“Usually when you’re in touch with reality, it’s better for you.”
Those are the words of Miami Heat power forward Chris Bosh, the lanky 6-11 All-Star who was the Heat’s only consistent weapon Sunday night.
“I think intensity always carries over. Your mindset, you always want to get mentally prepared in practice. That’s what it’s for, to really see yourself doing your job out there, because you have to see it before you do it,” Bosh continued.
Bosh is a great player, but if he is far and away the Heat’s best performer during the Eastern Conference Finals, then the Chicago Bulls will close them out in four or five games. He needs help from the backcourt, but that’s another story entirely. First he needs help on the glass. Chicago dominated Miami up front so badly, there was little left to say.
By Paul M. Banks
What did Coach Erik Spoelstra tell the team after the blowout loss?
“There was not much to say. I can’t even remember, there’s not much that’s going to stick at that point, we know we got it handed to us, and it’s all about moving on,” Bosh said before explaining what it’s going to take to not get dominated up front again.
“It’s not about bigger bodies. It’s just about wanting the ball. Collectively, as a team we have to do a good job of keeping bodies on those bigs, containing the sting and roll with D Rose and doing our job the way we’re capable of. We’ve done it all season. We just have to capitalize.”
Maybe a mean streak is in order?
“I think it helps. You have to be a bit of a maniac. There’s always ways to figure out how to do it and all, how to get yourself up to play personally. Different guys have different ways.”
Pairing with Bosh down low are the Heat centers, who are varied in their KSAs. Joel Anthony is very active, albeit obscure. Zydrunas Ilgauskus is a shooter, and Jamaal Magloire has bulk. He’s also barely holding on in the league, but I felt compelled to say something nice about him. So who is Spo going to play?
“Sometimes it depends on the series on what we may need. We are flexible. We do think our versatility is a strength of ours. The centers we do have on our roster, we value every one of them and they do bring something different…it’s not necessarily about who, it’s about what; what do we bring and what is our mentality to this game,” Spoelstra said.
How about Mike Miller, he’s 6’8″ and a hustle guy who can get boards. Can he help create a Miami Pound Machine?
“He’s ready. All these things we’ll look at,” the Heat Coach said.
And Udonis Haslem?
It’s an option. I’ll evaluate everything. The reality is a lot of the rebound, second-chance effort plays were with our main guys on the court. And it’s something we can do much better,” Spoelstra said.
Does Haslem think he’s going to play?
“Yeah, I hope so, every game I dress I anticipate playing, I just got to wait for my call,” Udonis said.
Paul M. Banks is CEO of The Sports Bank.net. He’s also a regular contributor to Chicago Now, Walter Football.com, Yardbarker, and Fox Sports
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