by Mike Ulmer
--raptors.com
September 24, 2008

Chris Bosh is back.

Fresh off a gold medal run at the Beijing Olympics, the Raptors go-to forward is looking for the club to develop into one of the NBA’s elite teams. The development of Jose Calderon into a starting NBA point guard and the acquisition of Jermaine O’Neal, Bosh said, will be instrumental in that ascension.

With training camp set to start next week, raptors.com dispatched Mike Ulmer to talk to the 24-year-old Bosh about his return and his future.

Ulmer: When did you get back into town from your home in Texas?
Bosh: Just got in this past weekend.

Ulmer: You come back to a much improved Eastern Conference.
Bosh: The conference is going to be great. Philly is tougher (with the acquisition of Elton Brand), you’ve got Boston, Detroit. I think competition is very healthy for an athlete. We have to be on our best game, every night.

Ulmer: How does Jermaine look?
Bosh: He looks good. Everybody looks ready. I think everybody knows how good we can possibly be if we work hard.

Ulmer: And how good could you possibly be if you work hard?
Bosh: There are no limits.
Ulmer: There are no limits?

Bosh: There are no limits. We can be as good as we want to be. We put the ceiling on it.
Ulmer: Do you feel you are coming into your prime after your Olympic experience?

Bosh: Yes. I feel I can take it to another level. The gold medal situation, I have a chance to propel myself as an elite player. It starts with me. I have to prepare myself first and I have to put in the work. I’ve started doing that. I now I have to believe in myself first off and I do. I have a lot of support around here.

Ulmer: You’ve got your body about figured out now. It takes athlete years to fully understand their own body, doesn’t it?
Bosh: I think I’m getting a little bit better at it. It’s taken a while. Just have to stop being lazy sometimes.

Ulmer: Lazy isn’t a word I’ve heard associated with you.
Bosh: Not that I’m lazy. It’s just that laziness can settle in instead of taking 15 minutes out of your day to go some corrective exercises or something like that. I just tend not to but this year I think I’m going to do a better job of that.

Ulmer: You and J. O. are both big men and there is internal competition on any good team. How important is facing him in practice to your development?
Bosh: I wouldn’t say it’s competition, I would say we are going to push each as hard as possible. I’m going to stay on him and I know he is going to stay on me. In order to get where we want to go, we’re going to have to push each other.

Ulmer: You won’t have a point guard controversy like last year. What does it feel like having Jose Calderon back there from the start?
Bosh: It means a lot. We all know what Jose can do. I know he’s going to be a better player coming out of last year. We know what to expect out of Jose. We know who’s going to start and there’s nobody calling it a controversy so it’s good