Young Bigs Gaining Ground against Bosh?

[D-Wins-RingsIMO]

the only one I see is Blake.

Brook & Horford could both well be all-stars but I don't think they'll be as good as Bosh, who I put a cut above the lower tier all-stars.

I think there's a big diff between Bosh and LMA level players.

[Death Knight]

Well, here's the thing. Bosh has maxed out already. People who think he can still improve any other aspect of his game is delusional. As a matter of fact, Bosh stopped improving 3 years ago.

Wrong. Did you hear him today? "We have to get better at the 4 position too. That's my job." Drink the kool-aid. Bosh is a proven winner and leader (two first round playoff appearances!!) and is light years ahead of everybody and nobody will be better then him.

What's your relationship with Chris Bosh? Cousin? Uncle? Neighbor?..........

You didn't even bring up the gold medal............you suck at defending/supporting Chris Bosh.

[JoeyGsShoulders]

Bosh can absolutly imrpove his game, and you saw flashes of it late last year. Like I've mentioned in other threads he developed that nice spin move to get in the post and score near the basket which he really began to work into his game. I know it doesn't seem drastic but if a player can add a few post moves to their repitoire it's certainly an improvement. And I think some solid fundamentals coaching as opposed to player coaching could do wonders to improve his post moves, and his game overall. His improvement are going to be more cerebral than skill though, for example he can improve his d whenever he decides to work on it, he can improve his footwork, he can start to look to pass more, he can improve the time it takes him to set up his offence. Basically all of those little things we nitpick Bosh for are some of the easier things to improve. It's not like we're asking him to grow or learn how to dribble/shoot over night, we're just asking him to become a little more comfrotable and familiar with his game every year he plays.

[Ari_Emanuel]

i've never really disagreed with a poster on this board, as this is a forum and people should have their say , but with some of the names you've listed has made the thread a joke.

The different opinions so far would suggest otherwise. Also, remember this isn't about who is better than Bosh now - we've beaten that dead horse to a pulp. Its about who has the combination of potential, length and maturity to make Bosh less relevant in the 2 - 4 years.

I'll play devils advocate and point out the fact that Chris Bosh has been not only the first option on this team for the past 4 years, but also the only legimate option on offense. How many bigs do you think could have better stats if they played for poorer teams?
Lamarcus Aldridge maybe?
Paul Milsap?
Al Horford if he was on a bottom feeder and could play the 4 instead of the 5?



*EDIT*
I'm pretty inspired by the Bosh supporters on this thread. Where are all you guys when he is getting crucified in other discussions? Quite a few people have even admitted the all-star potential of some guys on the list but go on to say bosh is one level higher.
Hmmmm

I'll go on record and predict that barring any major injury troubles, Brook Lopez is going to become an all-time great C in this league. He has legit size and great agility. Most importantly, he couples that with a very high IQ and not just in the basketball sense. All things being equal, a more intelligent ball player is more likely to reach his potential as competitive sports like everything else in life is largely cerebral. See: Ray Allen, Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Tim Duncan, Danny Granger, David Robinson etc etc etc. Also, with Vince gone Brook is going to take on an even greater role this year.

[vjkid]

Al Jefferson is just as good if not better than Bosh

[HomieOmey]

The list isn't the greatest, but the fact is that PF is quickly becoming one of the easiest positions to fill. If you can luck into a LeBron or Durant type you might be able to get a Milsap or Biedrens level player, but with a Bosh/Jefferson type talent you're going to have to get extremely lucky to get a top tier swing. Offensive bigs are getting harder and harder to build around. We saw the Nuggets become a true threat surrounding Melo/Billups with blue collar bigs, and it seems like Wade, Kobe, and James are the guys who are going to have the first crack at the next 10+ titles.

[decu21]

Al jeff, horford, aldridge are on the rise..they would pass bosh's level. Griffin also has lots of potential, kevin love would play well this season too. the rest of that list would never come close

[CreaM]

Bosh is EASILY better than all those players you listed, and it's not even close. You can add Amare to that list as well and Bosh still takes the cake. Watch out for Bosh this season.

After the subpar February he had, he turned it up big in the latter 2 months of the season, Averaging 24.2/10.6 in March and 22.6/12.2 in April, all this while playing good defense ( I wonder who was added to the team in that period, I think he is a very underrated Loss in our personnel from last season).

