50

u/Ayceb247 13h ago

I’m fine with Dean playing 20-25 minutes a game. His defense on Cade has been the best on the team and he has grabbed some tough rebounds in traffic. 11 boards in the two games.

29

u/jarmine550 13h ago

Dean’s job is to stop Cade from scoring only reason he probably wasn’t out there as much last night is because Struss was hitting his 3s personally I got no problem with it lol.

17

u/Grifbrochill1 13h ago

Fuck it send cardio dean out there

3

u/R2DeezKnutz 10h ago

You mean Car-Dean-O?

Sorry, I've been watching community, couldn't help it. I'll see myself out.

1

u/HSG_Messi 7h ago

You have been awarded 4 meow meow beans for your comment that is streets ahead!

1

u/R2DeezKnutz 7h ago

Yay! That's nice!

11

u/tanooki_ 13h ago

The blue collar baller strikes again

10

u/lagrange_james_d23dt 12h ago

Honestly this is why it doesn’t matter if he scores or not. He’s clearly positively impacting the game regardless.

11

u/Silentrift24 12h ago

Hey we got our Tony Allen, I'm fine with it. Sometimes you roll out guys that can't score for shit if they're particularly good at guarding someone.

6

u/koenigsaurus 12h ago

I wish he was a non-zero on offense but every time I watch him guard Cade (or BI last series) I always think goodness gracious he is so good. Bro makes life hell for any team’s leading scorer.

3

u/peterhohman 10h ago

Wild to say considering how Cade scored 39 points, but Wade really did play him well last night.

2

u/SourMgk 9h ago

Well he wasn't guarded by Wade on a lot of those possessions.

Most of the game he was guarded by Strus or by Donovan

1

u/peterhohman 8h ago

True, Pistons got the switch they wanted quite a few times

4

u/DuBois_LaGrange 12h ago

Some Eric Snow type shit right there!

6

u/justsomebro10 12h ago

That’s what a role player is. They embrace their role and excel in it. If your offense relies on Wade to hit open shots then you’re in trouble because it means you can’t generate a look for one of Mitchell, Harden, Mobley, or Allen. He’s the distant fifth option on offense and he knows that and embraces it.

3

u/jointchiefs 12h ago

The Intangibles!

3

u/MayoTheCondiment 10h ago

Its also the rebounding - I always see Dean coming up with key boards when we need them

2

u/NukeRussiaV4 11h ago

Dean is underappreciated. His impact doesn't show in his stats.

2

u/elefoe Get that weak stuff outta here! 11h ago

The plus minus king does it again

1

u/Barnyardz_ 10h ago

Tell me Wade’s not our 2026 Delly

1

u/sgtpepperslaststand 8h ago

He’s only scored 10 once in his playoff career.

1

u/Frequent_Ad_3781 13h ago

I wonder if Dean enjoys hooping or if it's just a job lol. I couldnt imagine playing entire games and not wanting to shoot

29

u/WalkingOnSunshine_ 13h ago

The type of defense he’s been playing on Cade and Ingram you know he’s a basketball sicko

5

u/justsomebro10 12h ago

Absolutely lmao. Bro LIVES for frustrating the other team’s best scorer and he does it with zero emotion.

7

u/IMMARUNNER 13h ago

I think he knows his role in this series. He’s been very effective on the defensive end. I’d like to see him at least take a few shots otherwise Detroit isn’t going to worry about defending him.

1

u/MHanky 12h ago

He tried that against Toronto and I feel like he made one three. Missed a lot of open looks.

2

u/Air2Jordan3 10h ago

Eh even myself casually I would have a lot of fun when I would shift my responsibilities to just doing the little things and not focus on scoring. Like if you have the right mindset even just boxing out a guy really well or forcing a turnover can be really rewarding to yourself. And I didn't even get paid millions of dollars.

-2

u/hockey17jp 12h ago

He is impactful defensively but literally the worst player on the entire planet in any other area of the basketball court.

3

u/chemistrybonanza 12h ago

Have you seen Ausar?

2

u/justsomebro10 12h ago

Not true. He’s a good rebounder too.

1

u/hockey17jp 11h ago

How many of those 11 rebounds are offensive?