SG Daequan Cook (Ironi Hai Motors Nes-Ziona - Israel)

[Buckskin86]

Daequan Cook: As well as Cook played in the preseason, it was interesting how coach Erik Spoelstra continually mentioned how the team has seen this before. A six-game sample is not enough from Cook. For ultimate trust, it has to be week after week, month after month. Is he capable of being a dynamic sixth man? That is what this season is about.

Miami Heat | Sun-Sentinel Blogs: Five-man weave: Nothing sewn up

 

[Buckskin86]

Posted on Saturday, 10.31.09
Miami Heat's Daequan Cook limited after injuring shoulder in workout
BY MICHAEL WALLACE
[email protected]

INDIANAPOLIS -- Heat guard Daequan Cook just cannot seem to shake shoulder injuries.

Cook was held out of Friday's shootaround with a sprained right shoulder and was limited in the game against Indiana. He warmed up before the game and was in uniform but wore a heat pad on the bench.

Cook, who has had problems with both shoulders the past two seasons, aggravated the one on his shooting arm during a weight room workout Thursday before the team traveled to Indianapolis.

``I have no idea why it's happening with my shoulders,'' Cook said. ``They're kind of weak, but I've put in a lot of work. Hopefully, it's not as bad as before, especially being my trigger arm, the one I shoot with.''

The Heat already was short-handed against the Pacers, with swingman James Jones staying in Miami to recover from a stomach virus. Reserve center Jamaal Magloire also stayed behind to serve the final game of his league-imposed, two-game suspension for throwing a punch in an Oct. 5 preseason game against Detroit.

Cook said his shoulder and right arm ``just gave out'' on Thursday as he was doing balance drills with a medicine ball. It was the same shoulder that required extensive rehabilitation in the summer of 2007 after his rookie season. Cook then missed practice time and one game last April with a strained left shoulder.

He aggravated the right shoulder again last summer in offseason workouts. The team said there is no structural damage with Cook's shoulders.

``The fact that he did all that work in the summer helped keep this minor,'' Spoelstra said. ``He understands this is something that will happen -- as long as it's not a major deal. It's pretty minor.''

Miami Heat's Daequan Cook limited after injuring shoulder in workout - Basketball - MiamiHerald.com

Cook deals with sore shoulders
By Ira Winderman
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
October 31, 2009

INDIANAPOLIS - The constants with Daequan Cook are a big heart, a big smile and a big bag of candy nearby.

Another constant with the third-year Heat guard is ongoing concerns with his shoulders.

Nagged by such problems the past two seasons, Cook had another incident Thursday during a training mishap at AmericanAirlines Arena, resulting in a strained right shoulder. Despite sitting out Friday morning's shootaround at Conseco Fieldhouse, the emerging sixth-man was on the active roster for Friday night's game against the Pacers.

"It's the one that's been giving him some problems this summer," coach Erik Spoelstra said. "He's had some minor injuries with both shoulders for the last year, and then during summer workouts in July, he strained his right shoulder."

Cook said the team's grueling offseason workouts did not exacerbate the problem, but rather contributed to increased vigilance.

"It was 10 thousand shots, 10 thousand dribbles, 10 thousand passes," he said, "but it was more me getting in the weight room also and rehabbing."

The latest ailment came while attempting balancing exercises with a heavy ball.

"I was trying something new," he said, "and now it's out the window."

With such chronic concerns at 22, Cook is trying to stay ahead of the problem.

"It's kind of weak, you could say," he said. "I've been doing a lot of rehab, trying to get 'em back strong. Sometimes, you never know when it's going to happen."

And with that, he went back to a huge bag filled with Starburst and Mike and Ikes.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/other/sfl-miami-heat-notes-s103109sboct31,0,694653.story

 

[Buckskin86]

Strained shoulder sidelines Miami Heat's Daequan Cook
November 2, 2009
MIAMI - By Ira Winderman
Staff Writer

Daequan Cook slept on his decision about whether to play through his strained right shoulder.

That was his first mistake.

"I sleep kind of wild," he said.

