Duncan and Bosh putting the ‘POW!’ into power forward
The majority of NBA Championship winning teams in the last 10 years possessed exceptional Power Forwards, with the likes of Kevin Garnett, Pau Gasol and Tim Duncan coming to mind.
Here is why Chris Bosh and Tim Duncan are two of the best power forwards in the game this season.
Chris Bosh of the Miami Heat is sometimes seen as the ‘Third Wheel’ in Miami, however, he is extremely important in the Heat’s style of play.
Bosh has often been criticised for his perceived lack of toughness and knack for grabbing rebounds.
When at Toronto, Bosh averaged over 10 rebounds per game for three seasons, he is averaging just 7.1 rebounds this season. However, his lower rebounding numbers are due to his running mates, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, who are grabbing a combined 13.1 rebounds per game. Furthermore, Bosh’s primary operating area on the offensive end is the perimeter, allowing Wade and James to slash to the basket and terrorise defenses.
His distance from the hoop on offense results in fewer offensive rebounds per game. Bosh’s supposed ‘rebounding woes’ are largely due to him playing with two other great superstars, thus having a slightly different role to the one he played at Toronto.
Bosh is a great spot-up shooter, opportunities for his spot-up shots are abundant due to defenses placing so much emphasis on defending the paint from Wade and James. He is great at finding open space on the perimeter for wide open looks at the basket, Bosh takes spot-up shots 25% of the time and shoots at a rate of over 50%.
Bosh’s mid-range threat gives him the ability to beat players who are charging out at him to defend his spot-up shots, when this opportunity arises he punishes the opposition by shooting 75% at the rim this year. Bosh is also great in pick and roll situations, scoring 62% of the time when he is utilised as the ‘Roll’ man.
An area Bosh could improve upon is his posting up skills and intensity on defense, however, he is still an extremely important cog in the Miami machine.
Tim Duncan has been labelled ‘The Best Power Forward of All Time’ by many notable players and experts. He is perhaps the ultimate team mate and winner over the last decade of the NBA. The 36 year old is in his 16th season in the league, and is still putting up incredible numbers despite his age and the third lowest playing time in his career. There are many facets of Duncan’s game which arguably make him the best at his position.
His low-post scoring is superb, he possesses an array of post moves such as drop-steps and shimmy shakes, when combining this with exceptional footwork and a light touch around the rim, it is no surprise he is shooting 72.4% at the rim this year, his highest percentage since 2006, the year he won his last Championship. Duncan is shooting 48% on 10-15 foot jump shots, forcing the opposition to respect his mid-range shot, resulting in exquisite spacing for the Spurs. This spacing allows Duncan to utilise his phenomenal court vision to set his team mates up for easy baskets, or get the offense flowing.
Duncan’s defense is another quality which has helped him win 4 championships. Whilst he can’t defend with the same intensity throughout the entire game as he used to, he is still an extremely smart defender. He is a strong low-post defender and is great at blocking shots, averaging 2.7 blocks per game this season. Duncan is also still a very solid rebounder, he has one of the highest total rebounding rates in the league (total rebounds during player’s time on the court) and is averaging 9.7 rebounds per game.
Duncan’s intangible qualities such as leadership and locker room presence add to his already superb set of skills to create one of the best power forwards of all time, and certainly one of the best this season.
