Granted, I wasn't a big fan of Bosh before the Olympics, but I was completely underwhelmed by his play. At least he was mobile on defense and he hit his free throws. Luckily for Bosh, Boozer was a complete waste for the international game.
Our bigs always look like scrubs in FIBA/Olympics. I blame it mostly on coaching- seems like about 90% of the shots are from the perimeter players. There is no effort to get the ball to Bosh, Boozer, Brand (from years past) in isolation situations. Dwight gets it a couple times a game but usually ends up clanking a 5 foot shot. The style of play and wider lane makes it harder for them to isolate and score but I think these guys have such a huge advantage on international bigs that they would do well anyway. As referenced before, I think Dwight was even more disappointing but I don't think anything less of these guys when talking about their NBA games. I thought he could at least finish around the rim fairly well with baby hooks, bank shots, layups, etc. but he actually proved to me that the haters who say all he can do is dunk are pretty much right. Bosh didn't play well but didn't completely f*ck up his opportunities either. He had a good game or two in there. Boozer was also terribly out of place.
He'll always hit his free throws, and he runs an iso system in Toronto. He gets the ball and beats most of the people against him. Whether shooting or Attacking. Bryant ain't Kapono and Kapono ain't Bryant. Jose ain't Paul and Parker ain't LeBron. The system wasn't built around him like in Toronto. But people are raving about his leadership and play, so im actually happy with Bosh in the Olympics HE DIDN'T GET HURT!!, UNLIKE JOSE
This reminds me of Nets fans hating on Yi for only scoring 11 points. I don't think you can take too much from the Olympics when it comes to judging a player.
These are my exact thoughts as well. I was disappointed in Dwight's ability to finish around the basket (had some Kwame Brown moments); there are obviously things Team USA needs to address next time.
I wouldn't worry about Bosh. At one point the announcers said that Carmelo would be the most valuable player on the team because he would play pf and be able to put the ball on the floor as well as shoot, skills needed for international ball. Although if that's the case I think that should have talked Lebron up more. Anyway, Bosh is going to be even better this year with JO, so Raps fans could probably care less about how he did in the olympics. It would be like hating on Michael Redd or Tony Parker for not putting up their normal stats in an allstar game. Besides, for all we know this was part of Coach K's system. Wade had 21 points in the first half of the gold medal game, there's no reason that he shouldn't have finished with at least 35 but they didn't want one player to steal the show so I'm sure that planned on getting touches for others in the locker room at half time.
I think Bosh shot around 75% from the field but he wasn't being asked to score. He was being asked to defend and rebound and was praised by Coach K for his efforts. I guess when you have a team full of stars a few of the guys have to take on the role playing job and maybe it makes them look like less than they are.