So two days after attempting to play through the ailment and shooting 1 of 9 in Friday's victory in Indiana, the third-year guard sat out Sunday's game against the Bulls.

"When you sleep, you can't really control how you sleep," he said of waking up in pain consecutive mornings. "We've got a back-to-back coming up, so hopefully I'll look forward to playing in that."

Cook was injured during a Thursday training session and said he probably made a mistake playing against the Pacers.

"Yeah, somewhat," he said.

Coach Erik Spoelstra said Friday's appearance did not contribute to any sort of setback.

"He wanted to play. He wanted to give it a go," Spoelstra said. "It wasn't really something that we thought would get worse. But it didn't get any better, so we had to re-evaluate it."

Strained shoulder sidelines Miami Heat's Daequan Cook -- South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com

 

[Buckskin86]

The Heat tried to rally in the fourth behind a finally healthy Cook. The shooting guard hadn't hit a three-pointer since the second game of the season against the Indiana Paces, one game after suffering an injured shoulder in the opener against New York.

But he hit 4 of 9 Tuesday, three coming in the fourth quarter, when he scored 14 of his 17 points.

Cook's lone two-point bucket narrowed the Heat deficit to 10 points, and a pair of O'Neal free throws brought the Heat to within eight with 2:18 remaining.

Oklahoma City Thunder top Miami Heat, 100-87 - Miami Heat - MiamiHerald.com

 

[naptownbuck]

Welcome back

It is good to see Daequan back out there in the swing of things. He has had a little history with the shoulder, so I hope that injury doesn't flare up throughout the year. But imo Cook is a bonafide NBA threat now (still want to see the consistency, but his comfort level on an NBA court is at an all time high). When Redd retires, Daequan will be the best offensive threat/player out of our pro Buckeyes, I think he's that gifted. Although Evan Turner might have something to say about that in a couple years.

 

[Buckskin86]

November 30, 2009
Cook consistently confounding
Posted by Ira Winderman on November 30, 2009

When does a "shooter" become a "misser"?

When does trust, faith and hope give way to reality?

Daequan Cook certainly has had his moments for the Heat with his outside shooting. But it's hard to find many such games this season, save for perhaps his showing against Oklahoma City.

With some players, Erik Spoelstra's patience has proven limited. Has anyone seen Dorell Wright lately?

With Cook, the confidence endures.

Yet Spoelstra now finds himself at a crossroads. With Quentin Richardson back, Mario Chalmers shooting well and James Jones having been bumped into the rotation, who becomes the odd man out?

Initially, there had been signs of a goal to go with Wade, Richardson and Cook late in games.

Now, could Chalmers possibly replace Cook in such an alignment, considering Mario actually is making shots?

This is not a shot, just reality.

To wit, Daequan Cook's game-by-game shooting:

?Oct. 28 vs. Knicks: 4-10 FG, 2-5 3FG.
?Oct. 30 vs. Pacers: 1-9 FG, 1-3 3FG.
?Nov. 1 vs. Bulls: Inactive.
?Nov. 3 vs. Suns: Inactive.
?Nov. 4 vs. Wizards: Inactive.
?Nov. 6 vs. Nuggets: Inactive.
?Nov. 10 vs. Wizards: DNP -- Coach's Decision.
?Nov. 12 vs. Cavaliers: 0-4 FG, 0-2 3FG.
?Nov. 14 vs. Nets: 1-6 FG, 0-3 3FG.
?Nov. 17 vs. Thunder: 5-11 FG, 4-9 3FG.
?Nov. 18 vs. Hawks: 3-10 FG, 2-6 3FG.
?Nov. 20 vs. Raptors: 1-5 FG, 0-3 3FG.
?Nov. 22 vs. Hornets: 1-3 FG, 1-3 3FG.
?Nov. 25 vs. Magic: 2-6 FG, 1-3 3FG.
?Nov. 27 vs. Wizards: 3-6 FG, 1-3 3FG.
?Nov. 29 vs. Celtics: 1-6 FG, 0-2 3FG.
For those who prefer to avoid the math, that's 22 of 76 from the field (.289) and 12 of 42 on 3-pointers (.286).