In fact excluding February, which was only 7 games, Bosh averaged 23.4/10.4 for the whole season. That is Maximum salary worth right there and I dont care what anybody says. To say these guys are even on his level is just asinine as Bosh has proven that he can lead a team of nobodies to 47 wins and 41 wins with playoff appearances. You cannot possibly tell me that any of those players, excluding Bynum, plays any better defense that Bosh on that list.

The haters will hate of course, thats a given as people tend to have the "grass is greener on the other side" fever around these parts. If Bosh goes to another team, prepare to see playoff appearances and Bosh dominating the league. I guess you dont know what you've got till its gone...

[HomieOmey]

Al jeff, horford, aldridge are on the rise..they would pass bosh's level. Griffin also has lots of potential, kevin love would play well this season too. the rest of that list would never come close

Aldridge has been incredibly overrated thus far, he hasn't done anything too impressive. I do have a lot of confidence and optimism in Horford's future though.

As for the Bosh-Jefferson-Randolph debate, I think all are pretty much equal as of right now. However, Bosh seems to have the most potential with Jefferson a close second and Randolph far behind. Bosh definitely has the most defensive potential, and he has shown brilliant stretches, so hopefully he really puts everything together. Jefferson has more potential on offense, so we'll see how the two develop. All three still have a lot to prove.

[steve_steamer]

randolph had a 42 point performance? really? i love him and never knew that!!!!!

[T.O.G.M]

i've never really disagreed with a poster on this board, as this is a forum and people should have their say , but with some of the names you've listed has made the thread a joke.

The different opinions so far would suggest otherwise. Also, remember this isn't about who is better than Bosh now - we've beaten that dead horse to a pulp. Its about who has the combination of potential, length and maturity to make Bosh less relevant in the 2 - 4 years.

I'll play devils advocate and point out the fact that Chris Bosh has been not only the first option on this team for the past 4 years, but also the only legimate option on offense. How many bigs do you think could have better stats if they played for poorer teams?
Lamarcus Aldridge maybe?
Paul Milsap?
Al Horford if he was on a bottom feeder and could play the 4 instead of the 5?



*EDIT*
I'm pretty inspired by the Bosh supporters on this thread. Where are all you guys when he is getting crucified in other discussions? Quite a few people have even admitted the all-star potential of some guys on the list but go on to say bosh is one level higher.
Hmmmm

I'll go on record and predict that barring any major injury troubles, Brook Lopez is going to become an all-time great C in this league. He has legit size and great agility. Most importantly, he couples that with a very high IQ and not just in the basketball sense. All things being equal, a more intelligent ball player is more likely to reach his potential as competitive sports like everything else in life is largely cerebral. See: Ray Allen, Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Tim Duncan, Danny Granger, David Robinson etc etc etc. Also, with Vince gone Brook is going to take on an even greater role this year.

I can't even remember how many threads I've seen titled: "this guy is going or is better than Bosh". Hate to burst your bubble, but this thread is beating a dead horse to a pulp (btw - i say this will all due respect).

I too think Brook has good talent and can be a very good player, with some seasoning (all time great is pushing it IMHO). I will say his deficiencies are in his defense, primarily in lateral quickness. He uses his body well in the post to create space for himself, to get is shot off.

As for your cerebral comment, i say take a look @ bosh vs the players you've listed. You may have to disqualify more than few players from your list.

[Komodo]

Randolph's ceiling is pretty high.

Let Randolph do some of this in the regular season when he isn't being defended by chumps. I'm not saying he isn't going to be a very good player, but it remains to be seen if his ceiling is that of a star.

To be fair, I think it's pretty evident his ceiling is that of a star. It's just a matter of whether he attains that level or not, but his potential is definitely very high.

[Kabookalu]

For our sake we should hope that Bargnani steps on equal ground to Bosh.

[Dr Positivity]

The thing is Duncan and Dirk are nowhere close to being done. Those guys are going to last until they're like 35. They're modern day Kareems with their fundamental skills combined with work ethic. So within that time period you're looking at 4 drafts worth of prospects, then there's the up and comers from the last couple drafts like Beasley, Griffin, Randolph, etc. I also think Durant will end up a PF when he bulks out. And then you have to assume Bosh doesn't break down in his late 20s like Shareef/Webber/JO.

