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Tears For Fears: Is Chris Bosh the Miami Heat’s Real Problem?

Even if he wasn’t the player crying in the locker room on Sunday, Chris Bosh might have something to worry about.

After the Heat’s 5th consecutive loss on Tuesday night, Bosh vented about his poor play and discomfort with the Heat’s gameplan. This came after Blazers’ forward LaMarcus Aldridge beat Bosh 26 to 7 in the points department, leading to even more questions about what’s going wrong in Miami.

After Bosh’s comments, some began to wonder if he should be pointing toward himself if he wants to identify what’s causing Miami’s struggles this season. Here, a rundown of what the media is saying:

Fault Bosh: Here we are, “on the heels of another weak showing in another Heat loss,” and Bosh “sounding as if he were admitting something that’s been painfully obvious too often this season. He doesn’t fit in here,” says Bill Reiter at Fox Sports. He hasn’t been “resembling a guy who’s supposed to be part of the Big Three” to this point. Instead, Bosh gives “excuses” and thereby an “abdication of his own role in these things.” What’s so troubling is that he “sounds a lot like the guy from November who knew he didn’t fit in.” His role should be set by now.

His game doesn’t fit Miami’s needs: “Bosh has spent the majority of the season nowhere near the low post,” points out Israel Gutierrez in the Miami Herald. He doesn’t have the “physical presence” of someone like Aldridge, and gets “overmatched” as a result. But Coach Erik Spoelstra “still believes there’s a low-post game in him.” It’s on Bosh to fix: “The only way this works out for Bosh, and for the team, is if he responds by producing and truly helping the Heat win.”

The Heat’s issues go way deeper: “Bosh has been reduced by the media to the exalted status of sort of a twit,” says Bruce Arthur at National Post. But he’s not squarely the one to blame, and many other explanations have been floated. And that’s what we like about it. “When the Heat go a league-worst 1-for-18 on game-tying or winning shots in the final 10 seconds, and when they lose to the league’s best teams, we all feel like we’ve had a cup of hot chocolate on a cold winter’s night.” As long as they lose, we win because we can scrutinize them and tear them apart. Seriously, “What did we ever talk about before they came along?”