I saw him play three times the last week or so, substate finals, state semis and state final. The semis on Friday were by far his worst game, I thought his best was at substate. Berean Academy had a stud PG who was keeping them in the game, they switched Wade on to him in the second half and I'm pretty sure he never scored on him. Wade showed much better defensive decision making and timing on blocks to avoid fouls in that game than the semis on Friday. He's very smooth on offense, good body control, nice jumper with great range, soft touch inside and his FT% speaks for itself. SJ assistant says in practice he'll just drain ridiculous amounts of 3s sometimes, like 23/25.
Obviously, he carried the team on Saturday against an athletic and determined Central Plains team. I was also concerned about his defensive performance on Friday, but apparently this past week he has been battling sickness. I did think he looked a bit more sluggish really in both games than last week. It wasn't post defense to be sure, but he efforts against the B.A. PG give some hope he can move laterally with 3s and definitely 4s at the next level.
Rebounding was a bit of a concern. With as good as hands as he shows in the rest of his game, I thought he should have snatched a few more boards, several he got a hand on and lost, etc.
After watching him play a few times last year, he is noticeably more assertive this year, definite team leader, etc. I watched games this week with people who watched him and SJ for the first time, and they were surprised how balanced SJ was as a whole, expected more emphasis on offense to be on Wade. I think that's accurate; even in the final on Saturday when he had over the half the points there were times when I thought they should have given him the ball and didn't, they definitely don't over-rely on him, otherwise I think his stats would be more dominant (also if he wasn't limited to 18 min/game in their blowouts.) I would love to see his /100 min stats.
TL, DNR version: I really hope he works out well for us. I'm pretty LBBRIQ, so I'll avoid any strong statements either way. I do think the comparisons to Ron Baker (and Q) are more apt than those to Josh Reid for style of play and role he could play (though it's been awhile since I've seen Josh play). He does need to bulk up and some more lateral quickness would not hurt. He will be a hard worker and good intrinsic values guy, for sure. Tucks will love him.