Unless he improves his game, I don't think Bosh will ever be the best PF in the game. It's just logic... right now he's good enough to be maybe the 15th best player in the league, he'll probably stay that way. You have to assume that at all times there'll at least one PF in the top 10 or 15 players, there'd have to be a significant, fluky unbalance in the league for that not to happen. Right now Duncan, Dirk, and KG are in the top 10, and then Gasol and Bosh are arguable and likely top 16 overall. So there's 5 in the top 16 now... for Bosh to be #1 there'd have to be only 1... so I seriously seriously doubt it's going to crumble like that. With the next 4 drafts added to Beasley, Griffin, Randolph, and Durant possibly playing PF, there's going to be an MVP/HOF player that ends up ahead of Bosh

The league is actually quite due for another top 10 type PF. Recently we've gotten 2 elite PGs (Paul, Deron), 1 SG (Roy) 1 SF (Durant), and 1 C (Howard)... that's not counting Rose, Beasley, Oden, etc. The last PF drafted who was top 10 caliber, was Dirk, actually. But 95-99 produced 3 MVP PFs so it balances out

[Marvin!]

Those are the players I think can be as good or better than Bosh.

you think Dajuan Blair will be as good or better than Bosh?!?

[Gold Chain]

Chris Bosh has over the past couple of years established himself as one of the best PFs in the game and many expect him to take Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnet's thrown once they are on the brink of retirement. It has been said by many that Bosh need only get bigger to take his game to the next level, but maybe Bosh should be taking a closer look over his shoulder right now at the next generation of talented power forwards, Sf-PF and F-Cs that will pose a threat to his reign. Instead of comparing Bosh to his predecessors and rivals, let's examine his successors/soon-to-be challengers:

Lamarcus Aldridge
Al Jefferson
Anthony Randolph
Paul Milsap
Blake Griffin
Kevin Love
Andrea Bargnani
Brook Lopez
Greg Oden
Jeff Green
Michael Beasley
Al Horford
DeJuan Blair
Andrew Bynum
Derrick Favors

The most current example is Anthony Randolph's reputed fast development. He caught my attention momentarily with that 42 pt outburst last year as an 18 year old rookie but he has evidently gotten bigger and better. Article:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/scott_howard-cooper/07/21/randolph.notes/index.html?eref=T1

The NBA has been dominated by wingman the past decade with only KG, Tim and Shaq the only consistently great big men. Now we may be on the brink of a big man revolution if even 1/3 of the above (and any unmentioned) fulfill their potential. How will this affect Bosh's status in the league? What are the implications for the Raptor's franchise? How much better is Bosh than the above right now and who, if any, do you expect to surpass him? What must Bosh work on now to stay ahead of the curve?

Discuss.

Not one of those players on the list are ready yet to challenge Cb on the offensive side of the game. Some are close and some are far away, but they are not there yet.
Cb will cement himself as a more dominant PF this coming season and I for one cannot wait for him to shut up the critics and plebians who continue to call him (famous drag queen name) and soft.

[timdunkit]

How many of them are actual franchise players? exactly non of them (well Griffin might be soon) ... Its a lot differnet when your the franchise player and the defense is focused on you ....In a year or two, Bosh should be the best PF in the game ... People forget he is till only 25, we have yet to see the best of Bosh ...

[|llsT oNe]

I'd be surprised if Beasley is ever as good as Bosh

Quite a few people were saying the Bulls would regret Rose over Beasley prior to the draft, I laughed and told them they couldn't be more wrong at the time.

[princeofpalace]

The list isn't the greatest, but the fact is that PF is quickly becoming one of the easiest positions to fill. If you can luck into a LeBron or Durant type you might be able to get a Milsap or Biedrens level player, but with a Bosh/Jefferson type talent you're going to have to get extremely lucky to get a top tier swing. Offensive bigs are getting harder and harder to build around. We saw the Nuggets become a true threat surrounding Melo/Billups with blue collar bigs, and it seems like Wade, Kobe, and James are the guys who are going to have the first crack at the next 10+ titles.

This. Also- add Dwight Howard.

There really is nothing special about having a big that doesn't play defense. Thats why guys like Bosh and Amare aren't really guys that you can build around. I Would much rather have a great wing + role playing defensive big.

[|llsT oNe]

Sure, we'd all like Durant or Lebron.