Everybody Hates Chris: Why Can't Bosh Put It Together?

Beating a dead horse is never a nice thing to do.

But Chris Bosh has had this coming for awhile now.

After being featured on a series of mediocre-at-best Raptor squads for the better part of a decade, he left Toronto saying he wanted to promote his own brand and win titles in Miami.

Two weeks into the season things are not bearing well for the former CB4. Statistically, he has seen his glowing 20-10 from the last 5 seasons fall to a measly 14 and 6, numbers that are easily surpassed by the likes of Lamar Odom and Tyrus Thomas. His brand surely hasn't seen a raise in stock; after being roasted on message boards and newspapers all summer, Carmelo Anthony came forward saying that he "wasn't Chris Bosh", when referring to his impending free agency situation.

On the court, things are even worse. Followers of Bosh will know that his time in Toronto was spent largely at the elbow and facing the rim in a one-on-one situation. Now that he isn't handed oodles of isolation opportunities every game he is having a tough time finding points within the flow of the offense. Defensively, his old problems are showing worse than ever in Spoelstra's system. His poor defense at the rim is being abused every game and his slow reactions and help defense is being abused by opposing point guards.

It's pretty apparent things didn't work out exactly as expected, but the question now is whether or not Bosh can turn it around and become an important piece of a winning team in Miami.

Scoring is generally considered Bosh's best asset. Being an excellent midrange shooter with good quickness and handles makes him a problem at all times for other big men, but he can only score as much as he shoots. A good indicator of the number of chances a player gets is their usage rate, which measures the number of possessions that ended with them shooting (either from the floor or the line) or turning the ball over. Without being able to shoot frequently a player can't expect to score many points and with Bosh's usage rate at 18.4% (compared to those of Wade and James at 29.7 and 30.1, respectively), it is very unlikely he will be scoring over twenty per game anytime soon.

Rebounding has become another one of Bosh's calling cards, his rebounding style is some blend between Gerald Wallace, Kevin Garnett and lack of inspiration. After averaging 10+ rebounds per game for 3 of the last 4 years his rebounding numbers have dropped nearly in half this year, a cause for concern to Heat fans. His rebounding percentage is down to 10.9%, after a career year of 17.7% last year. This large drop is easily explained as Bosh is surrounded by bigger, stronger and more skilled players at nearly every position which leaves less loose balls for the taking.

Playing defense has never been a big part of Bosh's game, but he was always able to use his athleticism and decent size to compete head-to-head with any other power forward when playing for the Raptors. On Miami, the team uses more help defenders and rotations to utilize their athleticism on the defensive end. Bosh was never asked to rotate defensively in Toronto and it is becoming very apparent that there was a good reason he wasn't asked to do it often. On top of this, he still shows sign of reluctance defending the rim, which is easily seen in this Rajon Rondo dunk.


Like a deer in headlights.

So it seems that Bosh isn't showing many signs of playing much worse in Miami, he just doesn't fit in with the system very well. His best skills (scoring and rebounding), aren't nearly as needed in Miami as they were in Toronto and the worst facets of his game (help defense and awareness) are now showing more than ever. So while the numbers look bad, and it looks like he's playing worse than ever, it's just the same old Chris.

And while you might want to feel bad for him a little bit, try not to. He pushed his way into stardom with some silly decisions and he's paying the price now, taking his spot as a third man on a team without a true point or centre. So it looks like Chris better get used to his spot in Miami, he has no one to blame but himself.

The 2010 NBA Finals or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Mamba

Here we are, three weeks after the dust has settled from the playoffs. Kobe has his fifth, the Lakers are one banner away from catching the Celtics and both Doc and Phil are coming back for one more go. Both these teams are already gearing up for another run at a championship, with Steve Blake signing with the Lakers and Jermaine O'Neal reportedly coming to terms with Boston. But before we get ahead of ourselves, let's take a moment to look back at this year's Finals.

Kobe Wins Finals MVP

Talks of Kobe's inefficient play are nothing new; statisticians have been pointing to his poor shot selection and difficulty trusting teammates as the reasons he isn't getting the most out of his unreal skill set. Game 7 showed Bryant's two negative traits in full force as he took shot after shot and passed up opportunities for his teammates; Gasol continued his ways and gathered rebound after rebound. As expected, immediately after Bryant was announced the Finals MVP it didn't take long before some people cried out that the more efficient Pau Gasol deserved it, while others felt it was earned by the teams obvious Alpha Male.

I would like to agree that Pau deserves it. I would love to. Gasol has long been one of my favorite players, and is definitely one of the best all-round basketball players on the planet, especially when considering his international work.

But I can't.

Kobe Bryant played hard the whole series, never gave an inch, and actually averaged great numbers over the series (29, 8, 4) against the most spirited defense in the league. Sure his percentages weren't great, but no one's were. The series was a defensive battle and while Kobe has fallen off a bit in that department, he is still widely regarded as one of the top-5 perimeter defenders in the league. He earned it fair and square and definitely deserves to add another piece of hardware to his trophy case.

Besides, can you picture Pau Gasol getting MVP while Kobe pretends to smile in the background? Neither can I.

Defensive Battle

The final game wasn't just ugly.
It was ugly like Chunk from the Goonies.
It was Shaq free-throw ugly.
Ugly like the morning after New Years.

