James Jones echoed that sentiment, saying that "we can only go as far as he goes, and we can only play as well as he makes us."
That's SOME pressure to put on your THIRD option this late in the season.
Only, that pressure has actually been there all along.
Even back in January when Heat coach Erik Spoelstra told NBA.com that Bosh "is probably our most important player", it was clear that early on, the Heat genuinely believed this to be true. Whether the fans buy in to this idea doesn't matter; the team believes it, therefore Bosh has to believe it too.
On Monday night, Bosh backed up his Game 1 double-double finishing with 21 points and 11 rebounds on 9-of-13 shooting. Another impressive showing against one of the league's better power forwards, Elton Brand.
Oddly enough though, the national perception of Bosh for much of the season was that he was the Heat's weak link. Whenever the team went through a rough patch, Bosh took the brunt of the blame. Critics pointed to his drops in scoring and rebounding and regularly questioned his toughness, just as many did to Los Angeles Lakers forward Pau Gasol before he won a championship.
But if you've actually watched a good amount of Heat basketball this year, you know that Bosh has been nothing but consistent. Sure it took him a couple of weeks to get used to being the third scoring option after being the primary scorer for seven years with the Toronto Raptors. But even before asking for the ball more in the post, Bosh was shooting the ball as well as any player at his position, regularly sinking mid range jumpers with ease.
On a team with James and Dwyane Wade, Bosh is simply an easy target. In March, Bosh was blasted by critics after a seven-point performance against the Portland Trailblazers, a game in which he was clearly outplayed by power forward Lamarcus Aldridge. The belief that week was that Aldridge was a superior player. But is he really? Is Aldridge flat out better? Or are his stats better than Bosh's because he's his team's first option as opposed to the third? I find it hard to believe that if Bosh were in Aldridge's position, that his numbers wouldn't be the same, if not better.
Bosh should be judged on how he performs against his counterparts in the playoffs. Players like Brand, Kevin Garnett, and Gasol. And ultimately, that's what will happen.
Most feel that in 2006, the Heat won the title due to one of he greatest performances in finals history at the hands of Wade. A performance that will be remembered in NBA lore. But really, it was center Shaquille O'Neal that made Wade's legendary performance possible. His presence down low made defenders stay honest and gave Wade more room to work. Wade won it, but he wouldn't have won it without Shaq.
In a way, Bosh is going to need to play that Shaq role. He has to be that post presence that allows the ball handler (only now there's two ball handlers) to do the work.
This is what James means when he talks about Bosh's importance. He means that Bosh has to be the piece that makes everything work. Nobody expects Bosh to be the leading scorer. But he needs to hit his shots. He needs to rebound. He needs to play defense. He needs to be effective.
In other words, he needs to continue doing what he's done all year.
Hopefully he will.
Check out the incredibly bad "Bosh Song" if you haven't heard it.
No comments:
Post a Comment