HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – The basketball-viewing public spends so much time harping on what Heat All-Star forward Chris Bosh is not, it took two straight Heat losses to remind many about what he is.
Bosh is the only real low-post presence on the Heat other teams worry about. No offense to Udonis Haslem, Joel Anthony and the ageless warrior, Juwan Howard, but without Bosh in the paint, the Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Lakers knew exactly where the advantage would be in their weekend matchups against the Heat.
No Bosh meant no problems for the likes of Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap in Utah and Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum in Los Angeles.
It didn’t take long after Sunday’s loss to the Lakers for the Bosh’s coaches and teammates, specifically Erik Spoelstra and Dwyane Wade, to start singing his praises of the power forward who was on personal leave over the weekend. Spoelstra and Wade spelled it all out simply to ESPN.com’s told the Heat Index:
“Chris is a major component of what we do on both ends of the court,” Spoelstra said after the 93-83 defeat. “That’s why we don’t listen to anybody when they talk about Chris’ importance or value.”
“We always appreciate Chris,” Dwyane Wade said. “It is you guys who don’t appreciate him.”
He’s right. We probably don’t always appreciate what Bosh brings to the table on a team led by LeBron James and Wade. But on a team with such an underwhelming low-post presence even when Bosh is uniform (he works the elbow and wing as much or more than he does the space right around the basket), it’s easy to overlook the man whose job it is to hold down that position when the Heat decide to focus their energy inside.
Going up against two of the better frontline tandems in the Western Conference (and in the league overall) was bound to expose the Heat’s deficiencies in the paint. Without Bosh, though, the glaring difference in talent was much more pronounced.
Spoelstra has trumpeted Bosh as the Heat’s “most important player” since last season. And after this weekend’s showing, it’s hard to argue with that stance. More from Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald:
“No question about it, Chris Bosh is a major component to what we do on both ends of the court,” Spoelstra said. “That’s why we don’t listen to anybody when they talk about Chris’s importance or value. He’s one of the best players in this league, but more importantly, he has a great impact on how we play, and he settles us.”
Bosh has missed the Heat’s past three games following the death of his grandmother. He’s expected to rejoin the team Tuesday. Spoelstra said the team learned on Saturday that Bosh wouldn’t be traveling to Los Angeles.
“When you miss a guy like that you lose a lot,” said Udonis Haslem, who started in place of Bosh against the Lakers. “But it’s no excuse. We had a chance to win in Utah, and we were in the game [Sunday]. So, I can’t really say that’s why we lost.”
It might not have been the sole reason the Heat lost their two games, but it was clearly the biggest contributing factor in their demise both times.
Did I just read this? Finally some sense on the writing. Miami Heat is not all LBJ-propelled.
The Miami Heat are LBJ lead, but not LBJ propelled.
I don’t want to be hatin’ on Wade, but I thought both games could have been won without Bosh if Wade had played better.
He slipped up towards the end of the Utah game.
And he totally let things get the best of him in the Lakers game, committing fouls just to spite the ref. When he made that 5th foul on Kobe, I face palmed so hard…That was such a ROOKIE thing to do, and I bet he realized that the moment he fouled out.
People forget that Miami is Dwayne Wades team. LeBron is just a hired gun to bring a few rings to Wade. Long before LeBron came was Wade, and Wade will be there long after LeBron decides to jump ship again.
Yah, your right. The Heat will not win without Wade. Most of the games won by the Heat, Wade had a good first quarter or half. And then LBJ will then go for the kill after that and James gets all the credit. Maybe this is why Wade just feels suddenly that he is irrelevant to the team anymore(it’s like, finish it by yourself Bron). But that’s just me.
i totally agree HEAT is Wades team though LBJ may be giving a better numbers it still is Wades team.. and yes..why do they think little of Bosh?!..CB is a good player especially down the post…have they already forgotten what he did againts Atlanta this year, when both Wade and LBJ was not around….
Anyone who says that LBJ is at the same level or even better than MJ ( and I think even Larry Bird insinuated similar thought ) is Hoarse Shiite..
He has D-Wade who is arguably at the same level as LBJ plus C-Bosh, and they have not won an NBA champion and even with all the hip, still is not really convincing.
Imagine MJ with MJ- plus C-Bosh = total domination ( not to discredit Pippen, but I don’t think he could be considered the same level as D-Wade )
So, anyone who says LBJ is one of the best player (and I don’t care if it comes from NBA players), I think should keep quiet until when LBJ has won at least 4-5 NBA titles (same like Magic or Kobe)
To my opinion, LBJ can be considered to be same level as Charles Barkley, Tim Duncan, etc.., great players, but definitely not one of the best players. He is not even at the same level as Shaquille, let alone MJ.
okay?
Lebron is the best and he’s better than MJ!Period. He’s the gratest all around player. His career is not finish yet..Don’t be scared!=)
There’s no doubt about it that Bosh is a key part of the team, but I don’t think these last two losses show that; especially last night’s loss which was mainley because of bad officiating.
I love how the Lakers beat the Heat and it bad officiating. The Lakers have arguebly the best big man duo in the league ( Pau and Bynum) along with the best finsher and scorer (Kobe Bryant) Dwayne Wade didn’t complian about the fouls he knew he commited them. And if you want to further this argument The Lakers are down yes, but there fight. Without Kobe, Bynum, And Pau playing every game they’re screwed. The Heat have LeBron, Wade, and Bosh! If LeBron can win in Cleveland on his own missing Wade and Bosh isn’t an excuse, if Wade can beat the Lakers before the signing of Bosh and LeBron they can do it now.If Bosh can send a game into overtime in LA before the signing he can do it now!!! Theres no excuse for them to lose period. Your stupid, you don’t understand basketball. End of story..
I’m just saying thats how “I” feel about it. I give credit to LA for doing what they needed to beat Miami, but from what I saw the game would have been different without those calls on Wade which to me were really bad. Of course if you’re a Laker fan they were fine and vice versa.
In almost all Lakers games I watch their is horrible officiating, but not ALL of them though.
Ummmm Miami didn’t have bosh just saying. But I’m a fan of neither so i didn’t care who won, although as a die hard CP3 fan i was rooting for Miami. But no biggie.
umm forrest24, lebron beat the lakers in clevalnd…with a completly different team, same with the other 2….thats the same thing as saying cause the pacers beat the wizards and the wizards beat the raptors then 100% the pacers wil beat the raptors…it doesnt work like that mate..
different team, diff matchups u cant say cause lebron did it once its no exscuse, thats a load of rubbish and it is u who has no idea about basketball…
Of course theres no excuse for you bein a Laker fan lol But the fact remains a top 5 PF did NOT play in the game, sorry about it. You did NOT beat the Heat at full strength whether you want to admit to yourself or not. The Heat already DEMOLISHED the Lakers when they were at full strength. SO you can dismiss Bosh all you want, but too bad when he plays he KILLS the Lakers bigs.
I’m a Heat fan, and i don’t blame the officiating… Wade fouled out coz of a short temper and a rookie-like behavior. All it took was to draw 2 legit charges on Wade, and then one no-call on a defensive foul, and Wade just lost it…
That 5th foul there’s no one else for Wade to blame but himself…
and the last foul was a good call.
Even if it was clean, that’s gonna be very hard to see (it didn’t look clean to me before the replay)
Sorry but that last foul was questionable. The only call I though was fair was the charge Blake drew and the others in the first half. On a home court you’re going to get that call to go your way. But the other charge call was bad and the one where he ran up to Bryant and had small contact (in the backcourt), I mean c’mon really how can you call that when the other team is up and the ball wasn’t even in his possetion for a full second? Anyhow you may be a Heat fan, but obviously not a big one to say those were all good calls.
Agreed – the refs clearly were in the Laker’s corner – ridiculous – kobe is arrogant
Let’s review the last three fouls: He KICKED Andrew Bynum, pushed Kobe, and slapped Andrew Bynum on the hand…I think that those are fouls. Also, Jeff Van Gundy said himself that Miami gets so many calls it’s a wonder how they only had an 88-game streak of no one fouling out.`
Kicked Bynum?! Oh man I just had to stop there and didn’t read the rest. Wade was airborne and Bynum came over. That’s not an offensive foul, but whatever. I’m not going to try to explain that and overly bias Laker fan.
