Bosh Is Playoff Ready
MIAMI (CBS4) - Miami Heat power forward Chris Bosh has had an up and down season both on the court and off as he went from being a relative unknown to many fans, to one of the Three Kings in Miami.
But for him, it's all going to be worth it come Saturday when the Heat tipoff their playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Bosh has never played on a team that won a playoff series. He's not played on a team that won a championship since he was in high-school. Needless to say, it's been a long-time coming for one of the Heat's big contributors.
"The past week felt like a month," Bosh said as the regular season wound down. "It's gone by very slow."
For the 6'10" power forward, he initially had a hard time dealing with being the NBA's biggest villains. He also had to adjust from going from the near complete anonymity amongst the national media, to being the center of attention with the Heat.
But Bosh, who, like the rest of the Heat was in a slump after the All-Star break, decided to take the bull by the horns and publicly asked for the ball more. His teammates responded and so did he. He helped lead a charge to the number 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Bosh finished the season averaging 18.7 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. The Heat were the only team in the league with three players ranked among the NBA's top 25 scorers this season, with James second, Wade fourth, and Bosh was 24th.
While Bosh may be the number 3 option for the Heat, he's not exactly a slouch when it comes to helping propel the Heat to victory. The Heat put together a 21-7 record when Bosh recorded a double-double (scoring at least 10 points and pulling down at least 10 rebounds) this season.
"We need Chris to step up, just like we need me to step up and LeBron to step up," Heat guard Dwyane Wade said. "That's why we all came together, to do this thing together."
And Bosh is ready to embrace the challenges of the road ahead, no matter how rough it might get at times.
"We know the challenge in front of us," Bosh said. "We have the type of team that does whatever it takes to win. If we need to be more physical, we're going to do that. If we need to rebound more, we're going to do that. More paint points, we're going to do that."
The Heat open their playoff series against the 76ers this Saturday at the American Airlines Arena at 3:30 p.m.
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
