Miami Vice .. Cole is Steal of the 2011 NBA Draft!

God, I hate the thought of even having to write the words, since I dislike the Miami Heat so much, but as usual, I’ve got to keep it real for my Eye On Sports faithful followers  by saying that Miami got the steal of the 2011 NBA Draft when they acquired 6-2 combo guard Norris Cole out of Cleveland State through a series of draft night deals.

Cole was drafted by the Chicago Bulls in the first round with the 28th overall pick out of but his rights were eventually traded to the MinnesotaTimberwolves, who then turned around and foolishly dealt him to the Heat (stupid).

Not only is Cole the first player in Horizon League basketball history to be named Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season, but the multi-faceted floor leader also was an AP All-America Honorable Mention this past season and a finalist for both, the Wooden Award and Bob Cousy Award.

Cole, who averaged 21.7 points per game as a senior, can do it all from putting the ball in the hole to dishing it out like a veteran point guard.

The clearly gifted and mature-beyond-his-years combo guard is fourth on the team in scoring by averaging an eye-opening 12.0 points per game while dishing out 3.6 assists per contest and shooting a blistering 50.0 percent from the field.

In Miami’s home opener against the BostonCeltics, Cole ‘went off’ in the game’s final period after Boston put on a furious comeback. The seriously underrated (not anymore) Cole torched the veteran, defensive-minded Celtics by scoring 14 points in the fourth quarter to finish with 20 points, four assists, four rebounds, and three steals.