I’m not a fan of either team,but the refs had nothing to do with the Heats taking a L. Wade just got angry and played like someone would do in high school when the refs is not giving him his way. Everyone knows he’s one of the refs favorite along with LeBron. Watch any other player react the way those two do and there’s a tech called. That goes for Kobe, too cause he no longer gets away with it. They choked without Bosh and I really don’t think it would of made a difference if Bosh wast there for the Lakers game because they came ready to play.
i dont think the officiating was THAT bad, wade has been sloppy with ball handling ad fouls lately
umm forrest24, lebron beat the lakers in clevalnd…with a completly different team, same with the other 2….thats the same thing as saying cause the pacers beat the wizards and the wizards beat the raptors then 100% the pacers wil beat the raptors…it doesnt work like that mate..
different team, diff matchups u cant say cause lebron did it once its no exscuse, thats a load of rubbish and it is u who has no idea about basketball…
Last night’s game had nothing to do with bad officiating. Every call was a legit call both ways. On a sidenote Wade has never been able to guard Kobe throughout his career & Kobe has always got the best of Wade.
yah right, blame the officials. very professional comment Belizeboy.
Bosh plays great this season..Lakers just got lucky that Artest comes to life, he is the best player that game..the 2 big man of L.A makes the 2nd hand and Kobe as the 3rd..D Wade just out of rhythm for 2 games and that´s the main reason for the lose and Bosh was out of the picture..I´m more concern for L.A than the Heat coz they just can´t rule the West right now and Durant just simply out played Kobe in every part of his game..
what the heck has Durant got to do with a conversation about what the heat is/is not missing??? Focus on the topic at hand. Bosh is a key point to the heat offense and defence…one of the contributing factors to the losses was his absense. People who know ball know this to be the truth.
This is true. No more Miami’s big man match Gasol – Bynum. You know what, Miami without Wade is still pretty fine. They’ll flow, but it’s a hole without Bosh
Chris Bosh would have been key in defending Pau Gasol on the post. And Gasol isn’t physically able to gaurd the strong, tough, and hungry Chris Bosh. With Bosh the Heat might have been able to at least go to an overtime with some quick post shots.
Exactly. With Bosh on Gasol, Lebron would have been able to do more. He was focused on shutting down Gasol, which he pretty much did.
hahaha i think ur one of the only people who would ever find a way to put chris bosh, strong, and tough in a sentence together.. i’m pretty sure that’s been one of his biggest criticisms throughout his career..im not arguing against it, i just found it pretty hilarious.. dude doesnt looks pretty weak to me
dude looks pretty weak to me* ….my bad
Bosh is too underrated, wish he had come to us and the heat got boozer C RED
crhis bosh is a great understimated player and all but the biggest reason that he is so missed it’s because the heat doesn’t have any decent bigman aside from him…miami sohuld’ve brought nene or litlle gasol for time like these
you should learn to type before you post
iGoHammer: Why don’t you contribute to the conversation instead of attacking other’s writing, which I can understand perfectly fine despite the errors.
Yes Cardoso, They also could have improved by signing Samuel Dalembert. Though they chose Shane Battier instead, I don’t blame them.
were not stupid enough to sign boozer, he wasn’t a great player before he came a free aganet. he was over rated and now exposed. never liked him in utah. chicago dummy’s
Heat will cool in the playoffs there game is not suited for half-court and when the pressures’ on bullyball and leaking out on the break will be a thing of the past. Bosh shots jumpers big deal.
Unbelieveable how the heat lose to the Lakers without Bosh and now Bosh is somehow all of a sudden the new Shaq of this era. What a joke. Bosh is decent at best. Fact of the matter is, after what happen to Kobe, getting his nose broken by Wade in a ALL STAR GAME, the Lakers came out and wanted to smash the heat and thats what happened. Stop making excuses heat fans. You have been making excuses for this team since they lost in the finals.
I would have to agree. The Lakers were on a mission after the all star game. Kobe played it cool, but down inside he took it personal and I don’t blame him. It was an ALL STAR game when everyone was moving out the way for dunks, not playing defense, etc. Then all of a sudden you want to make a foul from behind by coming down across his face. That was weak move by Wade
Please get over yourself. Bosh IS a TOP 5 PF in this league! Sorry about it! You cant admit it o well? The Lakers didnt smash NOTHIN. Try the Heat at FULL STRENGTH when they TRUELY DEMOLISHED the Lakers in Miami. THAT was who got smashed. This was a really WEAK win by the Lakers bottom line.
And Please Boogie, get over it. He didnt even hit his nose he came across his shoulders. And theres an article out that said it was actually just a soft neck tissue injury and no concussion. Funny how Bryant always gets injuries OVERhyped just to make him look better by playing through them. Just like the “reported” avulsion fracture. You could EASILy see it wasnt a dirty play. KB 2HAND PUSHED Wade on his fadeaway right in front of the ref on the play before that so he fouled him back.
Thats how it works, sorry. But the Lakers didnt smash the Heat. WWOWOWO Pau and Bynum beat up a 39Year old howard an a 6 9 Anthony LOL. And Wade didnt even play the last half of the 4th quarter. And was way off all game. And they STILL BARELY pull out the win. Weak
#MaskedMamba
LOL @ the person who claims it was bad officiating. How ignorant do you have to be? they showed every foul after it was called and they were pretty clear fouls. Stop being retarded.
As for Metta being the best player. LOL! Clearly you know nothing about bball.
With or without bosh, the lakers would have won. They are playing much better than earlier in the season and other people are stepping up.
Stop making excuses, thats what pathetic people do.
Right right sure thats why a few weeks ago at full strength the Heat DEMOLISHED the Lakeshow. Sorry bout it.
My 4 month old niece cudda told yall dat Chris Bosh is underrated, hes bin great all year, shudda started in the allstar over melo even doe melo is my guy, I have 2 keep it real. The heat will not win no chip without bosh, Lebron n wade will do dere thing, but without a real inside presence dere nuttin. I think people will start rating Bosh a lil bit more now wen he returns but I do feel dey cud do wit anoda inside low presence as well, Chris Kaman Maybe ???
This is exactly what I’ve been saying from the start….
Chris Bosh, is probably the most under-rated star, but I’m glad people do this, it just gives Bosh (everybody hates chris) more reason to improve his game…
There is no big man other than Kevin Love( KL is Best PF in the league, then KD, then CB), who can catch and shoot. Have offensive post moves, do 360 step lay-ups, the best relief player in Heat is Chris…
Wade got owned by the Masked Mamba, it was clear that Heat weren’t playing their best….It didn’t even look like they wanted to win the game….
No double teams on Kobe ? R u kidding me, D Wade, U aint MJ, ure 2-3 inches shorter than 5 ringed Kobe…. $h!t…
D. Wade u shouldve asked for LBJ to guard him instead… U know LBJ is definitely a better defender than you…
Freaking double team K0be, U guys should know this by now… Hold Kobe below 20 points , U’ll win 8 of 10 games…
1 games the bench might come and win…
other 1 game, the shooters surrounding K0be is making their shots…
KD? he’s not even a PF..bosh was the most consistent player for the heat in the playoffs last season but i’m not sure he’s one of the top 3 PFs in the league what about nowitzki, aldridge, gasol, ama’re, griffin, j smith, randolph…in my opinion he’s somewhere in the middle of those guys with KL leading the way
Finally some luv for CB4. its about time…
After reading these articles and post you have to wonder?
Sure Bosh was out, but if Bynam was out of the Laker line up, or Melo was missing from the Knicks would we still make excuses as to why they lost?
Then the Heat fans commnet about how Nene or Gasol should have left their teams to join up with LaBoob just cause he and Bosh sold out cause they could not win on thier own.
Why don’t we have LJ, Wade, Bosh and CP3 and Kobe just plat together for the good of Miami, at least that way maybe LaBoob wins his ring finally.
you’re an idiot, all you have is hate for lebron/heat… this article is about CB’s role in heat.
