Power of two causing concerns for role of Heat’s third wheel

Have they finally figured it out? Are they better without Chris Bosh? Is the rest of the NBA doomed for at least the next 3 years?

The short answer… yes.

It seems that Dwyane Wade and LeBron James have at long last figured out what to do on the court together and what shots their team needs them to take. By which I mean, basically all of them.

The blueprint for this Miami Heat team absolutely has to be the Chicago Bulls teams of the ’90s. Does that mean they’re better without Bosh? Absolutely. Don’t get me wrong, Bosh is still an All-Star level player, but he’s not the All-Star the Heat need right now.

Look at those ’90s Bulls teams and compare the three power forwards (Chris Bosh, Dennis Rodman and Horace Grant). Two were great defenders and great rebounders (phenomenal in The Worm’s case); one is a pretty good pick and pop shooter who needs to see the ball on office to be productive. …see where I’m going with this??? When you have two of the best five players in the league on your team just clear the hell out on offense and crash the boards. It really is that simple. It worked for Chicago around Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen; it should be working for Miami in 2012.

Bosh doesn’t allow Miami’s offense to flow in the isolation-heavy style it did in the final three games of the second round against Indiana. he needs some touches and thus creates another dynamic and puts more pressure on the LeBron-Wade situation. It shouldn’t be as tough for Miami as their current roster makes it.

A lot has been made of the Heat’s weaknesses at the point-guard and centre spots, but those Bulls teams were exactly the same - when did Ron Harper or Bill Cartwright ever chip in a 20-point game? Never! Through ’95-’98 the Bulls did have Toni Kukoc picking up some slack but only when Jordan or Pippen didn’t have it and always from the bench and in crunch time. Here’s the kicker, though – why couldn’t this work for Miami? Could Bosh come off the bench and be that scoring punch in the 2nd unit and let Udonis Haslem fills the Rodman/Grant role he was made for? If I’m coach Eric Spoelstra this weekend, I’m telling Bosh that I want to work him in slowly starting from the bench in these next two rounds.

Once Miami stroll through a banged-up Celtics/76ers series, the ultimate narrative will be as it was last year. Can the team play of the Spurs or Thunder overcome the sheer talent of Miami’s three stars? Perhaps it would be more difficult for the West’s best if Miami just have two stars. Because, if the Heat figure this out and LeBron and Flash can find the energy (and more importantly the desire) to carry this team the way Michael and Scottie did, then they’re not just getting one, they’re getting “two, three, four, five, six…”

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