Why Chris Bosh is often the forgotten man on the new-look Miami Heat
Fans of the NBA definitely remember the night that LeBron James poured in 50 points to will his Cleveland Cavaliers to a game five victory against the Detroit Pistons in the 2007 Eastern
Conference Finals. In what was a career-defining moment, James scored the final 25 points for his team in the 109-107 double-overtime win, adding in nine rebounds and seven assists for good measure.
For Dwyane Wade, his career-defining moment so far has to be his dominant performance in the 2006 NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks. With Dallas up 2-0 in the series, Wade scored
42, 36, 43, and 36 points in games three through six, respectively, to lead his Miami Heat to the NBA championship. All in all, Wade averaged 34.7 points for the series, the third-highest scoring average in NBA Finals history.
But fans might be hard-pressed to remember any dominant performances from Chris Bosh, part three of the Heat’s
Big Three this season.
Bosh and James both joined the Heat this summer to chase championships with Wade.
Even casual sports fans are well-aware of the exploits of Wade and James. But Bosh, perhaps unfairly, is more of a mystery for many observers. There seem to be two main reasons for this.
Bosh’s NBA position
Bosh, 6ft 11in, plays power forward in the NBA, an important position to be sure but not exactly the sexiest. Wade and James are guards in this league, giving them the size and speed to
pull off more crowd-pleasing plays. They can run the floor, cross people over on the wing, and work their way into the paint for acrobatic dunks and lay-ups.
As for Bosh, he can’t run the floor like Wade and James. While he has been impressively productive over his seven years in the NBA, TV networks have figured out that fans are more interested
in seeing a fast-break dunk by Carmelo Anthony or Kobe Bryant than a shot from the top of the key by Bosh or say, Tim Duncan, even though both net their team a pair of points.
His play-off success (or lack thereof)
Let’s face it. For an NBA star to be considered a superstar or a legend, post-season success is essential. For example, Dirk Nowitzki won his lone NBA MVP award for his impressive 2006-07
season. But when his Dallas Mavericks got knocked out by the New Orleans Hornets in the first round of the play-offs that year, everybody forgot about the MVP award, only wanting to talk about how Nowitzki couldn’t close the deal when it counted most.
In his seven seasons with the Toronto Raptors, Chris Bosh has played in a mere two play-off series. While he played well in the latter series, the Raptors failed to advance in either attempt.
Enough said.
Bosh’s importance this season
Despite these two factors, Bosh will be a key part of the Heat’s chances to win a championship this season. He is a hard worker, a smart basketball player, and clearly the third option
for this team. Ever since he joined the league in 2003 as a skinny kid out of Georgia Tech, he has improved his strength, his build, and his game. While Bosh hasn’t seen much success in the post-season, he has played in big games, including being a key member
of the gold-medal winning U.S. team at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, earning praise from none other than Kobe Bryant.
"Chris Bosh was terrific," said Bryant after Bosh scored 18 points against Greece. "He always seems to find himself in the right place at the right time and when we penetrate he's able
to find a little crack or seam and be able to finish."
And you can’t argue with numbers. Aside from his rookie season, Bosh has never shot worse than 47 per cent during an NBA regular season. He has averaged 20.2 points and 9.4 rebounds over
his career, including career-high averages last season of 24 points and 10.8 boards per contest. He is also durable, never playing less than 67 games in any of his seven seasons.
Bosh’s talent has not gone unnoticed by the league or the fans, with the power forward being named to five All-Star games, two of which he started.
So there is no doubt that the player will be integral to the success of the Heat this year, even though nobody really wants to talk about it.
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