After reading these articles and post you have to wonder?
Sure Bosh was out, but if Bynam was out of the Laker line up, or Melo was missing from the Knicks would we still make excuses as to why they lost?
Then the Heat fans comment about how Nene or Gasol should have left their teams to join up with LaBoob just cause he and Bosh sold out cause they could not win on thier own.
Why don’t we have LJ, Wade, Bosh and CP3 and Kobe just plat together for the good of Miami, at least that way maybe LaBoob wins his ring finally.
celtics happy days are over… lol
I think it’s premature to think that bosh would of made a difference and would of got the 2 wins for the heat. Wade had a bad game which is the major reason why they lost to the lakers.
bosh is very good player and he is important for the heat but leborn is the most important player in heat he lead the miami 11-2 without wade
or was it bosh?
WOW…….Thats all I can say. I mean are you kidding? I live in Ottawa and have been a fan of the raptors since they joined the league, so naturally i became a fan of Bosh. My favorite player is Lebron ( keep hating), Anyways I have also always had love for Dwade, so when LBJ jumped ship my fav team went from Cavs To HEAT real quick, especially when they added Bosh too. Now everybody and their grandmother has hated on Miami, LBJ and most importantly Chris, Even Shaq with his “the Big 2″…Big 3 Shaq?….like i said “Big 2″… whatever Its about time an article like this was written and its nice to see some positive comments regarding it as well. Chris IS underrated and now hes finally getting some love.
it is about time people realize what Chris brings to the game. People say that Chris is NOT “BIG 3″ material (SHAQ) but clearly he is, because when he is out they are done. and keep in mind a lot of people were saying that Haslum was better then bosh, but cleary we see that he isn’t. Bosh can shoot from just about anywhere on the floor and Kepp in mind the reason bosh does not get 10+ rebounds a game is because of where the Heat play him. Put bosh down low 3 or 4 more time a night when running plays and he will get you 10+ rebounds a night, he’s done it multiple times before. 50% from the floor 80+% from the line 30+% from the three and if you look at his last minutes big shots%, he’s the best on the team, give the ball to chris and he has hit it……….Remember the last minute shot against Dallas lat year in the finals?????? or the 3 in Atlanta, witch they won without Lebrone or Wade…… He is the 2nd or 3rd best PF in the leaque. 18.6 PPG on a team with Lebrone and Wade. the ONLY PF’s in the leaque averaging more is Aldridge with is the #1 option on his team, Kevin Love with is the best PF again the #1 and #2 option on his team, Griffen with is #1 otpion on his team. No other PF in the leaque has to fight for points like bosh and he still is great…… RESPECT THE BOSH
Bosh was the reason Bulls lost to Heat last year!
No, it’s not. They shut down D.Rose and he became unproductive. Last yaer, if D.Rose wasn’t productive the Bulls had a hard time scoring and what happened was at the end of the games the Bulls had no offense. As for Miami I still think that they need to start playing inside out basketball instead of run and gun style of basketball. There has only been one team that ever won the ship that used the run and gun style of offense and that was LA when Magic was playing. But the Lakes could still play in a half court set because they would work the ball to the middle. Bosh is good, but Lebron and Wade need the ball in their hands way to much, so Bosh never really gets a feel for the game. I say get rid of Lebron and get better role players and Miami will win another title. But because that is not going to happen the Bulls will win it this year and if you don’t believe me read the article were Obama said they would. He hasn’t been the greatest Presient (not saying he is a bad either), but he sure is one hell of an ESPN anaylist.
Chris Bosh is definetly a great Player and a nice Offensive option for the Heat.
The problem behind Boshs missing, IS the fact that there is no other decent low post player.
Wade an Lebron are incredible player but there both wing players, at the end the offense got polarized, and the Heat were just to poor under the basket. A better FT% from the Heat, could have made the game look different.
Saying the Lakers got lucky when it comes to beating the Heat is just a dumb thing to say. The heat are beatable and that has been proven time and time again. Those guys never seem to be clutch when it matters most. There is a reason why everyone jokes that Lebron doesn’t realize that the NBA has 4 quarters, not 3. They are constantly making stupid mistakes, and they never have a good reason for why they do. I would say Bosh is by far the most consistent of the three.
Honestly, I’m a laker fan but my nba IQ is high enough to understand that there’s a reason why the Heat are a much superior team then the Lakers. The Lakers won that game, but it doesn’t convince me otherwise…. It’s like watching a team like ATL beat OKC the other night, does that mean that hypothetically if those teams met up in the finals that ATL would beat OKC in a 7 game series? The answer is No by the way.
amen
Hey Prix you should probably gain some basketball knowledge before leaving comments. The way the Lakers played, they would have beaten them with or without Bosh. And Kobe was the man of the show.
BLAAAHAHAHAHAHA yea its ok. Put down the top 5 PF in the game its ok. No your win was WEAK, bottom line.
i think that if chris bosh was playing the heat was going to beat the lakers. cause in the last two season the haveent win a game agains miami.
They might have had a shot,but i believe sunday´s game belonged to LA.
lebron james and dwayne wade are pretty considered the leaders of the heat, but chris bosh is always not considered as part of leading the team. but, he puts up great numbers every game and always knows how to delivier when lebron and wade cant deliveir. you have to respect what bosh does for the heat.
Chris Bosh is the MIP on this team because Miami never cared to fill in their front court. Even aftyer Ilgauskus left, all they did was sign Battier – who is an amazing player and an awesome signing(will certainly show it in post season). If bosh is injured Heat is no more a title contendor. I dont know how this will work out in the long run when your third best player is the most important player because your front court is sooo weak!
Pat Riley will take care of that sooner or later.
yeah you know that! everything BUT has been sorted out this season, next year we truly will be unbeatable
Hey people im going to just say this Im a heat fan and also a Kobe fan. But the fact of the matter is the heat loss no excusess! Its clear Chris Bosh is truly missed when hes not playing, especially the last two games. I mean what he brings to the table is a presence in the inside in out. Say what you want dude is a baller and the heat dont go no where with out him. LBJ and Dwayne is great but they cant win them all and besides Kobe was do for 1 against them, the masked mamba did his thing much respect! He is there measuring stick in the league today!!!
Heat really need a true back up center to defend the bigs..
reasons. this should win without bosh. or even without wade. they should win as long there is one of the big 3 playing.. isnt that the point of big 3?
The reason Heat lost their last 2 is because of Wade. In the Utah game, Wade committed two of the dumbest fouls a defender could commit (fouling a 3 point shooter and giving them an and1 play at the end) when James pretty much already put the game away with his clutch shots at the end giving them a 3-4 point lead. For the game against the Lakers, Wade was pretty much a non factor despite being considered the second best shooting guard behind Kobe. Wade is sloppy with the basketball, especially when he decides to go isolation mode. He can’t shoot and misses dunks nowadays. The thing I see him do the most is his mid range floater or whatever the ugly push shot that he’s not even good with. Besides the floater he loves using, Wade also does a pump fake on every shot attempt giving himself no rhythm on the actual shot. He just doesn’t seem like he has any basketball fundementals since his explosiveness and speed are already long gone in his game. One more thing about Wade is that he loves complaining to the refs after every single miss shot he’s had. I mean come on man, you already get the most bullsh**t calls from the refs already man, you can’t get everything so stop trying to argue and play your f*ing game. Bottom line here is, Wade hasn’t been playing at the level he’s used to anymore. Yes, he does still get 30+ point games but the thing is, with lebron james around and the refs being biased, he does get alot of easy points from layups/dunks and freethrows. People should stop criticizing lebron when Wade clearly has been the reason why they are losing.
I agree when youy say Wade hasn´t been the same great guard this season.But é´s still the most reliable clutch shooter the Heat´s got in their roster and is a fundamental part of Heat´s game.Without him,the Heat can´t get the championship,unless they bring someone else to be able to play in the Finals.
Its funny because in the playoffs when it matters, Lebron shoots 41% in the clutch and Kobe has shot 28%. But yea Lebron isnt clutch. Sure because hes sooo good people hate. And thats ok. We all know the truth.
