Bye Bye Bosh

The response last Thursday by Chris Bosh, on Rogers Sportsnet, to the criticism of him by Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo, left some elements of his departure and the critical comments open for discussion. One of the areas of his decision to leave, that caused concern in Canada, relates to when it was that he had his mind made up, that he was leaving Toronto.

A continuing theme that raises questions for any basketball fan, is whether or not LeBron James,Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, had their minds made up at the time they were competing for the U.S. Olympic basketball team, that they were at some point going to play on the same team. Bosh did make it clear that he did quite a lot of contemplation, before selecting Miami,and said he did give his best effort throughout this past season.

Fans are very sensitive to suggestive comments, and when it became known that the 3 Miami multi –millionaires, had discussed the idea of playing on the same team while with the “Redeem Team”, then fans were going to fairly wonder if this idea was cemented that far back, and if it was completely resolved at this past season’s All- Star festivities. All of that would make the fans, and Bryan Colangelo wonder, just how devoted the Georgia Tech alumnus was to Toronto, and just how much he wanted to remain with the Raptors. Obviously, the same questions were asked in Cleveland about James, with no variance in the answers from any fans or media.

Bosh’s statistics were certainly respectable this past season ( 70 gp, 24 ppg, 10.8 rpg, 2.4 apg, 1bpg, .518 fg%, 36.1 mpg.)Even with those numbers, there was quite often a feeling with him, that he could be a much better player, especially on defense. That expectation became a legitimate one, after “CB-4” was utilized primarily as a defensive specialist by the coaching staff of the American Olympic men’s basketball team.

In fact, the U.S.A. coaching staff had high praise for Bosh after the tournament in China, for his defensive work. That degree of defensive discipline was rarely exhibited by the former Raptor during NBA games, and to be fair, with the “Redeem Team”, he obviously didn’t have to worry about scoring points. Bosh put in an effort most nights, but there were also games when his body language made it clear, that he was not interested in blocking opposing players, or willing to engage in any kind of physical contact to detour an opposing player from the low post.

It’s not as though he never played defense, but it certainly wasn’t his favorite facet of the game. We didn’t see any defensive grit from any of the Raptors, in matches against teams that play a very physical game, like the Denver Nuggets. They torched the Raptors that last few seasons. The Celtics also had an easy time imposing their will on Toronto, without much resistance.

Bosh told Sportsnet on Thursday: “I play this game as hard as I can every time I step on the court. On the back of my jersey it says ‘Bosh’…..The Boshes are hard workers. We have a lot of pride in what we do, in our jobs and in life.”

Bosh may have thought he was playing as hard as he thought he could, but for many watching him, it quite often appeared that when it came to the defensive dimension of the game, even with his rebounding numbers, he was doing the minimum,and not demonstrating to his teammates by example, as to how the game was meant to played by teams that have championship aspirations.

In fairness to Bosh, maybe it’s unrealistic to expect that he could ever play that type of game. Perhaps he is meant to be an All-Star forward, but without the defensive intensity, that Raptors fans and others, hoped they would see in his game.

Stormin Norman Rumack has been a respected sports radio broadcaster for nearly two decades. You can learn more about Norm by visiting his official website latenightvampire.com

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