Rose on threshold of super-stardom, playing like an MVP
Last year, we celebrated Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose for becoming the first Bulls All-Star since Michael Jordan in 1998. The confetti and blow horn sales will remain high in Chicago because Rose is about to add his name to another accolade: NBA MVP.
I understand this is a brash statement early in the season and the NBA is full of players who are contending for the award, but by the time the trophy has been molded to shape and the name plate inscripted, Rose will clarify himself as the best player in the league.
Rose led the Bulls to a 9-6 record in the first 15 games of the season and was on top of each box score in everything but rebounds and blocks, although he has those on his season stat board as well. Since then, Chicago is the third best team in the Eastern Conference with a 16-9 record, including a seven game win streak.
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Another sign Chicago is a threat in the Eastern Conference: winning record on annual west coast road trip
There have been many reasons to believe the Chicago Bulls are a real contender in the Eastern Conference this season including individual talent such as Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah, new coach Tom Thibodeau with a defense emphasis and off-season pickups such as the $80 million man, Carlos Boozer.
Saturday, Chicago answered the hype once again early in the season, by leaving their “circus trip” on the west coast with a 4-3 record. The first winning record on the annual road trip since Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen were the kings of the court in 1998.
The pieces of talent and solid coaching are coming together to have the Bulls answer the hype, even though Boozer hasn’t played a game and won’t until Wednesday or Friday.
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Indiana Surprises the World
Tuesday, the Indiana Pacers went off in the third quarter against the Denver Nuggets, shooting 20-of-21 from the field and scoring 54 points. They would have broken a record with a 20-for-20 perfect quarter, but Josh McRoberts missed a three-point basket late with 40 seconds left on the clock.
The Pacers tore it up, but unfortunately, I thought the game would go the other way for the Nuggets because no one would ever think the Pacers would shoot as good as they did. Mike Dunleavy had 24 points in the third quarter alone and finished with 31 points for the night.
Lets see how the rest of the night went around the League.
Jazz continue to mess up picks
Yesterday I went 1-1 out of the two games on yesterday’s schedule. The Orlando Magic thumped the Washington Wizards 112-83, predicted, and the Phoenix Suns demolished the Utah Jazz 110-94.
First things first, the Jazz are falling apart without Carlos Boozer. Kyle Korver and Ronnie Brewer might have a little to do with it, but it’s mostly Boozer. As a Bulls fan, I’m excited to see Boozer make the same impact in Chicago, but as a game picking expert (well, I’d like to think that), this is messing me up.
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Bulls preseason adventure gets a little more difficult
The Chicago Bulls are 2-0 in the preseason, defeating the Washington Wizards and the Toronto Raptors. Friday night they play a western power house, the Dallas Mavericks.
It’s preseason, so these games don’t matter much except for building team chemistry and learning the system of new head coach Tom Thibodeau, but it’ll be interesting to see how the Bulls defense matches up against Dirk Nowitzki and the potent Mavericks offense.
Dallas has a lot of scoring options other than the 7 foot German: Jason Kidd, Jason Terry and Caron Butler. These are just the players who can score in more ways than one, but they also have slashers and easy bucket guys such as Shawn Marion, Tyson Chandler and Brendan Haywood.
While the Bulls big offensive summer pick up, Carlos Boozer is out, Chicago has the main pieces they need to be a solid defensive team in Joakim Noah, Derrick Rose, Ronnie Brewer and Luol Deng.
It will also be nice to see Omer Asik against some bigger stronger centers than he has seen so far.