Well ALL three of them are important and vital to the team winning a championship, same with the rest of players. End of story.
Now all of a sudden Bosh is relevant. When the Heat are winning it’s about LBJ and D Wade. Come on guys.. this is NBA. You attack the other teams weakness and defend their strength. The lakers stopped the Heat’s transition game and attacked the paint that’s why the lakers won.
I thought MWP was throwing bricks up everywhere in this season and then he goes and makes 6-10 with 2-4 3pointers. Battier was icecold with 1-7 from downtown, just 2 days ago he was 6-7 in Utah. I disagreed with 2 foulcalls going for the Lakers, Battiers block and Wade’s deflection on Bynum. Other than that i didn’t think there were any bad calls, though kobe and wade usually provoke questionable calls from the refs.
When Bosh would have been there playing with the Heat, the Lakers would have had a lot more trouble on defense and Miami would have been a lot more at the line. James could have guarded MWP and Barnes and would have had more fast break opportunities. I really doubt the Lakers would have won in that scenario.
I still do not understand how they let Kobe take more shots than Bynum and Gasol combined. Especially against weak Front Court Teams, where they have the advantage they just let Kobe take low-percentage shots. At the beginning of the season i thought he had a terrible shot selection, which is probably why his FG percentage is so low compared to the other Scoring Leaders. I would love to see Bynum and Gasol get at least 15 FGA each and let kobe go nuts in the 4th quarter. I dont think they will win in the postseason or gettin to the 4 top seeds in the West playing the way they do. Their bench just is not good enough for that.
and btw. James is just ridiculous. I have seen that guy guarding position 1-5, and by guarding i mean staying in front off dribblers, denying players the ball in the post, rebounding off missed shots, switching with players to actively stop drawn up plays after a timeout or coordinate fouls, doing everything you could possibly ask for.
Why has he never been Defensive Player of the Year? Will he have to get a ring first before people acknowledge that he is the best defender in the league?
First of all,he isn´t the best defensive player in the NBA.Second of all,you cant accuse the league for not giving awards to Lebron.He´s already got two MVP´s,even being unable to lead his teams to championships and shutting down in decisive moments.
First of all, YES he IS the best defensive player. Tell me WHAT ELITE defender can actually defend ALL 5 positions and do it WELL?? Tell us all? Enlighten us? NONE.
Secondly, he got to MVPS for leading teams to the best record in the REGULAR season. Ok so he didnt win a championship. Thats not the point. The MVP is a REGULAR season award. Sorry you lose
Let me give you guys all a heads up… for those who say it was wades fault on the fouls are idiots. For the person who said miami doesnt need wade is an idiot… and for those who dont think we need bosh is an idiot. Miami is a complete team with or without lebron. Yea it obviously makes them exponentialy better because we have lebron… but in keep mind wade never needed lebron to win a championship. All he had was shaq on the downside of his career and a decent team to boot. Wade is the best player in the nba and if anyone is to blame for the loss yesterday its the refs because they might as well of put laker jerseys on. End of story… wade is the best stop hating.
Why didn’t he win more if hes that good? He didn’t even see the east finals after the one championship.
absolutely right
I disagree with you.He´s not even the best in his position.But i agree when you say the Heat needs him.
that only means one thing!
miami is in urgent need of a big man.
i hope heat will acquire another big man before the trade deadline.
it will solidify their title run…..
see you in the finals…
Even with Bosh, Gasol and Bynum would have crushed the Heat in the post anyway…same with Jefferson and Milsap. Give credit to the talented big men. Miami’s problem is not that they didn’t have Bosh (although he does make a strong impact and I’m not trying to deny that), but that Udonis Haslem missed a last second shot, and that LA just outplayed them on Sunday. We all know Metta World Peace CAN play basketball. He will have his break out games just like every other player in the league. And he’s also known for his defense…thinik that contributed at all to LA’s win? They have Kobe and Metta and Barnes who can all defend players like Wade and Lebron very well. Then you throw the best low post line up in the league (Bynum/Gasol) into the game, and it’s up to Miami to win the game with their talent. They just didn’t pull through. End of story. It’s not as if Bosh would come in and steal 10 rebounds from Bynum and Gasol, block both of them 3 times, and throw 20 points into the mix. No, if Miami wants to talk about low post presence, and if they want to win through their low post presence, they need much more than Chris Bosh. Part of why Dallas beat Miami last year was because they had such better low post presence in Tyson Chandler. Chandler may not be a huge offensive threat, but he fights for rebounds and plays incredibly efficient defense.
It’s funny how journalists go from talking about Lebron being the MVP but…then they throw out the idea that he’s not even the most important player on his team. Miami had the opportunity to win both games against LA and Utah. Forget about Bosh not being there.
Anthony, Howard, Haslem and Pittman went for 2 for 16 with 11 rebounds in 67 minutes, Bynum and Gasol went 10-21 in with 23 rebounds in 76 minutes. They dominated the boards against 3 6-8 guys and an old man in Juwan Howard. Haslem averages double figure rebounds, Anthony was also below his average (i think). With Chris Bosh these stats would change, Gasol is not that good a rebounder. I think Bosh would have gotten his averages against the Lakers and it would not have been a ten point win for the Lakers. And in order to crush the Heat in the post Bynum and Gasol need more attempts and get to the line more often, they combined for 27 points. Do you think the Lakers used that advantage to the fullest?
btw. this article’s title is poorly chosen to catch views. Lebron is MVP and MIP of this team, but you need a team with few weaknesses to be a title contender. They will not win without Wade, Bosh or Lebron in the postseason, they need all three.
and i think Chicago has the best front court in the league, undisputed. Deng, Boozer, Noah, Gibson, Asik will always come through against Gasol, Bynum, MWP, Barnes and McRoberts.
You saying Gasol is a poor rebounder just makes you look DUMB.
@LakersWillWin
For a guy who is 7 foot tall, averaging about 8 rebounds a game is pretty poor. That is something which you can’t deny.
Chris Bosh is a very important player in this game. The Big 3, Mario Chalmers, and sometimes Norris Cole and Shane Battier are regular contributers to the game. (Actually Norris is somewhat on the decline). The entire Miami Heat bench is incapable of producing points or getting rebounds, etc. Why else do you think Lebron and D Wade get all the rebounds? Udonis Haslem is a complete failure by getting barely any points in the games he has recently played in and also having low rebounding. Mike Miller is a completely failed experiment and will never be what it could have been. He’s supposed to be a 3-point scoring machine, or atleast a scoring machine but has failed to score many points in a game. The entire bench of Miami heat is incapable, undedicated, useless to this team. They only care about the money, and don’t even try in the games.
I can’t believe if the Lakers win you dismissed the fact kobe played great…
And yes Bosh is SO underrated that he was rated 80 in some 2-something NBA game
while Wade and Lebron got 96 and 98 overall respectably…
thats so irritating…
I’ve been having this discussion with friends and NBA enthusiasts for months! Chris Bosh fills a void that LBJ nor D-Wade can make up. He’s the big man. If Wade ever goes out, James will come to fill the void. If James is out, Wade will return the favor. They’re both interchangeable pieces to the Heat’s lineup. When Bosh is out, Bynum looks like Shaq of the 90′s and Kobe can do even more damage in the paint. Go Lakers!
People can be so negative sometimes. Yes, Chris Bosh is a key role player on this team just as Pat Railey designed it.
That’s why they are the “Big Three”. And enough already about Dwayne Wade’s play that “ACCIDENTLY BROKE KOBE’S NOISE”
Both players have admitted that it was an accident, but you have negative people in the media trying to blow up the
situation. That’s why the officials targeted Dwayne Wade for “BAD CALLS’, and filed him out to please the Laker Fans.
But it all good. Dwayne Wade had to right attitude and was very humble about it. He made the right media moves. I was watching the whole thing and seen how they were doing him.
But, this is a new day and The Heat will move on. I was a Heat Fan when they were getting dogged by the media and I will continue to stand by their side !!
