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Yesterday I discussed waiting on picking the Heat or Spurs. The Spurs are currently slight favorites thanks to home court advantage. But a shift of odds for the better or worse is likely to occur during the series.

Where the advantage lies currently is deciding on an MVP candidate. The odds on favorites are Lebron James at nearly +150 and Tim Duncan at a little more than 2 to 1.

Before Tony Parker’s injury I likely would have favored him to win. Currently he is still at a little more than 3 to 1.

Money surely is going to flow on those three. Lebron has carried the Heat all season and Tim Duncan has been the Spurs leader forever. Yet my money is going to go on Dwayne Wade at a whopping 10-1.

All year Wade has taking a back seat and been preserved for the NBA Finals. Basically the Heat have been able to coast the regular season and Eastern Conference playoffs by default. Facing the San Antonio Spurs though things will be dramatically different.

Coach Poppovich will attack the Heat’s strengths. Obviously their number one strength is LeBron James. For the Heat to have a chance in this series it will take an old school Dwayne Wade to do so.

I believe the Heat realize that and so does James. Throughout James career he has never been the type of player to hog the spotlight. He’ll gladly had the reigns to Dwayne Wade if it means winning a third championship.

All he cares about our rings, unlike most superstars that have played any professional sport.

For Wade to be at 10-1 is a slap in the face to the type of player he has been. Wade also knows that LeBron James has the option to opt out after this post season. To keep LeBron from even having that thought, I believe Wade will turn his game up to the top level he has done occasionally this season.

Veterans of Wade’s caliber know when to turn the jets on. Sure Wade is 32 but people have acted like he is an after thought to the Heat’s success. I can’t remember a player of his caliber being wrote off so quickly as Dwayne Wade.

The cast of Lebron on the team has jaded people’s perceptions of Wade. The Spurs have the LeBron caliber defenders to limit James’s success. Leonard and Boris Diaw have shown they can do that. But who is their answer for Wade?

The answer is they do not have one. Last year in the NBA Finals the Heat fell down two games to one to the Spurs. In those three games Wade’s averages were just 14 points a game with 1 rebound and three assists.

The series turned and the Heat then won three out of four games. In those four games Wade’s averages jumped tremendously. He averaged a near 24 points, 6 assists, 6 rebounds, and 2 blocks.

James already has two NBA finals MVP’s to go along with his two NBA titles as a Miami Heat member. This Heat team is different than in year’s past and is going to require a leap in Wade’s play to get the job done.