Article on Bosh "LeBron James' Dominance Is Masking Bosh

[TMIMITW]

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1545 ... -evolution

Some acurate points made!

[LeChosen1]

I would like to know why Bosh is playing Fewer Minutes than Wade, makes no since sometimes

[BlackBerry]

Not only this but putting Bosh @ C isn't helping either. But it's nessary i guess.

[GameTime_3]

Bosh is the man....We hit the jackpot that year. Not only did we get the best player in the game, we resigned our own, we also got the most humble, skilled big man possible. Some wanted Amare, others wanted Boozer, looking back we got the best guy! Best Big Man on the market and best player for this team.

[krikor]

He spaces the floor great. His minutes is down, but its legit too. Centers exhaust more energy.
I dont want him to be low energy come playoffs.
This is why for regular season I like to use Joe abit more too

[krikor]

based on what I said, Bosh is playing 4th most minutes out of all centers in the league

http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/playe ... on/centers

[Yaphet Kotto]

Have we seen Bird at Center and Bosh back at his natural position yet?

I can't remember if Spos thrown that lineup out yet.

[mopper8]

I would like to know why Bosh is playing Fewer Minutes than Wade, makes no since sometimes

Probably because he's at C, which is a more physically demanding position to play, and certainly more demanding than he's accustomed to in his career.

Not only this but putting Bosh @ C isn't helping either. But it's nessary i guess.

Its not helping his individual stats, but its helping our team offense tremendously.

[RexBoyWonder]

Have we seen Bird at Center and Bosh back at his natural position yet?

I can't remember if Spos thrown that lineup out yet.

Amazingly, no we haven't.

And it's going to be our best lineup.

[mopper8]

Have we seen Bird at Center and Bosh back at his natural position yet?

I can't remember if Spos thrown that lineup out yet.

Amazingly, no we haven't.

And it's going to be our best lineup.

Disagree. Statistically, our best lineups have been with Battier paired with Lebron. Spacing is incredible, and those two can together guard most bigs. We lose spacing with Birdman, and the increase in rebounding doesn't make up for the drawbacks in offense.

[-MK-]

Have we seen Bird at Center and Bosh back at his natural position yet?

I can't remember if Spos thrown that lineup out yet.

http://www.82games.com/1213/12MIA13.HTM#5man - total of 13 minutes (doesn't include the last game vs Sac yet)

[RexBoyWonder]

Have we seen Bird at Center and Bosh back at his natural position yet?

I can't remember if Spos thrown that lineup out yet.

Amazingly, no we haven't.

And it's going to be our best lineup.

Disagree. Statistically, our best lineups have been with Battier paired with Lebron. Spacing is incredible, and those two can together guard most bigs. We lose spacing with Birdman, and the increase in rebounding doesn't make up for the drawbacks in offense.

Birdman scored 10 points in 16 minutes last night (missed a dunk). 4-5 shooting.
And it's not just the rebounding, he's also our best rim protector. 2 blocks + a few altered shots last night.

On some matchup we might be better with Battier, but Birdman-Bosh will be the most effective pairing in some games.

[mopper8]

4-5 shooting, but was he pulling bigs away from the basket? Which makes room for Lebron and Wade, and makes everyone more efficient as a result? Someone posted a vid of Doug Collins praising our team the other day...but he was praising our offense when Lebron is at the 4. Stats bear this out. No way our offense is better, in the long run, with Birdman over Battier. The question is whether his defense/rebounding make up for it. I dont' think they do.

[BlackBerry]

We gotta try Bosh and Birdman as a rotation, just to see how it works out. Coach spo is really trying new rotation which is making me think he is improving as a coach and clearly in my top 5 favorite coach along with coach K (Team USA), Phil Jackson, Gregg Poppovich and Doc Rivers.

[dolphinatik]

you know who i havnt seen , Joel Anthony. Its good to have a 5 that can score for you as well.

[C0bR]

Bosh is absolutely perfect for Miami. He shoots the GOAT level from the midrange and that spacing is essential for Bron and D-Wade to operate. I have been bragging about him playing 5 from the start of the season, but lately I started thinking that it is a perfect recipe for Miami success.

Bosh may not be the good post defender, but that really does nto matter with the lack of good big men. He is an excellent P'n'R defender, solid rim protector when it matters. The rebounding problem is more about the collective team effort and Chris' rebounding/nonrebounding if often exaggerated.

[TdotRap4Lyfe]

Its tough to playing next to the best wing combo in the league and average superstar/all star numbers, so all things considered, he is doing great. He has always been a great floor spacer, humble and extremely funny and sociable person..I never did understand why people in the media tend to pick on him more than players like Amare and Boozer who have both underachieved since signing with their respective teams in 2010.

[GreenHat]

4-5 shooting, but was he pulling bigs away from the basket? Which makes room for Lebron and Wade, and makes everyone more efficient as a result? Someone posted a vid of Doug Collins praising our team the other day...but he was praising our offense when Lebron is at the 4. Stats bear this out. No way our offense is better, in the long run, with Birdman over Battier. The question is whether his defense/rebounding make up for it. I dont' think they do.

That is the crux of the decision I agree.

Where I disagree slightly with both of you is why we have to choose? I've always been in favor of playing the matchups. When we need the defense/rebounding go big and when we need the spacing go small. To me that's a super easy concept and Battier is a consummate professional who isn't going to complain about minutes (especially since he will still be playing).

We've also seen that we can score effectively with nothing at center (we both would argue against those who were claiming Joel killed our offense) and Lebron has added range this season.

Battier/Lebron/Bosh gives us more on offense but gives up a little on defense/rebounding. That's why we should play the matchups. There are definitely some teams that we would play better by going big or at least not small.

82games has our two most used lineups (as of a couple days ago) as the core four starters Chalmers/Wade/Bosh/Lebron and either Haslem or Battier and they are pretty similar on offense which we know isn't because Haslem is some kind of juggernaut. Again small sample sizes apply.

Where I do agree with going small is when we are resting one or two of the big three and need the offense. But still overall we should play to the situation and take the biggest advantage possible. To me that's the point of lineup strategy.

[narmerguy]

4-5 shooting, but was he pulling bigs away from the basket? Which makes room for Lebron and Wade, and makes everyone more efficient as a result? Someone posted a vid of Doug Collins praising our team the other day...but he was praising our offense when Lebron is at the 4. Stats bear this out. No way our offense is better, in the long run, with Birdman over Battier. The question is whether his defense/rebounding make up for it. I dont' think they do.

Yeah, the thing people forget is that when Lebron is at the 4, this team isn't even playing "small". He's big enough to guard a 4. It's a nightmare.

[mopper8]

I'm fine with playing the matchups, GreenHat, just disagreeing with the notion that we need to be making minutes for Birdman because Bosh/Birdman/Lebron is going to be our best lineup...