Bev (The Miami Heat’s #1 Fan in North Carolina) nba.com (MsBevBlack)
you people are so stupid, chris bosh helps miami, but they’re supposed to beat any team in the league with Lebron and Wade. They are the 1st and 3rd best players in the league on the same team, with or without bosh they should win every single time. miami fans stop using stupid excuses because everyone sees right through them. If Kobe drops 33 on miami, its nobody but wade’s and lebron’s fault.
Bosh is extremely underrated. He still managed to beat the Hawks with no Wade or LeBron. When Wade was out, LeBron and Bosh only lost 1 game out of 6 or so games. This was a big game and Wade didn’t show up. I don’t hear anyone calling Wade a choker. Why is that? LeBron had a double double, but this is a team game, no one else on the heat came to play. If Wade had made any decent contribution or if Haslem had stepped up and made any of his shots, Miami could have had a shot to win the game. It’s pretty clear that as good as Wade is, he has shown many times that he can be the worst player on the Heat team.
I always knew that Chris Bosh was a major component to the Miami Heat he is not only an all star forward, he brings confidence and a swagger to the team in his approach to the game. I have always been a fan of Bosh. The heat lost the last two games but they are still at the top. They admit they still have room to grow when others were questioning if they had peaked. Im sure they will evaluate their game and make it better. I don’t believe the Lakers or the Utah is a threat to the Heat they both had a lucky day and thats it. Im sure the Heat will be ready for them next time.
Sound like an excuse, I’m sorry, it’s well cooked and it taste superior when you explain the story, but man, an excuse is just an excuse. Why is mandatory to excuse Miami at any lose? That’s something I cannot understand. If I were a NBA professional player from the Jazz or the Lakers I’ll be a bit dissapointed with you, this is a game, every team has its cards and they play them, maybe all of you (media) are wrong, and the Heat is much more a NBA Premium Advertisement than a NBA Champion Team. The team with the better cards lose a couple of games, and it’s due a lack of “something” not a true victory for the opponent. Sounds so Bad.
You all make a big deal about everything, blaming LBJ and wade. At the end of the day The Miami heat acquired bosh n LBJ because of what they bring to the table. THEY are both the one of the best players in the nba in their respective position. AS for Dwayne Wade, he is the leader and probably not having a good week. These players are after all human being too. A win by the Lakers after being beaten continuously does not make them a better team. MWP was jus lucky yesterday. LAL sux and will not even be able to reach the final of the western conference. If they are lucky the 2nd round will be their last stop. This is just a regular season game and at the end of the day MIAMI going to keep improving and taking lesson after every loss and going to be better when they reach play off. Heat going to win this season and you all LBJ hater can go fly a kite. He is the best PLAYER in the NBA. GOOO LBJ.
WOW WHAT HAPPEN LAST SEASON WE BEAT DESTROYED THE LAKERS! YOU GUYS FORGOT?? LAKERS NEEDED THAT WIN FOR THEM IT WAS THEIR CHAMPIONSHIP GAME!!!! NICE RECORD BTW..HAHA. ANYWAYS, HATE ON LEBRON BUT HES A GOOD GUY HE WAS BEVER ON TRIAL LIKE YOUR BOY KOBE OH YALL FORGOT? THEN HE BOUGHT HIS WIFE A 2 MILLION DOLLAR RING LOL. YOU GUYS WORSHIP KOBE HAHA LOSERS>
good guy who went on national tv and said im taking my talents to south beach and promised like 8 rings..a guy who had to join two other superstars to try and win a ring..how many titles does Lebron im afraid to take the last shot james have..0..all u haters always bring up Kobe trial..get over it….
Ok, first off, are you kidding me when about Bosh having any pressence in the paint? I live in Canada but I’m a huge Lakers fan mostly cuz they are the first NBA team I’ve ever watched growing up (Dad was a 90′s bulls post jordan lakers fan), but because I’m in Canada I was able to see ALOT of Toronto games after they drafted Chris Bosh, and because I’ve seen alot of his games I know Bosh is very skilled and versatile but for an all-star powerforward has very little pressence in the paint. I don’t know what anyone is talkin about when they say Bosh’s post pressence is crucial because Bosh A) has no effective post moves wut so ever, B) Is literally a pylon when it comes to defending inside, and C) Overall has very little pressence in the paint. Bosh is like Dirk, he has a solid mid range game and hes also so quick for a 4 that he tends to recieve the ball outside the paint, then procedes to break his man wit his quick first step, or a pull up J. Offensively Bosh has his moments, but he operates away from the paint, just inside the perimeter, to be honest I have no idea why Miami got Bosh, because what they needed was the exact opposite of Bosh, a dominating, defensive/occasional offensive threat. SO in the end getting Bosh will help the offense by spreading the floor and giving them another option, but in terms of pressence in the paint, not only does he have very little to offer he may weaken the team’s overall post pressence instead. Bosh is really not what this team needs to take them over the top and I feel he needs to be traded.
Gasol should be traded for Bosh. Heat get experience for a title run, lakers get young and a very good player.
Gasol salary is a bit higher, so just give in james jones or some role player and deal it up!
I think if wade play a good game miami will win!!but chris bosh is a big missing.
The heat are 8-1 whither out wade 1-0 whither out lbj and 1-2 whith out bosh so he is most important for heat
No one would be complaining in the Heat could get a player like Dlaember, 8PPG 8RPG OVER 2 Blocks per game, Just like Chandler did for Dirk covered up his Defensive inability. You think Love has any defensive ability???, Stop hatting on things in witch he is incapable of doing, Bosh in a offensive threat and a body just to be in his way, but a DAMB good team deffender, you cant hate on that……Can you????????
THANK YOU! Finally, Bosh is FINALLY getting noticed. He’s such a great player and isn’t treated like it. Without him, the Heat aren’t the best. You’d have to take LBJ out of SF and move him to post if we didn’t have Bosh…..cuz the Heat don’t really have a good center/low post other than Bosh. Haslem is good, he just isn’t too tall. Thre Heat are missing good posts with height. Spoe isn’t the best coach….he makes many bad decisions. He doesn’t go deep enough into his bench. He had Gladness (who is 6’11″) and Eddy Curry (who is 7’2″) who he could have played and he chosse not to. Curry id actually pretty good, same with Gladness. The Heat needed some really big guys to take on Pau and Bynym last night, but Spoe didn’t act on that. The lost to the Jazz was Wade’s fault, LeBron had the game sealed and Wade made 2 stupid rookie fouls. I’m happy Bosh is now getting the credit he’s always deserved.
haha thats funny. Robin Lopez is the Suns best player too! it’s all about D-Wade
Whats the big idea?? Everyone acts like Miami Got blown out the last two games when in fact they didn’t. Yes, I’ve been a die hard heat fan since the days of Ronny Sikley and yes I understand a loss is loss, but the reality is even when Miami is playing badly and even when other teams play their best, Miami can still compete losing by only 1 point during the first loss and ten points with second loss to the lakers although the game was much closer, and also, understand that Chris Bosh brings an important element to Miami’s game and that’s inside presence. Bosh is a good post up scorer on offense and he also spreads the floor when he is double teamed or sets up screens which allows wade and lebron to make their moves with fewer defenders. He also defends the big men inside and makes inside scoring difficult. Without bosh, Miami is undersized with Eddy Curry and Dexter Pittman being the tallest men 6’11 and 7’0 feet respectively and yet they’re too slow and Joel Anthony being only 6’9 is undersized. Chris Bosh is the only big man that can score consistently and defend. START RESPECTING CB GAME!!
And what happened to James Jones? It seems like Spoe has completely forgot about him. About the first 20 games, James Jones played…..knocking down nice 3′s when we needed them. And now, Spoe BARELY plays him…..Howard gets more playing time than Jones and that’s unaccpetable.
all i gotta say is LBJ getting mvp this year not kobe. LBJ has better stats than kobe. Everyone talking smack on heat for losing finals even though they got there on their first attempt while lakers failed to even reach the finals with 0-4. nuff said.
