The Bread-and-Butter Plays for Chris Bosh

With the departure of LeBron James to Cleveland, Chris Bosh will become a greater focal point in the Miami Heat offense. 

Playing alongside the All-Star, ball-dominant James and Dwyane Wade limited his touches and impact. He served as a third option in the offense, screening for ball-handlers and spacing the floor through pick-and-pops or spot-up threes.

Bosh, to his credit, accepted his role without complaint despite the hit to his reputation. Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra flowed the offense through Bosh's hands early in games to get him in rhythm, but the game's progression ultimately shifted the offensive lens back to James and Wade. 

The forgotten dominance of Bosh—he and Kevin Love are the only players over the last eight years to average 24 points and 10 rebounds in a single season according to ProBasketballTalk—will need to re-emerge this year. From taking bigs off the dribble to shooting threes and posting up, he has a full complement of offensive moves.

Where Bosh Excels

Bosh's versatility as an offensive player keeps defenders off balance. Homing in on one portion of his game leaves a defender susceptible to something else. Crowding his space creates an opportunity to drive, and sagging off gives him open jumpers. 

All of his tools are preceded by his favored and most advantageous initial positioning: the mid-range face-up. 

Whether it's receiving the ball off the pick-and-pop or isolating on the wing, Bosh flourishes when his typically bigger defenders get caught squaring up like a guard. 

After Bosh sets a screen for Ray Allen on this play against the Indiana Pacers last season, Bosh steps to catch and isolate against David West.

West is clearly uncomfortable. There is no immediate help in the vicinity, and he's venturing well outside his comfort zone near the three-point line. 

Bosh fakes at a drive with a hard jab to capitalize on West's isolation. West's only response is an immediate hop backwards, as he instinctually moves to protect the rim. 

That's all the room Bosh needs to can a jumper.

The flip side is arguably more devastating. When the ball swings to Bosh in the corner on this play against the Minnesota Timberwolves, his man, Gorgui Dieng, races out to the corner to possibly contest a three-point shot.

Bosh senses this over-aggression and immediately rips left to the basket. Due to his slower lateral quickness, Dieng's feet get stuck in the mud, and he's not able to react quickly. By the time he pivots and changes direction, Bosh is approaching the rim for a layup.

The One Play To Watch For With Bosh

Part of Spoelstra and Bosh's combined genius is that both recognize Bosh's ability to contribute and score within the flow of the greater offense. Even though we might see an uptick in plays specifically designed for Bosh, he'll do most of his damage in pick-and-rolls or attack off ball swings.

Spoelstra admitted as much to the Sun-Sentinel earlier this preseason: "He'll have the ball in his hands a lot, but that doesn't mean necessarily that we're going to be calling his number every time down the floor. That's not how we're going to play."

The key, therefore, isn't necessarily creating baskets for Bosh; it's placing him in spots where his skills become dangerous: that 15-foot mid-range area, namely the elbows. 

Miami likes running guards off Bosh before getting him the ball particularly through pinch-post actions—a two-man game in which Bosh lifts to the elbow and a guard feeding from the top follows his pass for a dribble handoff or backdoor cut. 

Here's an example from this preseason against the Memphis Grizzlies, with Bosh playing the 5 in a smaller lineup.

Norris Cole initiates the play by hitting Mario Chalmers on the left wing before loading to the strong-side corner. Bosh follows up that action by setting a wide pin-down screen for Wade in the corner, and Wade curls to the rim.

Even though it's ideal for Chalmers to hit Wade at the rim, it's a luxury option: If it's there, great. If not, the help that the man guarding Bosh, Kosta Koufos, must provide on the curl drags him away from Bosh. 

It's that space that puts Koufos in a bind. Rushing back to Bosh compromises his ability to stop any pump fake and drive, but a lack of hustle leaves room for a jumper. Throw in the pinch-post action with James Ennis following his pass, and there are a lot of moving parts to track. 

What Bosh Brings To Miami's Defense

Bosh's versatility is augmented by Spoelstra's willingness to play him at center and match him up against opposing 5s. His length and wiry strength at 6'11" is more than enough to handle the majority of league centers. Offensively, it creates serious mismatches with slow-footed bigs struggling to deal with Bosh's guard-like skills and explosiveness. 

As a prototypical big, Bosh can hold his own in the post and play conservative pick-and-roll defense by dropping back to the rim. But his superb instincts and quickness permit a more intrusive style of defense, and Spoelstra utilized these skills with more aggressive pick-and-roll coverage.

Most NBA teams tend toward that retreating-big style. Guarding the restricted area and three-point line are the name of the game, and having bigs confront ball-handlers higher up on the floor leaves them vulnerable.

That's why the Dwight Howards, Omer Asiks and Roy Hibberts of the league rarely test those perimeter waters.

The downside to such a strategy is that it can create a gulf of space to attack in the middle of the floor. Smart point guards will turn the corner on picks, slow their dribble down and pull defenders off shooters.

An idea pick-and-roll defense somehow factors ball pressure into the equation without wounding three-point-line and rim security. 

One such blueprint is known as a "hard show," in which the defensive big monitoring the screener jumps out perpendicularly to the ball-handler to prevent him from turning the corner. The vulnerability relies in the rolling offensive big, and it's up to the rest of the defense to rotate and protect while the hard-showing player scrambles back.

Bosh is a master at this because he's both clever enough to lurch out at ball-handlers and quick enough to recover in a timely manner. 

Notice how Bosh deftly maneuvers two back-to-back pick-and-rolls on the perimeter on this play from preseason against the Atlanta Hawks. 

After Pero Antic sets a screen for Jeff Teague on the right side of the floor, Bosh slides over to protect against penetration. But Teague immediately throws back to a popping Antic, who quickly swings the ball to Korver on the weak side.

Antic uses what's called a throw-and-chase—Antic throws the ball and chases his pass for a pick-and-roll—to roll into the second screen. This is a difficult cover for Bosh, who now must track the ball from one side of the floor the other. 

Yet he not only gets there but shows hard as well. This is a particularly heady move against the sharpshooting Kyle Korver, who is forced to dribble around the showing Bosh and drop his head for just a split second.

In that time that Korver is reacting to the Bosh show, Cole is able to rotate over and contest Korver's shot while Bosh hustles back to Antic to cut off a catch-and-shoot jumper.

When Bosh joined Miami four years ago, much of what made him valuable as a player became overshadowed by two of the best players in the league. Now that he's a primary option once more, the league will be reminded why he is a perennial All-Star.

But it won't be about Bosh simply getting his; he'll fit within the Miami offense and comfortably find his shots when they're available. If Miami hopes to win in the playoffs this year, that will be the formula for success.