Published: January 31, 2010
When matched against a smaller opponent on the court there’s a natural inclination to want to take them into the post to use that size as an advantage.
Or, to word it a bit more eloquently, you want to impose your will on the player defending you and squish them like a bug.
Gary Payton mastered this art in the ’90’s but since then countless players have been thrown off their game by trying to do likewise.
Back when Muggsy Bogues was playing in the NBA countless point guards would attempt to take him into the paint but the combination of his strength and this not being their style of play caused Bogues to often win this matchup.
Tonight a similar thing happened when Chris Bosh tried to take Danny Granger or Dahntay Jones into the post. The irony is Bosh is a power forward so his forte should be shooting in the post. The problem with his style of play – for this game at least – is Bosh would rather lure post players away from the rim and drain jumpers in their face all day.
This meant that in the second quarter Bosh was limited to one field goal attempt and three assists as Jones was able to get into his head.
Not only that, but Bosh was held to six points on 3-7 shooting from the field in the first half. Far from the typical numbers he has been posting so far this season.
“They were fronting me,” Bosh explained to Hoops Addict after the game. “I had plenty of touches but I wasn’t trying to shoot bad shots out of double-teams because they were doing that every time. If they want to double-team me that’s fine, I’ll kick it out. We had the lead at the half so if they want to do that then I’ll welcome that.”
After a first half which was full of abysmal results trying to drive the lane or post up smaller defenders, Bosh switched his mindset up in the third quarter and reverted to shooting jumpers from the perimeter.
The problem with this adjustment is it frustrated his head coach because he wanted to Bosh to attack Indiana’s defenders that had found themselves in foul trouble.
“I think Chris (Bosh) was messing with me a little bit sometimes,” Jay Triano joked the media after the game while laughing. “In the first half they went small and we found ways to get him the basketball. In the second half, we get the matchups we want and guys are in foul trouble, and he shoots jump shots. I just looked at him one of the times he was on the free throw line and I said, ‘He’s got three fouls or four fouls,’ and the next five plays he goes to the basket and scores.”
This attempt at humour from his head coach was warmly embraced by Bosh after the game.
“I think I was going away from my game in the first half,” Bosh told the media while smirking. “I was trying to back guys down and I really don’t do that. I was trying to back Danny (Granger) down and he has good length so he was getting his hands on a couple of balls so I just figured I would go back to my game and how I feel comfortable playing.”
Luckily for Raptors’ fans this worked to perfection.
Switching back to driving the lane worked out well for Bosh as was able to go 9-14 from the field in the second half while scoring 20 of his game-high 26 points. Not bad for a player who struggled to get into a groove in the first half while trying to adapt to the looks Indiana threw at him.
The interesting thing to watch on Tuesday will be the different looks Indiana will throw at him and how he’s able to adapt to those defensive schemes.
Based on what happened we witnessed today it shouldn’t be anything that can slow down Bosh.
One Comment on "Bosh’s Ability To Adapt Helps Toronto Secure A Win"
The Mid-Afternoon Milk Mustache, featuring devil’s advocate for the Spurs | Stacheketball, an NBA Blog on Mon, 1st Feb 2010 6:19 pm
[...] The Horseshoe: Ryan McNeill explains how Chris Bosh was able to adjust to the defense played on him by the Indiana Pacers and exploit it to secure a win. [Hoops Addict] [...]