Think about it this way, if the lakers lost to the miami heat without bosh, that would just be sad, defending champs etc losing to a big 2 without any center. Bosh spreads the floor in case you idiots didntk now, gasol would have to come out of the paint and pick up bosh or bosh just gonna be raining jumpers all game.
totally agree
mvp are not afraid to take last shots in big game..i haver never seen a player let alone a superstar like james hit so many shots during a game then be so afraid to take last shot of a close game..he will never b clutch..he is like a dear in headlights at the end of games..he doesnt even lok at the basket..can u say LEBUM
However, Lebron is a bigger difference maker than Kobe. Kobe was good earlier in his career but he is coming down from his heights. He will explode for 50 point games but he can’t do it often. Durant should win the MVP this year.
In games without bosh, lebron and wade is like the so called 2 men army, getting a high stats combined!!!!! Lebron had games without bosh and wade with a higher stats than those two. I understand that bosh is part of the heats big three, but with one missing, the other all star will come and take over.
Last night the heat lost on both ends on the floor. Wade played like a aggressive brainless monkey who got outplayed numerous times by mr Bryant (don’t get me wrong, Wade is on my top SG list) and lebron was to busy guarding pau (which he did an excellent job btw) instead of going hard in the paint like he always does. Wrong choice btw by spoelstra for letting wade play with 5 fouls on his head with like 5 minutes left to play. Should’ve wait ’till there’s like 2/3 minutes left.
anyway y’all heats lost, so deal with it! NO EXCUSE
Just from the Laker game. Wade lost his cool, that was his fault. Took himself out of the game, made it Lebron vs the Laker Big 3 for the rest of the 4th. Bosh missing, Joel Anthony and Haslem not being effective on either side of the court letting Bynum get in deep in the paint. Pau was shut down when James was on him. The game ended with a difference of 10 points. If Bosh was in the game Miami had no business losing that game, media would have had a party if that happened with Bosh in. But with Bosh out coin toss either team had a chance. With Wade taking himself out with hot headed plays Lakers should have blown the Heat out by a lot more than 10 points with that much time on the clock and with the Heat bench not producing much. Everything else is expected like the Big 3 on both sides are expected to do well. But when Metta World Peace is hitting shots you know thats a one time thing.
Even if the Heat would have had Bosh, what would have been the difference? He’s just a downgrade of the Kevin Garnett of old, sure he has a decent offensive game, but when it comes to defense, he’s got nothing. I’d still take KG over Bosh, even at his age. Kobe was determined to beat the Heat, and he showed it by schooling Wade time and time again. I don’t like people who make excuses. Just like the ignorant Celtics fans who think Perkins would have changed the outcome of the 2010 finals. Just let it be. The Lakers won. The Heat lost. That’s all there is to it. The Heat were completely outplayed. Simple as that.
the writer is wrong. if haslem was at 20% of his normal self, the heat wins in utah and in la. i dont know what happened to that guy
Miami play in LA whit fear, the hold game u see that. THEY MISS SO MANY EASY SHOTS ALL NIGHT BECAUSE FEAR.
Wade threw 2 games in in a row now (first utah, now lakers). We need bosh back and wade to get injured again cuz the heat played the best basketball when wade was off the court. During wade’s absence, Bron played like an mvp and bosh was soso much more effective being the second option behind james. Wade takes away the fluidity of team cuz he demands the ball so much when most of the time he just effs up. Wade who was known for his speed and explosiveness needs to learn how to shoot the ball like a shooting guard and stop trying to argue with officials everytime he misses a shot. Im sick and tired of those lazy floaters he does. I feel shaky everytime he has the ball. WHAT HAPPENED TO WADE?
lets have a rundown of what we know everyone that has commented should read this
1 Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol are the best one two big man punch in the NBA they provide scoring, rebounding, clog the lane, and block shots
2 Miami does not even have a lgit center and their best big man is bosh and he is a pf and too small to guard either Bynum or Gasol
3 Bosh puts up 18.4 ppg and playing behind a team led by james and wade is proberly the best third option they could ask for
4 now during the actual games vs Utah and L.A Al Jefferson, paul Milsap, Andrew Bynum, and Pau Gasol dominated because they were to big and to talented for the Miami frontline to handle and with Bosh’s absence the frontline of Utah and L.A barley had to even play D
5 in the L.A game miami’s frontline (with no Bosh) went 2 for 16 for the game on the other hand L.A forntline was so superior that Eric Spostra had to make LBJ gaurd Gasol in hopes that the could stop just 1 of the laker bigs ( lebron did just that)
6 saying that Wade having a bad game is a stupid excuse that only a bias heat fan would say in the laker game both wade and Lebron missed multiple shots around the rim that they would normally make due to the lenghth of the lakers and Wade and Lebron combined for only 5 free throw attempts.
7 in conclusion Miami needs Bosh to strech the floor aganst other bigs and to be aggessive because it opens up lanes for Wad and James aginst big teams to get to the basket more easily Bosh is the most underated star in the leauge oh and Miami gets more calls then any other team in the leauge and All 4 of Wade fouls in the fourth were legit.
I just would like to say that sometimes Miami do better with LBJ and Bosh on the floor and DWade on the bench than LBJ and DWade on the floor and Bosh out of the game. It was obvious during the streak when DWade was injured. Bosh was amazing and was playing like “old” raptor.
agreed
lbj is a great 3 quarter player not gunna denie it, but when it comes down to the final seconds, you should be glad you have wade on the ‘bench’ cause hes the best closer the heat got, lbj is the biggest superstar choker ever to play.
I’m a Heat fan and the Lakers just outplay the Heat. I had already chalked this one up as a lost after I found at that CB was not playing. The biggest problem with the Heat is their lack of size, even with CB they are still one of the smaller teams and CB is not a physical big man. CB is wing PF who is limited in the post. LJ should not be the biggest guy on the Heat outside of CB.
As much as I hate to say it but I don’t think this Heat team is built to win multiple championship. They will probably win one or two just because of the talent of the “big 3″. Historically teams with good big men win. Some people forget the big men for certain teams because they weren’t the best players on the team but they protect the rim. Having good big men makes the other players life easier.
IF bosh was playing he would have guarded gasol, that would have left lebron free to guard kobe, this would have changed the game!. Watch as lebron wins consecutively becoming the best player ever!
I still dont understand how some of you guys think dwade is a bad player, he averages 22.9 ppg behind james. He committed some stupid fouls the last two games but not enough to call him a bad player. And im 100% sure if bosh was there the heat would have won big time
Were you also 100% sure the Heat would have beat the Mavericks “big time” in the finals? ‘Cause last time I checked, Bosh was there during that series, and so was LeBron and Wade. Can you remind me what happened there?
Lakers were going to win the game with or without Bosh. I don’t understand why it is necessary to imagine a different outcome of a game because a certain player or players or not there. If I am not present on my job the other workers are quite productive and that’s without making millions of dollars.
The Lakers better have won. While there was nothing that we as fans could have done because of Kobe’s’ broken nose, the team did us good. I would have been quite dissappointed had they lost especially after painfully looking at Kobe with that mask on his face.
Go Lakers! Keep on playing with aggression.
Listen all these arguments are irrelevant, the HEAT lost and the Lakers won thats IT. This isn’t the first time and it will not be the last time they lose or win.
Bosh is totally a huge factor in the team. Look at Lebron he had to gaurd pau gasol basically the whole game. With wade in foul trouble battier was gaurding kobe most of the time. Of course battier is a great defender but not as great as lebron. If lebron gaurded kobe and bosh was there to take on gasol, this game would have been totally different. I didnt watch the utah so cant judge their performance, but definetly in the lakers game, they really needed bosh. Feedback?
Has anyone noticed??? The reason why Lebron played half heartedly against the Mavs last Finals is coz he knows, D Wade is gonna be Finals MVP…
He played so hard against the Bulls and the celtics on both ends of the floor (remember when he guarded D’Rose and shut him down and how he closed out the celtics by scoring 10 straight points in the last 1:36 of their series) coz he wanted to get back to the Finals stage..
D Wade played mediocre in both those series… averaged around 16 pts 7 rebs.. (probably coz of the injury).
But when the finals came up, it was suddenly all about the rematch of Wade and Nowitzkit (2006 Finals).