Miami Heat | Sun-Sentinel Blogs: Cook consistently confounding

 

[OSUFAN84]

even though he won the 3point contest the rest of his game has yet to follow so when teams play him for the 3 he takes hard an contested shots and there is no dribble drive yet to his game that said hope he works hard and his game improves

 

[Buckskin86]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NOgtnMjYG4]YouTube - The Baseline: Heat guard Daequan Cook talks about NBA 3-point contest[/ame]

 

[Buckskin86]

Feb 5, 2010
Heat's Daequan Cook In All-Star 3-Point Shootout

Daequan Cook #14 of the Miami Heat wins the Foot Locker Three-Point Shootout on All-Star Saturday Night, part of 2009 NBA All-Star Weekend at US Airways Center on Feb. 14, 2009, in Phoenix, Az.
Nathaniel S. Butler/Getty Images

MIAMI (CBS4) ―

Daequan Cook is looking for a repeat.

The Miami Heat guard was selected to perform in the NBA Foot Locker Three-Point Shootout taking place during All-Star weekend in Dallas, Texas, where he'll try for his second consecutive title.

Last year, Cook captured the crown after hitting his final four consecutive shots from deep in the second round to force overtime. In the extra period, he posted his highest total of the night by scoring 19 points ahead of Rashard Lewis.

If he wins, he'll be the seventh player in the NBA to win back-to-back titles. Cook, who's shooting .300 from 3-point range this season, is the fifth Heat player to be selected for the event. Only two besides Cook - Jason Kapono and Glen Rice - won titles.

Cook's competitors include Channing Frye, Danilo Gallinari, Paul Pierce, Stephen Curry, and Chauncey Billups.

Heat's Daequan Cook In All-Star 3-Point Shootout - cbs4.com

Defending-champ Cook out to recapture his 3-point stroke
By John Schuhmann, NBA.com
Posted Feb 5 2010

Daequan Cook's contribution to the Miami Heat this season has been minimal. He's been in and out of the rotation and has more scoreless games (eight) than games in which he scored more than six points (seven).

Cook's role is to be a shooter, but his shooting has been inconsistent. He's hit just 30 percent of his threes this season, down from 39 percent last season.

Cook ranks 139th in the league with just 27 threes on the season, 50 fewer than any of his fellow competitors in this years' Foot Locker Three-Point Shootout. But when All-Star Saturday Night arrives, he'll be the guy with that defending-champ swagger.

A year ago in Phoenix, Cook ended Jason Kapono's two-year reign as champ by defeating Rashard Lewis in a tie-breaking round. This year in Dallas, Cook will look to be the sixth different player in the 25-year history of the Shootout to repeat as champion.

Cook will be facing some tough competition, but only one of the other five competitors has Shootout experience.

http://www.nba.com/2010/allstar/2010/02/05/field/?ls=iref:nbahpt1

 

[Buckskin86]

Heat's Daequan Cook selected to defend 3-point contest title
By Ira Winderman
South Florida Sun Sentinel
February 5, 2010

CHICAGO - A year ago, Daequan Cook lost his outside shot after winning the 3-point Shootout during All-Star Weekend.

This year, the third-year Miami Heat guard will return to the event in hopes of regaining it.

Cook was one of six 3-point specialists named Friday by the NBA to compete in the Feb. 13 competition in Dallas.

He is joined in the field by New York Knicks forward Danilo Gallinari, Phoenix Suns center Channing Frye, Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, Boston Celtics forward Paul Pierce and Denver Nuggets guard Chauncey Billups.

Cook is shooting .300 on 3-pointers this season, more than 100 percent points below any of the other five competitors selected, ranked 205th overall in the league.

"At the end of the day," he said, "I'm still considered a threat, regardless of the percentage."

He is hoping to become the sixth player to win consecutive titles.

"I'm looking forward to it just to be a part of it, to come back and defend my title," said Cook, whose team Saturday plays the Chicago Bulls at the United Center. "But it doesn't really have anything to do with getting me back going."

