It's become trendy to get on LeBron James' case about heading to Miami (can we get rid of the "taking my talents to South Beach" references, already?), but there's another free agent the Heat signed that ruined his "brand" even more.
That would be Chris Bosh.
Bosh was widely regarded as one of the game's best big men over the summer, and by a lot of accounts, still is. However, things are not working very well for him after a handful of games in Miami.
The Miami Hearald reported on Monday that Bosh and James had a discussion on a team flight following Friday's loss to New Orleans in which Bosh stressed to James that he is "getting a little lost out there."
Critics of the Heat said that there would not be enough basketball to go around and please all three stars, Dwyane Wade obviously included. And while Bosh is an All-Star, he is not the superstar that Wade or James are, and that has been on full display this season.
In Toronto, Bosh was the only option for the Raptors. The offense ran through him and the ball was in his hands in crunch time. And while he never won anything, he was able to elevate himself to one of the game's best forwards. It was a classic case of a big fish in a small pond.
But Bosh is now being overshadowed by two whales and his numbers are suffering because of it. Through eight games this season, the 6-foot-11 Bosh is only averaging 14 points per game after averaging 20 per contest in his seven seasons in Toronto.
Miami and Bosh apologists will say you have to give it time, which is no doubt true. But the bigger problem for Bosh lies in his rebounding numbers. Bosh has the reputation as one of the league's best players on the glass, but has yet to show it in a Miami. In fact, he's only averaging 5.4 rebounds per game thus far this season, a number that was obviously hurt by a one-rebound performance on Friday night.
The thing about rebounding, too, is that it has nothing to do with the system or with familarity. The shot goes up, you box out your man and you go and grab the board. It's all about wanting it more than the other guy and being agressive — something that Bosh is admittedly struggling with as well.
"I've kind of been on my heels for the first part of the season, so I'm starting to figure it out; it's starting to come to me," Bosh said. "But at the end of the day, I just have to be aggressive. That's what it's all about."
Bosh scored 21 points on Saturday, but still only registered five rebounds. The Heat beat the Nets easily, but for the Heat to really become a serious title threat, Bosh is going to have to subsititue offensive touches for a deeper comittment to rebounding and doing the other little things that will help complement the games of Wade and James.
There's hardly enough basketball to go around for James and Wade. Whether he knew it or not at the time, Chris Bosh signed on to be the highest-paid role player in the NBA.
That's something Bosh will need to get used to. If all goes according to plan, the Heat will win an NBA championship at some point during Bosh's tenure in Miami. Lofty expectations have been placed on Miami and more specifically, James, Wade and even Bosh. If they don't win any titles, though, Bosh's decision to head to Miami and play "third fiddle" to James and Wade could end up ruining what should have been a promising career.