And Wade scored 30 plus pts in the 1st two games.
Lebron was just out of it, you can see it in his eyes…
There is NO FIRE… he’s probably thinking.. “MAN, my 1st ever championship, and I’m NOT the Finals MVP… I;m just a supporting cast for D. Wade”
Just watch the finals again if you have copies (I have recorded DVDs from Game 1 to 6) and you can see the transformation. There was one official timeout on Game 4 where Lebron just sits alone under the Basket, away from his teamates, looking down and sleepy… as if he is day dreaming.
And there team is up by that time, he should be pushing to win the finals…
But NO… Not if he won’t be the MVP.
This comment is just DUMB
How long does it take for a comment to go through moderation? This always happens to me. I never see my comment. Am I doing something wtong?
I”VE BEEN WATCHING MIAMI SINCE 1996, and FINALLY SOMEONE SPEAKS THE TRUTH, BOSH IS HUGE FOR MIAMI
If Wade goes down Lebron can step up and if Lebron goes down D Wade can step. They actually play better without the other one and can win a championship without the other. But if bosh goes down u got Haslem replacing him? I think not. Bosh is the most important player on the team and is a big reason why the heat are as good as they are. So my question should be, why is Lebron the number one candiate for MVP, and this just proves my point.
The main thing heat are missing without Bosh is size. Without Bosh, Lebron was forced to guard Pau since Shane is not aggressive enough which means shane is left to choose his poison, one of the most dominate SG in the league or an on fire Metta World Peace. Plus with wade in foul trouble its impossible for him to be the aggressor he needs to be on Kobe. So what are we left with? Battier on Bryant, in which Shane tried his best and played great D but was out matched. Wade in foul trouble on World Peace, well this ended with wade fouling out with 6 minutes left. LeBron on Gasol, in which Lebron played GREAT post D but was out sized and Anthony on Bynum and Anthony hasnt become the dominate big man he needs to be yet but he is getting better so my point is that without Bosh the Heat are at a disadvantage against team with great big men ie Lakers, Magic….etc but as we as bball fans all know is that any team can beat any team on any given night.
My question is why can’t wade play kobe anymore. Kobe was outplaying him. That made it worst for the heat.I wouldve ut Haslem on Pau, Lebron on Kobe, Battier on World Peace and Wade on Blake. The coach seemed like he can’t move people around and make different in game substitutions based on the game.
And yes Wade screwed the heat over these two times. That’s why they needed Bosh more. 2 The heat were undersized and the coach can’t maneuver. Thats why they needed Bosh more
3rd. heat lost more games with Wade and won more without himmthan any other missing player so far. Chalmers was out, they lost one. Bosh out, they lost two. Wade out, they won all.
no one really knows what will happen, these are all opinions, with that said.. miami heat wins it all this year, and the nexxt.. and the next..etc
“We always appreciate Chris,” Dwyane Wade said. “It is you guys who don’t appreciate him.”
HE IS RIGHT, THE MEDIA NEVER APPRECIATES BOSH, THE WRITER SAID WE’ PROBABLY’
THERE IS NO PROBABLY, YOU DONT. PLAIN AND SIMPLE
Reading some of these comments makes me question who were really watching the game. Miami lost because they weren’t allowed to get out in transition. Miami isn’t very good in the half court. When they get out and run they are second to none and I hate to admit that because I don’t like the Heat. The Lakers played great defense and stopped Miami from doing what they love best. Bynum played great. He didn’t let the double teams affect his game like usual and took advantage of this mismatch. If Bosh played it may have been a different story but we can’t go with hypotheticals and “what-ifs”. The Lakers got the win fair and square. It’s absurd to say the refs were on the Lakers side when it was Wade’s fault. You see he didn’t yell and complain like he usually does so he knew what he was doing. A total of 88 games without someone being fouled out? Sounds like majority of the calls go in the Heat’s favor.
Well considering the heat take a lot of shots in the paint, they didn’t get many freethrow attempts for whatever reason. I have seen Kevin Durant play games on the perimeter and get like 12 freethrow attempts.. Thats weird because Bynum is a fouler and Lebron and Wade are excellent at drawing fouls. Not saying it was the refs, but maybe the heat were playing like chumps that day.
About the last three fouls called on Wade: the first one was legit because you are not allowed to extend your leg outward to prevent contact with an opposing player, the second one is legit because you can not impede the progress of the ball by creating contact with the player in possession of the ball, and the third is legit because you can not cause contact by reaching over the back of an opposing player to block a shot, secure a rebound or steal the ball. Stop trying to make excuses for bad plays by Wade and just give the Lakers credit for abusing the absence of Bosh in the Heat lineup..
I think the real issue is not that Bosh didn’t play but that Miami have no decent size in the paint. If Miami had a legitimate centre to fill up the lane, rebound and contest shots then they would have been able to beat the Lakers with just LBJ and Wade, if Wade had kept his head. They don’t need a great centre they just need a decent one, someone with legitimate height and size to take up space, box out and change opponents’ shots. Without Bosh they were even smaller than usual and against a team with guys as big as Gasol and Bynum they’ll always be at a disadvantage. Anthony and Haslem do a good job inside considering their size but against a big team like the Lakers they’re going to struggle simply because of the height difference. It’s not a criticism of them, it’s just a fact. The league might be dominated by PG’s at the moment but the best teams still have quality and size at the PF and C positions, and I think Bosh’s absence highlights Miami’s main problem: a lack of size. Without Bosh they have James, Wade, a bunch of outside shooters, and undersized rebounders in Haslem and Anthony. Where’s the legitimate interior presence?
Dwayne Wade is not the Miami Heat! Whether he was in the past or not has no bearing on that now. Because plain and simply, LeBron James is who everyone talks about and he produces, night after night. Unlike Wade who is so inconsistent, and has been for a long time. The Heat win without Wade, they don’t without LeBron or Bosh. The reason why Dwayne Wade can be such a hindrance, is because Dwayne Wade plays more for himself than his team mates or team in general.
It was showed in the way Kobe showed up Wade the other night.
And the guy “James” who made that comment about MVP, get off the pingers champ. Wade would never be MVP as long as Lebron is at the Heat.
MIP of HEAT:
1. LeBron james
2. Chris Bosh
3. Wade (if he can even play at the level he played before)
Im sorry to say this, but wade is now a liability for the HEAT. Reasons:
1. Wade is actually a really bad individual defender. Yes, he does get some big blocks from time to time, but they’re all from weakside help. Referring from the games against the jazz and lakers, wade made the 2 dumbest fouls a defender could make and lost james and Heat the game. You’d think he’d step up against the lakers, but nope he continued to get destroyed by kobe and what really pissed me off was when he left world peace wide open for a practice 3 pointer for no apparent reason besides being unfocused and lazy. I mean, its artest here, what is he gonna do? blow by you? come on now wade.
2. Wade’s offense has been out of rhythm and highly inconsistent. I’m not sure if anyone noticed, Wade has actually been missing quite a lot of dunks and layups. His mid-range seemed to have gotten a step back too for whatever reason when one would expect him to be better in that particular area of his game since he’s no longer flash. He has been throwing up more and more of those floating bricks as well. Also, he tends to complain alot whenever he misses a shot. I mean come on man, stop crying for foul shots like 20times a game, its not like you make them anyways.
3. Wade turns the ball over alot. It feels like he has alot of trouble holding on to the orange at times especially during isolating situations. He’s clumsy and indecisive with the ball. Alot of these issues can be fixed by good coaching but lets be real here guys, you think coach Spo can really get into these guys heads? **** no.
Here is DWade’s stat line
Year Team G GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% OFF DEF RPG APG SPG BPG TO PF PPG
11-12 MIA 28 28 32.4 0.500 0.158 0.807 1.4 2.9 4.3 4.9 1.7 1.3 2.71 2.43 22.9
NOW LETS GET ONE THING STRAIGHT dWADE CARRIED MIAMI VS DALLAS LAST YEAR, NOT LEBRON AND NOT CHRIS
D WADE HAS ALREAFY PROVEN HIMSELF BY LEADING HIS TEAM TO A CHAMPIONSHIP OVER DALLAS
NOW FOR THE STAT LINE, I’LL BE THE FIRST TO admit this has not been his best season stat wise part of that is due to the injuries he has had but we are talking about a guy that puts points on the board 22.9 ppg while shooting 50% does that sound inconsistant to you?