Miami Heat: Daequan Cook selected to defend NBA All-Star Weekend 3-point shooting title - South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com

 

[exhawg]

No offense to Daequan, but the fact that he is in the 3-pt contest and none of the Cavs are is ridiculous. I don't even think he played against the Cavs this week. The NBA should set a minimum number of attempts and take the top 6 shooters of that group.

 

[JohnnyCockfight]

No offense to Daequan, but the fact that he is in the 3-pt contest and none of the Cavs are is ridiculous. I don't even think he played against the Cavs this week. The NBA should set a minimum number of attempts and take the top 6 shooters of that group.

Pretty sure that Craig Hodges participated in a couple 3-point contests after he was no longer playing in the league. I remember seeing this as a kid - Hodges had his own half-court in his house where he kept in shape. The NBA set the precedent back then that it values having the 3-point champ defend his title.

 

[Buckskin86]

Perkins: Cook Ready To Defend
By: Chris Perkins Last Updated: 2/9/10

Winning the Three-Point Shootout at last year's All-Star Weekend might have been a bad thing for Miami's Daequan Cook.

"It's hard to say," the third-year guard from Ohio State said when presented with that prospect. "At the end of the day I feel like it's been a good thing."

But little has gone right since that glorious weekend in Phoenix. It's a burden he'll carry with him this weekend when he defends hit title in Dallas.

"It's been kind of tough," Cook said of life after the crown.

In the calendar year since winning the three-point contest Cook is shooting a miserable .323 (114-for-353) from the field. He's shooting an even more miserable .319 (67-for-210) on three-pointers. This is from a guy who is shooting .367 from the field during his career, and .358 from long distance.

It's not that Cook has been dogging it since winning the title.

"One thing about Dae-Dae," guard Dwyane Wade said, "is he does work hard."

Immediately after he won the three-point contest Cook's reputation caught up with him. Defenders stayed on Cook instead of leaving him to double-team Wade. So during the second half of last season and the playoffs Cook's open jumpers were gone, and so was his effectiveness.

The HEAT's response was to keep Cook in Miami during the summer and teach him to put the ball on the floor, make a move and shoot from inside the three-point line. It hasn't helped. Cook is shooting a career-worst .288 from the field this season, including a career-worst .300 on three-pointers.

In fact, he's currently tied for 207th in the NBA in three-point percentage. He might be the worst shooter to ever compete in a three-point contest. At least he has good company in the statistics. Wade is just ahead of him in three-point percentage, tied for 204th (.303) and Milwaukee's Michael Redd is tied with Cook at .300.

http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=15243

HOW TO BE A THREE-POINT SNIPER

“Usually I shoot about 500 jumpers a day in the offseason. This summer I wasn’t shooting the ball as much because I was rehabbing my left shoulder, which I injured in the playoffs. So I was shooting like 100 shots a day, not much more than that.

“When I shoot 500 a day, I have to make at least 400 out of that 500. I’ll do it in sets of 20 from each spot. After half of the 500, I’ll take a break.

“People always ask me what’s the right form of shooting, but I don’t think there is one. For great shooters, it comes natural. It’s something you’re born with. Whatever your form looks like, if you’re making shots, the mechanics aren’t a big deal. I haven’t really changed the mechanics of my shot at all — it’s been the same ever since I was growing up. I do put more arc on it now, because NBA players are more athletic and can get higher than guys in high school or college, and you don’t want to give them a chance to block it. But it’s more about knowing when it’s a good shot to take and when it’s not a good shot.

“When you’ve got a player like Dwyane Wade on your team who creates a lot of open situations, you just have to be ready for when you get that two seconds of open time. That’s more than enough time to get a shot off, and most of the time players come out to defend me with their hands down because they’re threatened by the drive, not knowing I’m gonna shoot more than anything. It gives me an opportunity to get my shot off, and not too many people are capable of blocking it.

