Is Dwyane Wade Unhappy With Crunch-Time Role?

Having watched his new, high-profile teammates falter in late-game situations over and over again this season (leading to tears in the Heat locker room), the frustration for DWade seemed to bubble over to the surface yesterday. From the Miami Herald: “Among the post-game comments that drew concern is this one from Wade: ‘I’m used to, of course, coming down in the fourth quarter, having the ball, making mistakes, getting a chance to make up for them,’ Wade said. ‘So you’re just trying to get comfortable with whatever role you have to play at the moment, and you try to do your best at it. That’s all you can do. What is pouting going to do? What is not doing it going to do? That was one of the things that we knew we had to do when we all decided to come together. Sacrifices had to be made.’ He basically said he’s still having issues adjusting to playing with LeBron James, who handles a lot of the late-game duties. In all the most recent late-game failures, Wade hasn’t really been involved – only getting that last shot Sunday because of an offensive rebound. It’s almost as if their success playing together earlier this season was essentially while the team was blowing teams out. Once things get tight, then their comfort level together is still an issue. And in late-game situations, one guy’s not passing to the other. It’s pretty much all LeBron or a kick to a shooter who’s not named Dwyane. Kind of defeats the purpose of playing together.”