The Mystery of Carlos Boozer

To all NBA and especially our Chicago Bulls fans the coming months will be providing everyone with incredible competitive basketball and NBA action at its best.
Physically, mentally and spiritually I’m ready for the 2011-2012 season. I’ll keep you posted with updates!!!

That's the message Carlos Boozer posted on his Facebook page tonight. With an abbreviated training camp set to open tomorrow, he clearly felt obligated to say something, especially since the players just approved the new CBA with the owners expected to follow suit.

I bring this player to your attention because other than a certain player whose name rhymes with Herrick Pose, Boozer will be the Bull Chicago fans will be most focused on in the coming season. It won't be for what he's expected to do though, like the MVP of the league. It will be for what he can do. Widely thought of as the best power forward left in the 2010 free agent class after Bosh joined Wade and LeBron in South Beach, the Bulls quickly jumped on him. There were warnings however that he could be a liability in more ways than one and we could see why right before training camp even opened.

A freak accident at home broke his right hand, forcing him to miss the whole preseason and the first month of the regular season. He would be injured twice more during the year, but only missed eight regular season games. However, the turf toe he suffered in the playoffs appeared to hamper his ability to shoot as his percentage took a dive. He also looked to be outmatched several times, forcing Bulls fans to look the other way on him.

In his first season, Boozer averaged 17.5 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. That doesn't look so bad, but as we found out last year, it's not enough to help Derrick Rose get over the hump in the playoffs. One could make the argument that he's the third-best on the team behind Joakim Noah. Others might say Luol Deng is an overall better performer. Simply put, Boozer is at best an above-average player who despite his top efforts, can't really be seen as the one to help the Bulls to a championship, at least not now.

That said, it'll be very interesting to see if Boozer can improve from last year. He has to if the Bulls want to get past Miami in the playoffs, whenever that may be. I'll be pulling for him. All of you need to as well.