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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Unlike Rajon Rondo of the Boston Celtics, Rose is ranked in the top 10 of the league’s assist men without having a team full of future hall of famers or pinpoint shooters. Rose isn’t working with historical 3-point shooter Ray Allen or Paul Pierce, who is one of the most physical offensive threats in the NBA, but with a roster full of defensive-minded players. Kyle Korver is the only true shooter the Bulls have and he doesn’t get more than 23 minutes per game because he doesn’t play defense coach Tom Thibodeau’s way.

Though Carlos Boozer is now back from injury and playing well, when the Bulls are running the court Rose has to either hope someone is under the basket or take it himself, because a spot shooter is not an option.

Rose is averaging 25 points a game which was fourth-highest in the league, but the efforts of the Dallas Maverick’s Dirk Nowitzki and the Golden State Warrior’s Manta Ellis have slid him to sixth. Ellis is doing nothing but scoring while his team is the third worst in the Western Conference with a 8-19 record. On the other hand, Nowitzki has been playing around the similar level of play he was when he won the MVP for the 2006-07 season.

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Chicago defeated the Mavericks 88-83 Nov. 19 even with Dirk scoring 36 points and beat the Warriors handily12-90 Nov. 11.

The other three ahead of him–Kobe Bryant, Amare Stoudemire and Kevin Durant–are all realistic MVP candidates and most likely on the watch list ahead of Rose. But Kobe will slow down as the season goes on similar to last year, Stoudemire’s defensive weakness will haunt him and Durant doesn’t do much more than shoot the ball and grab a few rebounds.

Against the Lakers Dec. 10, Rose out shined everyone under the LA sun including the king of all NBA stars, Kobe Bryant as Rose went for 29 points and nine assists while Bryant had 23 and seven. There isn’t much of a difference, but the extra six points Rose scored compared to Kobe gave the Bulls a 88-84 victory.

Every layup Rose attempted, whether it went through the twine or bounced off the rim could have made any highlight reel because of the show of talent and beauty each one of them possessed.

Rose is scoring high, assisting high and leading a team everyone wrote off or gave a small chance to be successful this season. If a game is tied in the late stages or a buzzer beater needs to be hit to win in overtime–see the Houston Rockets game Dec. 4–Rose steps up and gets the W.

The New York Knicks are in sixth place but would be out of the playoffs without Stoudemire, while the Oklahoma City Thunder are coasting only because of Durant.

Without Rose, the Bulls would be in the basement of the NBA and no one would be talking about them doing anything except firing one coach and hiring another.

Although the Thunder are in fifth place in the Western Conference with a 19-9 record, they fell to the Bulls December 6.

Rose and the Bulls are almost unbeatable at the United Center (10-3), which isn’t even the arena Rose has shined in the most. During the seven-games-in-11-days west coast road trip in mid-November, he played in six games and had 30 or more points in five of them.

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Since then he has continued to attack opposing defenses with the same tenacity, which has given him consistent numbers the entire season. The Los Angeles Clippers may have defeated the Bulls 100-99 Saturday, but it wasn’t due to lack of effort from Rose, who understands everyone has to step up their game since Joakim Noah is out of the lineup for 8-to-10 weeks to recover from a surgery he had to repair torn ligaments in his right thumb.

Without the big man in the middle, Rose realized he had to take the hoop to the basket more to get open looks for others or to simply bring the defense inside to give the outside some breathing room. He had game highs with 34 points and eight assists while also grabbing six rebounds.

I could write all-day about Rose’s great play and how he deserves more recognition then he receives around the league but I think it can all be summed up by stating…The All-Star who is soon to be labeled a superstar is putting up top NBA numbers and making his team, full of marginal role players, put up better numbers while earning victories against other MVP candidates.

This makes him a top MVP vote getter in my book.

I’m disappointed in the Bulls, favorite team, and the Blazers, one of my two bandwagon teams, couldn’t help me out. If they can’t who can, I guess Friday’s games will tell.

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Thursday Results (0-2)

New York Knicks beat Chicago Bulls 120-112…Wrong, the Knicks shot the lights out of the United Center and the Bulls defense didn’t do anything.

Oklahoma City Thunder beat Portland Trailblazers 107-106 in overtime…Wrong, Durant and Westbrook took it to them.

Friday’s Picks

Chicago Bulls at Boston Celtics…Bulls, they have to play defense the entire game, if they do, they can beat the Celtics.

Milwaukee Bucks at Indiana Pacers…Bucks, Milwaukee is a complete team with better individual skill.

New Jersey Nets at Orlando Magic…Magic, too big, too talented, too better in every aspect.

Cleveland Cavaliers at Philadelphia 76ers…Cavaliers, 76ers played well last game, but there are too many distractions with Andre Iguodala trade talk and coach Doug Collins has been bothered with illness.

Charlotte Bobcats at Detroit Pistons…Bobcats, two bad teams, Charlotte is better.

Washington Wizards at New York Knicks…Knicks, if they shoot anything similar to yesterday, they destroy the Wizards.

Miami Heat at New Orleans Hornets…Heat, Chris Paul will play well in an audition for the team, but Heat will kill them.

Atlanta Hawks at Minnesota Timberwolves…Hawks, Minnesota is terrible.

