How good is Chris Bosh, anyway?

It's a pertinent topic given the results of the all-NBA voting released yesterday (I've pasted the voting results at the bottom of the post).

Last season Bosh was named to the All-NBA second team, which was a huge accomplishment, far outweighing his all-star nods the past three seasons. The All-NBA teams are based on a full-season of work and aren't popularity contests like being named an all-star team starter or being shoe-horned in the reserves. Besides, you're competing against the entire league, not just your conference. So earning a second-team nod in his fourth season was very impressive.

Was it significant that Bosh was left of the first, second and third team this year? I don't think so. Just looking at his numbers they are virtually identical year-over-year, with the slight difference being attributable to a slight decrease in minutes, while on the positive side he made subtle improvements in assists and turnovers. His rebounding totals declined, but mainly that was almost entirely on the defensive end and  attributable to guys like Rasho, Moon and Delfino getting more minutes and more boards.

How good is Bosh? I think it's fair to say he's a step behind the likes of LeBron, Kobe, Chris Paul, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett and Dwight Howard. To me those are the six most dominant players in the league (I'd say Howard is a little behind the other five but he's got the most room to grow, which is a terrifying thought).

Stoudemire could be one of those guys but his defensive short-comings hold him back; Nash is slowing a bit and will likely drop in ‘dominance' if the Suns slow their game down. Deron Williams has chance to join the mighty six just because he's point guard and can have so much impact that way. McGrady and Ginobili are pretty damn close, but McGrady's shot selection is so bad it kind of kills him. But after that? I don't see why Bosh has to take a back seat to anyone else in the league. If Dirk Nowitzki can earn an MVP award, Bosh can.

To me by far the biggest predictor of his future ‘dominance' is his health. In 06-07 Bosh was missed 12 games in December with a knee injury and struggled off-and-on with plantar fasciitis. Those issues – the platar fasciitis in particular – prevented him from training effectively in the summer. He came to camp healthy but missed a huge chunk of it with another knee problem. I think fitness was directly attributable to his struggles in November and December (he shot 46 and 42-per-cent in those months, respectively).

A better picture of what kind of player Bosh will be with 80 games of good health is what he did in January and February. His combined totals saw him score 25 points a game on 57 per cent shooting over 25 games before missing 10 games with his knee injury and he never quite back to that level afterwards.  He's had enough stretches like that in his career to suggest that's the level he can play at when he's right.

Where would that put him league wide?

Well first of all, Bosh was 11th and the only player ahead of him that shot a higher percentage was Amare Stoudemire.

But if you project Bosh's best two months over a full season (and I know this is some serious stick-handling and presumptiveness on my part) Bosh would average 32 points a game per 48 minutes, putting him fifth in the NBA behind LeBron, Amare, Kobe and Carmelo.

That's pretty good company, obviously. And if you factor in his overall consistency, leadership and the slow but steady improvements he's making as a passer and defender, it's not hard to imagine Bosh earning all-NBA honours in the future.

So yeah. Chris Bosh is good. If he's missing anything it's that he doesn't quite have that sheer athletic ‘X' factor that the very top handful of guys in the league have. I see him more of a Nowitzki than a Howard in that he kills you with consistency and skill and match-up problems than by simply over-powering you. But yeah, he'd damn good and getting better, I think.

Anyway, here is the way the All-NBA teams were picked:

The All-NBA Teams were chosen by a panel of 127 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. The media voted for All-NBA First, Second and Third Teams by position with points awarded on a 5-3-1 basis.

And here are the results:

2007-08 ALL-NBA FIRST TEAM

2007-08 ALL-NBA SECOND TEAM

2007-08 ALL-NBA THIRD TEAM

Other players receiving votes, with point totals (first team votes in parentheses): Allen Iverson, Denver, 116; Carmelo Anthony, Denver, 89; Marcus Camby, Denver, 59; Chauncey Billups, Detroit, 38; Baron Davis, Golden State, 32; David West, New Orleans, 24; Rasheed Wallace, Detroit, 22; Tyson Chandler, New Orleans, 18; Antawn Jamison, Washington, 15; Al Jefferson, Minnesota, 14; Chris Bosh, Toronto, 11; Joe Johnson, Atlanta 8; Andre Miller, Philadelphia, 7; Caron Butler, Washington, 5; Shaquille O'Neal, Phoenix, 5; Pau Gasol, Los Angeles Lakers, 5; Kevin Martin, Sacramento, 4; Ray Allen, Boston, 4; Hedo Turkoglu, Orlando, 3; Jason Kidd, Dallas, 2; Josh Howard, Dallas, 2; Richard Hamilton, Detroit, 2; Andre Iguodala, Philadelphia, 1; Brandon Roy, Portland, 1; Michael Redd, Milwaukee, 1; Tayshaun Prince, Detroit, 1; Tony Parker, San Antonio, 1.

And some other stuff:

It's kind of funny. I was really looking forward to Celtics-Cavs, but then could barely watch it. It did raise a question: How many players out there could be all-world stoppers if they wanted to be? This in respect to Paul Pierce who has given LeBron James fits – although he's had his share of help – so far in the series. Pierce is a fantastic scorer and generally a load offensively in that he can post-up, score with both hands and is brilliant at just getting his shoulders ahead of his man and than using his size and strength to manage the contact and draw the foul. But while his offence has suffered while covering James, the reality is there are not many guys with the size and strength to hold his own with the Cavaliers star, but Pierce is one. If he played with that kind of focus every night he'd be one of the best defenders in the league, but at the NBA level I think it's almost impossible to defend the other team's top scorer and ball-handler and still be able to give your best effort at the other end. That's why it's handy to have a Bruce Bowen or James Posey to throw out there.

Now, how about this Spurs-Hornets series? Chris Paul made me laugh out loud about five times in that game, just by making plays that you can't really believe until you watch them over-and-over again.

There was one in the second quarter when he ran a pick-and-roll around the foul line with Chandler. Duncan and Parker came out to trap – contain is probably a better word – and Paul headed for the baseline, bringing both defenders with him. Meanwhile Kurt Thomas had rotated to pick up Chandler and had pretty decent inside position, taking away a lob at the rim or any obvious passing angle. The reasonable play for Paul would have been to skip the ball out the three-point line or elbow area where Thomas' man, David West was lurking. The Spurs had defended this pretty well. So Paul looks right at West (I'm guessing) and Thomas shifts his weight getting ready to leave Chandler and get back to West, where the ball is headed, right? This is good defence. Except that in the instant that Thomas shifted his weight Paul slips a dirty little bounce pass (Paul uses a lot of bounce passes) along the baseline and gets a now open Chandler for a lay-up. This is the Spurs, a cohesive, veteran team who are expert defenders. They had assigned three guys to cover two, and with one late look-off Paul undressed them for a lay-up.

The key here is that Paul looked in the direction that Thomas was concerned about – he wanted to get back to his man, so as soon as Paul looked like he was going to make the ‘expected' pass, he was ready to go. Once he leaned he was committed and Chandler was open.

Is it possible to find this play on YouTube? I'd love to link to it. It wasn't even the ‘best' play Paul made, but just an example of how elevated a level he plays at. There was nothing he did athletically in this moment that any good high school player couldn't have managed. But like one of those girl Judo experts who can throw guys twice their weight, Paul generated a lay-up by using the Spurs defensive discipline and awareness against them. Special stuff, and if you love basketball you are obligated to watch this guy play, end of story.