Chris Bosh is all elbows, and that’s not a comment on his anatomy.
Bosh is one of just three guys in the league to average more than 10 elbow touches per game, per NBA.com. His effective field goal percentage (which applies a higher value to 3-pointers) of nearly 60 percent on catch-and-shoot attempts is more than anyone averaging at least six such attempts per game.*
To put it simply, Bosh is dominating from the elbow to the tune of 21.9 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game while shooting well above the league average from the elbows and above the break.
To say he’s the No. 1 option in the Heat’s offense would be inaccurate. He and Dwyane Wade are 1A and 1B. The offense shifts from running through Bosh on the elbow or Wade in the post.
It’s quite the adjustment for Bosh. In Toronto, he was given the ball in ISO situations and asked to create for himself. During The Heatles’ four-year tour, he was a decoy who spaced the floor and feasted on table scraps. The offensive principals–spacing and balancing the floor–remain the same this season, and the Heat are still running a more reactionary offense based on how the defense reacts to that spacing than one based on set plays.
Erik Spoelstra’s implemented an offense mechanized by a series of dribble handoffs, pick-and-rolls, off-ball screens and curls. Bosh plays a central role in all of this, but the pick-and-pop near the 3-point line is his bread and butter. Bosh is taking 3.8 3’s per game, the highest mark of his career by a full attempt.
The Heat will get Bosh open with this pick-and-pop a half dozen times per game, and for Bosh to take two or three 3’s per game from this is more common than not.
Let’s take a look at these.
The basic pick-and-pop involves the point guard (Norris Cole, Shabazz Napier or Mario Chalmers) running around a screen set by Bosh on the elbow, who kicks it back to Bosh when the defense crashes.**
The Wade-Bosh pick-and-pop is devastating. The defense has to choose between doubling Wade and leaving Bosh open, blitzing the screen and risking Wade blowing by some poor defender, or single-covering both of them and making the pick-and-roll an easy decision.***
The Heat ran this against the Phoenix Suns and Bosh dropped a 3 to put Miami up 97-91 with dos minutos remaining.
Against the Milwaukee Bucks, the Heat showed off a a bit of a wrinkle. Rather than set the pick for the ball-handling guard, Bosh got in position on the elbow beyond the arc and pitched the ball to the guard before turning to set the screen. The guard–in this case Napier–caught the ball and ran around Bosh’s screen in one motion. This picked up pace forces a quicker decision from the defense and led to a couple of wide-open 3’s for Bosh.
The Heat ran it to the left.
And the right.
Miami got away from that little wrinkle in the games following, but I’m interested to see if they use it again. It’s a neat way to increase the pace while masking the go-to play at least for a second.
This pick-and-pop with Bosh is as much a part of the Miami Heat offense as Wade’s post ups. Bosh’s usage rating is only second to Wade, and his threatening presence on the elbow creates space for everyone else. It’s no surprise that when the Heat got back to executing this efficiently, they came off their four-game losing skid with a win vs Phoenix.
*Kevin Martin’s average is better, but he’s played in just eight games due to a wrist injury.
**It both amazes and scares me how often Bosh gets wide open on this simple pick action.
***And with the way Wade’s been passing and Bosh has been driving, I wouldn’t make it easy for those guys on switched defenders.