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They often say it’s not how you start but how you finish, and Norris Cole was an example of that this past NBA season for the Miami Heat.
Drafted 28th in the 2011 NBA Draft, by the Chicago Bulls, out of Cleveland State, Cole was then traded to the Miami Heat. After playing in the Horizon league not much was expected out of Cole. He was a 6-2 170 pound guard who was an efficient scorer at Cleveland State going to a team full of scorers including The Big Three.
With the starting five set in stone in Miami, Cole, came in and worked hard in a lockout shortened pre-season and caught on early with the Heat. In the Heat’s home opener vs the hated rival Boston Celtics, Cole, had his breakout game scoring 20 points including several late key jumpers to propel the Heat.
From there Cole, found a niche behind starter Mario Chalmers as a spot up shooter and someone to bring the ball up. Cole averaged over 20 minutes of playing time while averaging 11.0, 8.2, and 8.7 PPG through the first three months of the season.
Then from the months of February and beyond, Cole seem to hit what most know as the “rookie wall” as his stats took a dip. From the months of February to the end of the regular season in April, Cole, averaged 3.6 and 5.8 PPG respectively.
After struggling to end the season, Cole didn’t play too much in the first round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs vs the New York Knicks logging only 19 minutes while not playing at all in games 4 and 5 respectively. In the second round, Cole logged more minutes, as he played in every game except game one but only scored 10 points.
In the Eastern Conference Finals vs the Celtics, Cole played in every game, but yet struggled to get on the scoring board scoring only seven points in seven games. But right when you thought Cole’s up and down rookie season was over, he once again came up big.
In the NBA Finals vs the Oklahoma City Thunder, while not blowing the stat sheet alive Cole played a huge contribution taking pressure off of LeBron James and the Heat. Struggling through games one through three it was game four where Cole stamped his mark for the Heat. Trailing by as many as 17 points in the first quarter, it was Cole who came off the bench to ignite a furious rally for the Heat scoring eight points, including two unexpected three pointers that gave the Heat the boost they needed to win the game.
Going into this season, Cole will be expected to contribute more after winning an NBA championship in his rookie season. He now has a full NBA season under his belt, along with a handful of playoff experience.
While most say rookies tend to have a sophomore slump in their second season, Cole will look to put a full season together now with a full training camp upcoming and added bench mates Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis coming to the rescue. On a team that lacked play-makers, look for Cole to bring a spark off the bench this season and who knows maybe he can de-throne “one of the top ten point guards in the NBA” in Mario Chalmers (as he thinks at least).
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