NBA News: Advantage Heat
Chris Bosh has heard it all - "Fake tough guy", "Bosh Spice", "The Weakest link", "2 1/2 men".......That is just a sample of the insults that has rained down on Bosh every since he joined up with the Miami Heat last summer. He has heard various insults from other players, fans, and the media. Yet with the perception that he is the one that carries the luggage of his more infamous superstar teammates Lebron James and Dwayne Wade, Bosh was the one who led the Heat to a 96-85 victory over the Chicago Bulls in game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Scoring 34-points Bosh powered the Heat to a 2-1 series advantage over the Bulls and let everyone know he is just as significant as Lebron and Wade. After a 4 day layoff the Bulls were seething from their game 2 loss and expected to repeat what they did to the Heat back in the opening game of the series. That was the game plan, only problem the Bulls were unable to execute it. Like game 2 the Heat kept the Bulls contained and pushed them around. I have to admit Colin Cowherd of ESPN's Radio show "The Herd" is right, Colin said he appreciates veteran teams like the Heat because they have experience and are able to manipulate the officiating.........Like game 2 the Bulls couldn't effectively execute their defensive principles because their key guys were in often foul trouble. The Bulls had to literally get their heads taken off to even get a call from the referees, unlike the Heat who were getting call after call for silly tic-ky tack stuff. I'm not going to say some calls were not warranted, but it was definitely not called down the middle.
Don't get it twisted, the Heat didn't run away with the game but they withstood everything the Bulls threw at them. Heat Head coach Erik Spoelstra implemented a new strategy that was all to familiar, he shortened his rotation to eight players. Something that Heat President/General Manager Pat Riley did when he was coaching the New York Knicks back in the 90's. It was an effective strategy and not surprising that Spoelstra would use his mentors old game tactics.
Bulls guard Derrick Rose struggled again shooting 8 of 19 finishing with 20-points. Carlos Boozer lifted his game with 26-points and 17 rebounds for Chicago. Carlos was very active and didn't let the Heats containment and defense get to him. Too bad the rest of the Bulls didn't follow his lead. The Bulls seemed to get too caught up with other things and let the Miami defense wear on them. Bulls guard Keith Bogans got into a jawing session with Wade, then Taj Gibson had it out with Chris Bosh. It didn't help when Joakim Noah got into it with a fan when he went to the bench after being assessed his second foul in the first quarter. Apparently annoyed by something the fan said, Noah fired back with a gay slur with the cameras on him. Real smart Noah, the NBA have been running promos for kids about trash talking on the court and its not appropriate to make such a remark to your opponent and Noah goes ahead and does the very thing that the NBA is advising against. Noah will be lucky if he just walks away from this with just a fine, I would not be surprised if the commissioner David Stern suspends Noah for this. One thing you don't do is mess with the NBA's image........Its stuff like this the Bulls have to distance themselves from, and its a huge distraction. All the silly comments about other players, Roses misquotation about steroid usage in the NBA, and letting the Heat get under their skin. The Bulls are losing their cool and they are in trouble being down 2-1. They need to stop with the mind games and focus on the game on the floor or this incredible run they have been on is going to come to an abrupt hault. Game 4 Tuesday night in Miami.......nuff said.
