I would be lying to you if I said I didn’t smile a bit when I first read that Chris Bosh told the Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo that he wasn’t going to re-sign with the team in 2010. If you have been to this site before you know just how unimpressed I am with Bosh’s leadership, shot selection and attitude. This is a GREAT example of all of that, wrapped into one giant ball and thrown in the faces of the Raptors fans and organization. Regardless if Chris felt this way before our slide into the basement of the Eastern Conference, he definitely should have kept this to himself or between him and Colangelo. Bosh has essentially done what I have wanted forever, make all the Raptors fans to take off their rose coloured glasses and start judging Bosh like every other player, instead of giving him a free pass because “his teammates” aren’t up to par or whatever other crazy excuses I hear game in game out.
Seriously, name ONE player you would take from the Cavs besides LeBron? Ok, I know Bosh and LeBron are on different levels but what I am getting at is, you don’t necessarily need the best players on your team to win, you need a good leader and good team chemistry and we have neither. The Cavs has bought into the team philosophy of defence and they all truly believe, like the rest of the world, that LeBron is the greatest player in the league right now (Sorry Kobe). The only thing it seems like the Raptors have bought into is a philosophy that we can’t close out games and no matter what happens, its always your fault, not Chris Bosh’s. I have been at almost all the Raps home games and I have seen things progressively getting worse and worse as far as team chemistry goes. It all started when Sam Mitchell got fired, Bosh was noticeably sulking and that’s fine with me for a few games but you are a professional get over it. Then during halftime warm ups, as soon as his teammates came to join him he would sit on the bench and….sulk. Then I saw something funny while I was at the Phoenix game, Chris was flying down on a 2 on 1 with Joey Graham and he fired a very high and hard no look pass that Joey couldn’t handle. Chris then began to yell at Graham, usually Graham would apologize but this time he just walked away from Bosh and when he continued to yell, Joey turned around an just waved Bosh off, as if to say “Shut up, it was your fault anyway”. To me that shows a sign that not only has he lost faith in the team but the team has had enough of his antics and lost faith in Bosh.
What are the Raptors options now? With a losing record, an unhappy franchise player and no cap space, not many. Now that Bosh has gone public and let the rest of the league know he is no longer happy in Toronto, his value INSTANTLY dropped. That is an all too familiar situation for us Raptors fans, welcome Vince Carter 2.0! The only benefit Raps fans have this time around is a better GM, well supposedly. Will we trade Bosh? I am not sure? I could even see this story being denied by Bosh in the next 48 hours and that could also be Colalgelo’s plan, so we don’t end up with Alonzo Mourning in return. If we do trade Bosh right now I don’t even think it’s possible to get fair value for him because of his contract and where he is in his career because obviously if you trade Bosh you are instantly in rebuild mode and you’re not going to get 2 or 3 young studs for well..1 young stud??? Its a very weird situation and one that will be very interesting to see if it plays out as a saga or more like a short one page story.
For me, if Bosh really said this stuff (after all it was Stephen A. Smith who reported it) I think it should show the organization what type of player they are building around. Sure losing is no fun but man up and wait till the offseason to let the team know your intentions for the coming year. You certainly don’t go calling up ESPN after a 20+ point blow out and tell the team that way. Because you just look like a sore loser that can’t handle the pressure of being the leader of a losing team. If you need some inspiration, look at Paul Pierce. That guy went through the wringer EVERY YEAR he was in Boston and from what I remember, he never publicly demanded a trade (to clarify Bosh didn’t directly but this has to be seen as a back hand way out) and now look at him. I know the chances of us landing something similar to KG and Ray Allen are very slim, I just think there would have been a better way out than this.
Can we turn this around? For sure! We are only 4 games out of the final playoff spot and the Raps last 2 months of games is about as easy as it gets in the NBA. We do probably need to make a trade though, just not CB4. I am not even sure O’Neal should be traded but something has to go down and the deadline is only a few weeks away so don’t be surprised if that is sooner than later. In the mean time, Bosh you’re a good player but you have your faults too, so stop blaming your teammates, start taking the ball to the rack and most of all, keep your future plans to yourself and out Stephen A. Smith’s ear. There is one thing for sure, its onlt going to get a lot harder for Bosh here on out because he’s definitely going to hear it from fans that are upset about what he has said…
Peace!
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