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Watching the Heat suck the big one against the Celtics on Sunday, I noticed Chris Bosh frustrating my basketball shorts like the frustration I receive watching Carlos Boozer at many times. So, I went to the comparison machine at Basketball-Reference.com and found this:
| Player | FG | FGA | FG% | FT | FTA | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carlos Boozer | 8.4 | 15.7 | .537 | 1.8 | 2.6 | .716 | 2.1 | 8.0 | 10.2 | 2.3 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 2.1 | 3.2 | 18.7 |
| Chris Bosh | 7.0 | 14.3 | .489 | 4.2 | 5.1 | .820 | 1.6 | 6.3 | 7.9 | 1.9 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 2.2 | 2.4 | 18.4 |
| Player | PER | TS% | eFG% | ORB% | DRB% | TRB% | AST% | STL% | BLK% | TOV% | USG% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carlos Boozer | 20.2 | .556 | .537 | 6.7 | 24.5 | 15.8 | 11.6 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 11.3 | 23.9 |
| Chris Bosh | 18.6 | .554 | .496 | 5.6 | 19.8 | 13.1 | 9.2 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 11.7 | 24.2 |
But I was proven a bit wrong, then, I thought because I get frustrated by what I was perceiving as a similar lack of aggressiveness. But found a big difference is the two players' discrepancy in TS%. Though Boozer shoots much better from the floor, Bosh is getting to the free throw line at double the amount per 36 minutes, despite an almost identical usage rate.
So I looked up the shot locations and found Bosh is taking a full shot per game more than Boozer within ten feet, according to to Hoopdata. Makes sense.
Next, I thought of how Bosh is widely forgiven for not being more of a power player because of his size and the perception he makes up for that by being an efficient face-up player. The truth is that Boozer's actually a much better long-2 shooter than Bosh this season.
Boozer's shooting 45% on 4.7 shots per game (in less minutes per game) than Bosh's 40% on 4.8 per game. That said, on shots 10-to-15 feet from the rim, Bosh is shooting 49.4% with only 55.8% being assisted to Boozer's abysmal 40.9% with 67.3% being assisted.
There was a lot of noise about the Bulls needing a shooting guard who can better create his own shot. But what separates non-power power forwards like Boozer and Bosh apart is Bosh's ability to do just that.
Boozer isn't bad with the ball. He's an excellent passer at that position and when he feels like being aggressive, he can make moves against just about anyone in the game. There's a narrative developing that the 'non-poweriness' of Boozer's game is that he just isn't that gy and the Bulls got what they paid for.
I hate to sound like a broken record, but that's not the case.
Boozer surely isn't going to ever be confused with the centers who've dominated the low post, but his high efficiency still leaves a bad taste in the mouth because there actually is more there. The frustration is that, even in less minutes per game, he's leaving easy buckets on the floor on a nightly basis.
Boozer's shooting 68.9% at the rim on 4.2 shots per game to Bosh's 66.7% on 4.6 per game, so the point is that there's a Boozer playing all of these games with the potential to be more productive than Chris Frikkin' Bosh. And it's by his decision-making that he isn't.
It's what continues to make him more frustrating than Bosh and why no sensible person -- on top of the obvious age discrepancy -- would go into their wayback machine to 2010 and still wish for Boozer over Bosh. But next time you talk to a Heat fan bitching about Bosh, you can say, "It could be a little worse."
That said, it could be a lot worse for the Bulls and Heat at that position. And why caution should be taken before screaming to trade or amnesty Boozer.