With Game 2 of the NBA Finals set to tip-off tonight at 8 PM ET on ABC, I sat down and penned the following essay for HOOPSADDICT.COM, titled: “The Chris Bosh Disappearing Act.” What appears below is an excerpt. Whether you’re a basketball junkie like myself or just the casual viewer, I hope you take the time to read this essay.
“We can state the obvious: They’re [Bosh and Wade] both struggling,” LeBron James said prior to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Indiana Pacers.
While the Heat have since gone on to the NBA Finals, so, too, have the struggles of James’ sidekicks.
In Game 1 of this year’s NBA Finals against the well-rested San Antonio Spurs, the Heat’s heat flamed out in the fourth quarter as they were outscored 23-16 by a methodical Popovich team that kept plugging away one critical possession at a time, tying their own NBA record for fewest turnovers in a Finals game.
If the Heat don’t raise the red flag and put an end to Bosh’s continued reliance and belief in the three point shot, they will be raising the white flag of surrender as they get steamrolled out of the Finals.
Standing at 6’11″, Chris Bosh has always been a finesse player. But he has also been a head smart, savvy talent, too, that has known when to mix it up. Since joining the Miami Heat, Bosh has taken off the hat of a team’s superstar and settled, taking shot after shot miles from the rim that he would not have dared launching when with the Raptors.
Nevermind Chris Bosh’s decline in points per game. That’s a given when you join up with two other superstars of Wade and LeBron’s caliber, the latter arguably the most dominant player the NBA has seen since Shaquille O’Neal wore purple and gold.
It’s his shot selection.
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