Miami Heat: Why Chris Bosh Needs a Larger Role If the Team Wants To Win

I'm not even sure if I'm allowed to be writing this. Judging by the look of the NBA.com website, I'm worried Billy Hunter or David Stern is going to sanction me for writing about their players.

I'm a risk taker, so here we go anyway.

Earlier this week, I was writing my piece on the Miami Heat and a few important questions that they'll need to answer if they want to secure a championship. I felt that they were all valid questions, but I felt that one in particular carried more weight than all the others.

It dealt with Chris Bosh and his always questioned role on the team and just how vital and important he is to the Heat's offensive system. It also questioned the Heat's motives of how they have used Bosh and how they plan to use him from here on out.

When the Big Three joined together, it was mostly as a result of the fact that Chris Bosh was on the team first. Without Bosh, Dwyane Wade wouldn't have signed with Miami and LeBron James would have most likely signed elsewhere. The Heat could have gone after Amare Stoudemire or Carlos Boozer, but elected to go with Bosh because he was the player that Wade wanted to play alongside.

Once Bosh signed with Miami, it was James who was on the first fight to Miami to welcome him.

Bosh was the reason why Wade and LeBron either kept or took their talents to South Beach and is also the second highest paid player on the team. Obviously the two were impressed with what they saw in Toronto and immediately wanted Bosh to come join them in Miami on their team instead of the many other viable power forward options that were still available. Bosh was coming off of a career season in Toronto where he averaged 24 points and 12 rebounds.

He had been averaging at least 20 points per game since the 2005-'06 campaign, his third year in the league.

In his first season as a member of the Heat, Bosh was one of the teams biggest wild cards. He was erratic, hesitant, and tentative at times and would sometimes cost his team games because of just how ineffective he was. His 1-for-18 shooting performance in a loss against Chicago was the worst of his career and one of the worst of all time. Two weeks later, he would shoot 3-of-11 in a loss against Portland where he only scored seven points.

With Bosh not producing the way the team needs him to, they suffer and are forced to play primarily with two slashers and nothing more. Wade and James both have jump shots that can use some work, so the game basically came down to how lucky they can get with their shots and just how many times they can attempt to break into the paint before the opposing teams found out just how they were playing the game.

Bosh is the teams most consistent jump shooter and is desperately needed in every game the Heat play to knock down shots from the mid-range to keep opposing defenses second guessing of just who is going to take the shot for the team. Rather than relying on Wade and LeBron's slashing, having Bosh either shoot or take the ball off the dribble adds another element as well as versatility to the Heat's already simplistic style of offense.

By having Bosh on the floor and producing, the Heat have a lot more versatility and more ways to score than if he isn't. In his first postseason with the team, Bosh was sometimes the Heat's best player, especially in the teams series against the Chicago Bulls where Carlos Boozer even came out and said that the Heat only had two great players prior to the start of the series. Bosh responded by dropping 30 or more in two of the five games.

The team needed him considerably, especially with Dwyane Wade not performing well.

Bosh gave the Heat all they could use in their series against the Dallas Mavericks as well. He got to the line more consistently than anyone else on the team and seemed to be the only player motivated to go out and win the title. He was the only player seen breaking down following their Game 6 loss and it was clear just how bad Bosh wanted to win that game after scoring 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting to go along with eight rebounds.

Who cares if the guy cries or not? All it means is that he's dedicated to the game and that he was out putting everything on the line only to come away with nothing. Emotion is one of the greatest advantages you can possess in a game and there aren't many players in the NBA more emotional on the floor than Bosh, who will react to and one opportunities as if they were game winning three-pointers that just won the NBA Finals.

Bosh knew coming into the season that he would be recognized as a third option and he had to come to terms with that. He realized the level of competition that he was playing with and he was willing to allow LeBron and Wade to shoulder the spotlight that he was so used to after playing for seven seasons as a member of the Toronto Raptors. Bosh sacrificed more than anyone else on the team, including the admiration of his city, just to play as a third option in a new environment.

The problem with the team playing Bosh as a third option is that they treat him as if he really was a third option. It seems that the team only look towards Bosh as a player that is only capable of dropping 18 points and eight rebounds per game instead of as the 24 point and 12 rebounds player he was last season. Yes, he was playing with Andrea Bargnani as his second option, but it's impressive nonetheless.

The offensive system of the Heat doesn't allow the team to run with complete fluidity and Bosh suffers the most. With Wade and James on the team, Bosh already isn't going to see as many looks as he was getting in Toronto. Because the offense they run in Miami is so inconsistent, Wade and James can sometimes take over looking for opportunities to score on the perimeter rather than working it inside to Bosh to have the offense run look like it runs with a purpose.

Bosh gets ignored for too many stretches of the game and it hurts the team more than it helps. He's the teams most consistent mid-range threat, as well as one of its lone post presences and the ball needs to work through him to not only allow him to get his shots in, but to keep the offense flowing and honest with a third player consistently scoring.

The team needs shots to fall that aren't strictly from Wade and James driving. They need Bosh to chip in mid-range jumper just to show the defense that he's there and that they should worry about him.

The coaching staff had done wonders for the Heat this past season, but they truly didn't use Bosh to his potential at all. In close game situations throughout the second half, Bosh would be ignored as a result of LeBron and Wade looking to either close up gaps or expand leads with their own games rather than getting the easiest opportunities from Bosh, who is usually in the middle watching and waiting for his chance.

Bosh is ignored way too much for this team to start winning championships. They have three of the top players in the game, but they play as if there are only two with one other supporting role player. The team needs to work through Bosh on every possession because of just how much of an impact he can hold in every game if he is involved for the usual 35 to 40 minutes that he does play.

With the ball working through Bosh in the post, more attention would be focused on him and his mid-range game before they look at LeBron James or Dwyane Wade cutting while Bosh is being double teamed. The court becomes a lot bigger once the ball is in Bosh's hands and he's keeping the offense honest with either a jump shot, drive, or a pass to an open Wade or James.

He has 20-point and 10-rebound potential even on a team where two players dominate the ball for the majority of the game. The Miami Heat need to realize that they have three superstars and they need to play one of their three superstars as if he was one instead of thinking he was just a throw in during the summer. He's a season removed from scoring 24 points and grabbing 12 boards per game, next season is the time to start playing him as such.