In the most recent episode of “Podcast P,” Paul George discussed a crucial period in contemporary NBA history that transformed the league into what it is today. In his reflections on the ten-year development of the NBA offense, George credited Chris Bosh and the Miami Heat with revolutionizing how the offense is played from a stretch-five.
Teams had experimented with five-shooter lines, but before the 2010s, locating big players with excellent shooting skills was nearly complicated. But when Chris Bosh took leadership of the Miami Heat, everything changed. Paul George describes in detail how that moment altered everything in the NBA.
George said, “When we played the Miami Heat and they put Chris Bosh at the 5, I think that’s when the league literally changed. We were one of the last teams to have like two real bigs, David West and Roy Hibbert, not 3-point shooters or mid-range shooters. Defensively, Miami struggled against that until they moved Chris Bosh to the 5 and play four wings. That was how you beat the Pacers. That was the blueprint.”
He added, “Then we saw it with Atlanta, who put (Pero) Antic at the five; he was a shooting big, Horford at the five as a shooting big. That gave us the most problems. Now, you want to look for a shooting big. There is no four-man now; it’s usually a wing. We take a lot of credit, that Indiana Pacers team, for how the game is now.”
Chris Bosh Motivated Other Franchises To Play Taller Players In The Center
Teams now frequently deploy center players only to provide themselves with a five-out option. Still a big man, Bosh averaged 18.0 points and 7.3 rebounds while playing for the Heat. He also added the three-point shot to increase the team’s lethality further.
Dirk Nowitzki, a shooting big man, was seldom used as a center. At the time, the conventional wisdom in the NBA said that Nowitzki should be a four-man with a bruising big man in the middle to absorb defensive pressure.
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The NBA was in place because of what Bosh and the Heat accomplished a few years later. Then teams would utilize 6’5″ PJ Tucker at center to spread the floor or, due to Covington’s superior shooting ability, an All-NBA-level perimeter defender.
Bosh’s career was cut short by cardiac problems. Fans never got to witness him take advantage of his shooting prowess to play in the NBA longer than he might have. Nevertheless, he is a Hall of Famer and will gain more incredible notoriety in the future.
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