Can Miami Heat's Two and a Half Men Outlast Chicago Bulls Bench Mob?
If Chris Bosh is a big factor in the NBA Eastern Conference Finals, the Miami Heat will beat the Chicago Bulls in six. But there doesn’t seem to be any statistical evidence that he will be.
It’s not surprising that his scoring totals went down this year after joining the Three Liars Who Pretended They Weren’t Planning This All Along. But several of his statistics in 2010-2011 were borderline shocking.
His shooting percentage dropped from 51.8 to 49.6 percent. Apparently being wide open all the time is not the advantage for Bosh that it is for other players.
His rebounds dropped from 10.8 to 8.3. Mmmm, OK. And his blocked shots fell to 0.6 per game, slightly lower than Omer Asik’s 0.7. That wouldn’t be so embarrassing except for the fact that Asik only played 12 minutes a game.
Most stunning of all, Bosh’s assists dropped from 2.4 to 1.9 per game. Seriously? You couldn’t back your 6-10 frame into the lane, draw the defense and find Dwyane Wade or LeBron James either cutting to the hole or open for a jumper twice a game? A dog could run out on the court and have the ball bounce off of him to those two for assists twice a game.
So with Bosh likely playing the role of Angus T. Jones (I had to look that up), it will be up to D-Wade and LBJ to be the Charlie Sheen and Jon Cryer for Miami. And no doubt, they will. If either of them fails to put up big numbers in the series, the Bulls win in five.
Turning to Chicago, the Bench Mob has been a huge factor in the Bulls' 2011 playoff run. Asik and Taj Gibson made the critical difference in the crucial Game 5 against the Atlanta Hawks. Kyle Korver is always dangerous and minimally requires constant defensive attention. Ronnie Brewer and C.J. Watson are excellent role players who do exactly what the team needs of them to win.
And Kurt Thomas, who started 34 games this year and averaged 12.3 rebounds per 48 minutes (more than one per game higher than Bosh, but who’s counting) wasn’t even needed in that last four games against Atlanta.
In the last two losses to Chicago, Miami’s bench scored eight points. That’s eight total points, not per game.
In a series in which it’s hard to believe every or nearly every game will be closely contested, a lack of production anywhere near that will be fatal.
Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau has been a master this year at using the many options available to him. Expect him to exploit this huge advantage and wear down the Heat’s two and a half superstars.
It remains to be seen whether LeBron and Wade have enough tiger blood and Adonis DNA between them to overcome that.