“I know that I’m known now as more of a three-point threat, so it’s important for me to work on my off-the-dribble and pull-up moves. You could see that in the playoffs: Throughout the whole series with Atlanta they played me tight, except for Game 2. (Note: Cook had 20 points and six treys in that game.) It was like that during the season, mostly after the All-Star break. People started to realize I’m a top gun as far as shooting the ball. I’ve always been able to do a lot of things to score, but I’ve been considered a spot-up shooter in the NBA, and I’ve almost limited myself the last couple of years. So now I’m getting out of the habit of limiting myself and expanding my game.”

http://dimemag.com/2010/02/how-daequan-cook-will-defend-his-3-point-shootout-crown/

 

[Buckskin86]

At long last, Daequan Cook may actually have a shot
Baseball By Ira Winderman
South Florida Sun Sentinel
February 12, 2010

On balance, the past 12 months have removed much of the luster from the 3-point championship Daequan Cook won at last year's All-Star Game.

Because of that, the Miami Heat guard has spent the past several weeks working to get back on balance.

Now back at All-Star Weekend, the 2007 first-round draft choice hopes to prove that his 2009 Shootout title was no stretch.

"I don't feel like I have anything to prove," he said. "But I want to prove that I deserved to be there."

To say that Cook has created doubts since departing Phoenix with his trophy would be an understatement.

He entered last year's contest as one of the league's most prolific 3-point shooters, at 113 of 275 from behind the arc, a .411 percentage.

He then shot 40 of 121 the balance of last season, a .331 percentage, and has opened this season 32 of 101 on 3-pointers, a scant .317.

Since being crowned, he has made just 72 of 223 3-pointers over the last 12 months, .323 inefficiency. He enters Saturday's competition at American Airlines Center in Dallas ranked 185th in the league in 3-point shooting.

The hope is that efforts such as Wednesday's 3 of 5 on 3-pointers against the Atlanta Hawks represent a turn for the better.

For the first time in a long time, Cook believes he no longer is on shaky ground.

"I would say, probably six weeks ago, his balance was not quite as consistent as it was last year and we've worked on that," coach Erik Spoelstra said. "He's drilled on it quite a bit. Whenever anybody's going through some kind of shooting slump, that's usually the first thing you can turn to, your balance, making sure you're getting your legs under you and shooting it equally off both legs."

Miami Heat: Daequan Cook looks to defend NBA All-Star Weekend 3-point Shootout title - South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com

 

[Buckskin86]

Posted on Sunday, 02.14.10
Pierce stops Heat's Cook in three-point repeat quest
BY MICHAEL WALLACE
[email protected]

DALLAS -- Daequan Cook had a special place picked out for his trophy if he successfully defended his All-Star three-point shootout championship Saturday night.

``It's going to go on my mom's coffee table, right next to the one I won last year,'' Cook said before the competition. ``That's a special table, so I should keep it that way.''

Cook will have to wait a bit longer to add to that collection at his mother's Ohio home. Cook was knocked out in the first round of the competition after struggling with his early racks and finishing with only 15 points.

Boston forward Paul Pierce had 17 in the first round and pulled away with a 20-point rack in the final round to become the first Celtics player to win it since Larry Bird won his third consecutive shootout in 1988. It also was the last time All-Star Weekend was in Dallas.

Piece advanced to the final with Denver's Chauncey Billups and Golden State rookie Stephen Curry. Cook, Phoenix's Channing Frye and New York's Danilo Gallinari each scored 15 in the first round.

Cook came to Dallas to ``reverse the curse'' that haunted him after he won last year in Phoenix. He struggled with his shot after the All-Star break last year and remained in a slump this season.

Cook entered the weekend shooting 31 percent from the field and from three-point range, the worst numbers among Saturday's contestants.

With the shootout experience behind him, Cook now looks to regain his stroke during the Heat's stretch run.

``Maybe this is an opportunity to have another big turning point,'' Cook said. ``The second half of the season, I want to be a lot more consistent that I was the last year.''

Pierce stops Heat's Cook in three-point repeat quest - Miami Heat - MiamiHerald.com