The average final score throughout the series was 89 points, but the series was one of the most watched in decades. Any old-timer watching the series might think he fell into a time machine, the referees called it loose and the players took advantage of it. Hard box-outs, pulled jerseys, tussles under the basket, and the list goes on. It was a much different NBA than we are used to seeing in the regular season, but it is long overdue and a welcome change. While it isn't as flashy or skilled, you can feel that the team who wants it more wins most often, which is a nice metric to follow for any championship.


Ron Artest - Time heals all wounds

Finally, Ron Artest is back on top of the world. After reaching the Finals in 2004 with Stephen Jackson, Reggie Miller and Jermaine O'Neal, Ron-Ron can finally say that he is loved and accepted by the general public.

And really, what's not to love?

Crazy pills brought us a heroic game winning put-back against the Suns in game 5, and then gave the hilarious post-game 'Say Queensbridge' interview with Craig Sager. Next on the platter was his never-say-die attitude the whole Boston series, focusing on defending a wily Paul Pierce and hitting his open shots. It clearly worked for the Lakers and moments later we saw Artest happy as a kid in a candy store, jumping up and down and pumping his fists. Through all the money, advertising, agents and lawyers, this is what makes it all worthwhile. Coming out on top, working hard and having it pay off, and having your name go down in history as a championship winner.

The Return of Balding Spalding: It's the Summer of Del Negro!

After a long hiatus due to finally becoming employed, and then realizing employment was a terrible idea, Balding Spalding should be back for a bit of summer lovin'. There are a lot of things to cover as we start to head towards the dog days of summer: the constant bonanza of free agency, looking back at the defensive battle that was the 2010 Finals, draft analysis, summer league, team previews, Del Negro resurrecting, etc, etc.


So keep checking back in for some new articles and analysis on all of the moves and news so far this summer.

Thanks again to Doc Funk for the image.

Conference Finals Preview: Underdog Suns and the Clicking Celtics

The NBA landscape seemed to change with the Game 6 Celtics win.

Mike Brown is probably going to be out of a job, Lebron might have just played his last game as a Cavalier and the City of Cleveland is going to continue to keep the 'No Championships' streak alive, after losing their best chance in a decade.

The game Thursday night had big implications for the reigning MVP and Cleveland, but it's only one wave in a storm compared to the rest of the playoffs. The Celtics winning still leaves the Magic and the Lakers as the two clear front runners to end up in the Finals, but the general theme of the playoffs has changed now.

Before, people were watching these playoffs to see if this was Lebron's year and if Shaq could get his fifth before Kobe did.

Now, it's about the Celtics fighting against their closing window and whether or not the Lakers can be stopped this year.

Eastern Conference Finals: Orlando Magic vs. Boston Celtics

This series is a tough one to call. All season the Magic have consistently been the better team, and they haven't showed any cracks this postseason in either their ability to score or defend. On the other side, the Celtics have been rolling, with their offense being nicely spread out over their talent and their defense as stifling as always.
Rajon Rondo has continued his improvement throughout the first two series and the Magic don't have any answers for him (Does anyone have an answer for this guy? How do you defend him?) but I still feel like the Magic's great ball movement and ability to space the floor will overcome the Celtics in the end. Doc Rivers will need to focus on keeping the team's turnovers down and keeping the bench involved for the Big 3 to have another shot at a title.
Prediction: Magic in 7

Western Conference Finals: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Phoenix Suns

No matter how I break this down, it seems like the Lakers size is going to be the dominant factor in this series. Unlike the previous two series, Bynum won't be the main problem in the paint, but rather it will be Lamar Odom's ability to be big and still remain mobile that will hurt the Suns. Bynum will most see his minutes drop to around twenty minutes, as Odom will be used to defend Frye all around the perimeter.
Combine that with Ron Artest having his first true defensive assignment since Durant in Richardson and Gasol's massive mental edge on Stoudemire, and the Lakers should run away with this. Some people will say that Derek Fisher will get played like a fiddle by Nash and while this might happen, it won't be enough to turn the tide. Watch for Grant Hill's sudden change into super defender come to a halt against the Mamba.
Prediction: Lakers in 6

Image courtesy of Doc Funk

Game 2 Preview: Hawks vs. Magic, or Isolation vs. the 3-Ball

Playoff basketball is a much different beast than the regular season brand of basketball. Veterans playing +40 minutes a game, stadiums full of fans, final scores being under 100 and lots of other weird things we don't see when no one really cares during the first 82 games. All of these things help teams win, you can see most of the elite teams (see: Spurs, Lakers, Celtics) all use these tactics to give themselves a better chance at winning.

One thing that we are used seeing in the regular season that really doesn't work come playoff time is the isolation offense. It was the offense that the Mavericks used when they lost as a #1 seed, and it's the offense that gave the Hawks their biggest playoff loss a few days ago in game one.

The offense that the Magic use focuses on two things - 3 pointers (usually from the corner) and shots at the rim (usually dunks.) The Spurs focus on getting these types of shots, the triangle offense tends to result in shots at the basket and open threes, and clearly it has been working for these teams.

This series won't come down to the players in the end, the coaching and systems will decide how the cards fall. Orlando's ball movement allows the whole team to get involved, rather than letting their individual talents decide the fate of the team. Look for the Magic to win again tonight, and in a big way.