Second he averages 1.3 bpg and since he has been in the league he has more blocks and steals then any other guard. You said he gets most of them JUST BY HELPING OFF THE WEAK SIDE, and yeah he does but he is one of the best if not the best waek side defender in the leauge. He is extermley athletic and can shut down pretty much anyone at his position with the exception of propberly just Kobe. Wade does turn the ball over alot but so does any player that commands the ball and demands attention as he does btw lebron averges most turnovers on the team because he commands the ball the most, you will find that this is apattern for alot of teams ( kobe most turnovers for lakers, pual most for clippers, nash most for suns)
let’s wait when bosh come back…after reading ur comments
Listen Ill say this again Lebron james is not the leader on the heat wade is for without bosh teams like the lakers the magic the jazz and others could dominate us with no problem.
Don’t say that its wade team its their team although james and bosh join the MH after they join to MH they are part of the team you cannot say that its Wades team its their team because they are all part of it..
bosh is part of the big three not the MIP just coz they lost 2 when he is not playing. sure when lebron isn’t playing, they’d lose too and same will be said with wade not on the line up. miami is a great team but that doesnt mean they are unbeatable. come on it’s the lakers after all. if they lost to a sub par team after that utah lose, then nba.com writers should be fuzzing about it.
Aw man. This is grand. So, now everyone views Chris Bosh as the heat’s “Most Important Player”? Or are you guys just searching for excuses to condone the heat’s poor performance? Give me a damn break. The heat lost playing with the two of the top 5 players in NBA. In all honesty, they didn’t need Bosh to win, and even if they did, on that day, the results wouldn’t be any different.
I agree Chris Bosh is the Most Important Player! If he didn’t sign with the Heat, Heat may had lost Wade, LeBron wouldn’t sign with Heat and Miami won’t reach NBA finals.
I remembered this season Bosh won games without Lebryn and Wade. But now Lebryn and Wade can’t win a game without Bosh…
Ahh I remember, Lebryn and Wade just want to make show for fame(it is not a dunk contest or showtime lol) but do not want to win because Lebryn has no 4th quarter. Let Wade break his nose too.
to all the heat fans the lakers won that game fair and square d wade just lost his temper and made silly fouls and also the lakers would have won with or without bosh because after losing 3 straight against the heat kobe wasnt gonna let this one slip out of his hands and also dont make an excuse for y ur team lost the refs officiated the game fair the heat do need bosh in the lineup 2 win so beat it tell me win the heat win 5 championships WITH LEBRON! Gosh nba and people these days
The heat lost that game, thats it.. Kobe did his scoring, Pau and Bynum dominating under the rim… but the real deal that game was Metta World Peace aka Ron Artest, he scored 15 points i think.. shot some 3′s and did what the team pays him for that has been his best game in this season.
And yes.. its a FACT that Bosh is a must in the starting line for Miami, since they have a very mediocre center and no rebounding guys coming from the bench they just got killed… Miami does’nt need an All-Star center like Marc or D-Howard.. they need a guy that can do the job like LBJ had in Cleveland Varejao or someone who can do the job like Joakim Noah.
i mean seriously when you have two of the top 4 players in the nba there is no reason u should lose
I think miami missed the pick and pop with bosh more than Anything there was atleast 5-6 shots I can remember that anthony or Haslem missed in the laker game. Im sure bosh’s length would have helped to. That’s just my two scents.
Anyone that can play better than the Heat’s bench would be their most important player right now. If any team just had two studs and the rest duds, they would lose. Look at the Knicks until Jeremy Lin showed up. Anthony and Stat couldn’t help the Knicks win because teams would isolate the two of them and make the supporting cast try to do something. With Bosh out, Lebron and Wade are the only two you have to worry about shutting down, proving that you need better mid level guys to win. Bosh is very important, and now everyone sees this.
Ok playing a game of basketball is a team effort (watch the commercials) If one key player is missing the team is offset, but its up to the team to adjust among themselves. Wade and Lebron cant do it alone..period. If you look at the stats of that game, the rest of the team didnt put in as much effort with concentrating on making those shots they took. And if you remember back when the lakers went to miami, the heat beat them there this season. So the officials going to do what they do, regardless. its up to the team to help win with or without one or two key players. Its the Heat. Not Lebron. Not Wade. Not Bosh. And when you all start talking about champ rings, look. Just because they dont have much does not exclude that they are a great team. They dont give individual player rings. If they did, even Kobe would go solo. But they dont. With that being said, if they want it, its a team effort to get it.
In my view,the best player playing for the Heat right now is Lebron James.He´s leading the team in most games and running for MVP.But it seems obvious to me that the Heat needs the big three to play great basketball,not just one of them.I think that well see a lot more from Wade in the postseason,at the same time,well probably see Lebron screwing up in the most important games.If Bosh can play at a higher level,he could be the difference between ring or no-ring.
of course they will not be expected to win because the absence of bosh
bosh and haslem !!! bosh is 6time all star.. and and clutch performer
Here a simple breakdown: BOSH + LBJ = WIN BOSH + WADE = WIN & BOSH (alone) = WIN. Heat have a what-ever defense but with the help of Bosh WADE and BRON shine, Bosh is the structure against excessive scoring up high in the rim ex. LA and Jazz, and yes The Miami Heat is Wade’s Team, I was living in Miami in 2005 until now and I was able to see the 2006 Finals. I am proud of atleast 1 title thanks to WADE. #DIEHARDHEATFAN Also Heat brought back the Alley-oop Magic back to NBA not LAC LOB CITY no it was the Heat.
Bosh doesn’t get the recognition as a superstar by his own doing. During that Free Agent period I remember him saying “he wanted to be the guy”, instead he chose to be a third option.
As a neutral, I would have liked to see him go to Chicago and form a duo with Rose. And leave LeBron and Wade to have their little bromance in Miami.
Fearless prediction… if the Heat don’t win the title this year, the Big 3 is broken up next year.
Well they wont be broken up , even though that is your DREAM and WISH because you KNOW they will win a title and they are BETTER than your team, so of course you’ll predict it.
Lebron and Wade lil bromance huh? How bout Kb and shaqs bromance? Maybe kb and Pau?? WHy do you even post you sound like a kid.
you laker bandwagoners are retarded, no one is making any excuses, chris bosh is a far better defender than udonis and joel anthony, look at their field goal percentages that game, chris bosh never shot the ball as poorly as they did, the lakers got lucky because they should have won by 25, chris bosh can guard both bynum and gasol, he also is a far better rebounder than joel, udonis, and howard, i guarantee you the lakers wont make it out of the second round of the playoffs
dwayne wade wants lebron to take the last shot, thats why he gives the ball to him late. if dwayne wanted it he would keep it himself, lebron is the leader on the team. most of the games won this year by the heat have been because of lebron because dwayne wade was out. so i dont see how the people at the top can say that lebron is just a hired gun to bring championships when he has been leading this team the whole way. just saying.
Coach Dee, no doubt the heat are all Lebron propelled. But why do all people think the Lakers are all Kobe propelled. cause thats definetly not the case
@prix, you must be one of the biggest Kobe and Laker haters out there. It almost sounds personal. Were you one of those people who missed a shot that could’ve win you 10, 000 dollars? Did you try to get a high five from Kobe and he ignore you? Did you try to get your Jersey autographed and he just kept walking? Anyways, alot of people were talking about how clippers were the big brothers now and where are they now? As for Laker vs Miami, anybody with a brain can tell that Wade let his anger get the best of him, and Bosh’s absence was a factor to them losing. But to say it was the only reason is very misleading. Lakers was ready for Miami. Simple as that.
ha ha ha…. chris bosh is tough fake.. like what mr. durant said before… he still proves nothing… wade is still the man of miami… LBJ games wont be the same f wade is out…