Memphis Grizzlies at Phoenix Suns…Suns, although they’re on the decline, they’re still better than the Grizzlies.

Los Angeles Clippers at Denver Nuggets…Nuggets, after the loss to San Antonio they want redemption.

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Utah Jazz at Golden State Warriors…Jazz, Deron Williams and Al Jefferson are starting to come alive.

Toronto Raptors at Los Angeles Lakers…Lakers, same old story, too good for team with minimal talent.

Brandon Roy and the Blazers have started the 2010-11 NBA season in phenomenal fashion and look to have their first 4-0 start in 11 years against the Bulls while the Bulls have began 1-1 without their key summer acquisition, Carlos Boozer who is out with a broken hand.

Can the Bulls end the trail?

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The Bulls could win the game but they need more offensive production from Luol Deng and whoever starts at the two-guard, although I hope it’s not Keith Bogans. Through two games, Luol Deng is averaging 11 points in 31 minutes per game while Bogans is averaging 2.5 points in 29.5 minutes a game.

This is not enough for the Bulls to keep winning. If Derrick Rose has to score 28 points in a loss and 39 for a comeback win, he is going to get tired awfully soon in the season. When Boozer comes back sometime in the next five-to-six weeks, he’ll have help, but it won’t matter if he is exhausted from carrying the team. With this said, Deng and Bogans have to step up and take some of the scoring pressure off of D-Rose.

Defensively, the Bulls have to improve their help defense. Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder drove right past Deng a couple of different times for dunks and easy lay-ups without any big man presence on Wednesday.

Also on defense, they have to get hands in the face of the shooters. Ex-Bull and current Detroit Piston Ben Gordon scorched the net against the Bulls on Saturday going perfect from the field, free-throw line and three-point line until the fourth quarter. He finished with 21 points, all made in his perfect streak.

The Trailblazers have multiple offensive scoring threats besides Brandon Roy. LaMarcus Aldridge, Nicolas Batum and Rudy Fernandez call all put the ball in the hoop while players such as Marcus Camby and Andre Miller will rebound, assist and do the things needed to make it hard for the Bulls to beat them.

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Camby-Noah is going to be an interesting match-up because they play similar styles since both are defense first, energy boost type of players. Noah is a little better offensively because he works hard to get offensive rebounds, which could swing the match-up in his favor.

My biggest concern is Brandon Roy of course because of Bogans lack of defensive skill. Gordon murdered Bogans every time he touched the ball and so did Durant when Bogans played him. Sure, Durant is one of the best scorers in the league and Gordon can be when he wants to but Bogans hardly makes an effort which surprises me because coach Tom Thibodeau is all about defense.

Bogans can’t stop a player with a quick first step or a step back jumper; Roy has both.

In order for the Bulls to win this game:

Rose will have to have at least 30 points.

Noah will have to have his third straight double-double while being sick because he is listed with having the flu.

Deng and Bogans need to show up on both sides of the ball.

Kyle Korver needs to get more than 16 minutes and five touches.

James Johnson will have to continue to be spark off the bench such as he was against the Pistons.

In the season opener against the Oklahoma City Thunder, some problems with the Bulls were exploited by Kevin Durant and company. Against the Pistons defense, turnovers and getting called for every foul shouldn’t be an issue, but scoring in more than one way, might be.

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Derrick Rose can’t be the only one wearing a Bulls jersey who can put points on the scoreboard. I know Carlos Boozer is hurt, but didn’t the  Bulls pick up shooters such as Kyle Korver and Keith Bogans or kept guys around such as Luol Deng? Against the Thunder, they were of little help.

Korver was only on the court for 16 minutes Wednesday, going 2-of-5 from the field for four points, while Bogans, who started in the shooting guard spot, had three points off 1-of-4 shooting from the field. Deng had 13 points, but did just as bad as them, he just shot more as he went 5-of-13.

The only real help Rose had was from Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson, who scored 18 and 16. But, neither one of them were go-to options in the offense; they hustled for their points with seven offensive rebounds from Noah and two from Gibson. Although, he only had two, Gibson only got his points off of Rose being doubled in the paint.

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The Bulls have to find a way to score off of the defense. Defense Defense Defense is all fans heard about during the summer, except for Boozer bringing an inside scoring presence. He trips over a bad, breaks his hand and now the Bulls only have Rose. This is bogus and shouldn’t be the storyline right now, but that’s exactly what it is.

First remedy, give Korver the starting spot at the two-guard and play him 25-to-30 minutes because he is the best shooter on the team. He might not be able to create his own shot all the time, but at least he would give Rose’s driving efforts a justifiable cause.  When Rose didn’t score against the Thunder or be the reason for someone else scoring, the Bulls would go minutes without putting the ball in the bucket.

Second remedy, honestly think about trading Deng to the Philadelphia 76ers for Andre Iguodala. Iggy is a better scorer because he takes it to the hoop stronger and has a better jump shot, not by much, but still better.

The Pistons are not a good team by any means, but if there is one thing they can do, it’s running the floor and putting points on the board. Most people in Chicago know the story of Ben Gordon, who led the Bulls in scoring four of his five years in Chicago. Plus the two of the Pistons who were on the team during its golden years, Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince, are still the catalyst of the team.

Detroit’s first game of the season will be against the Bulls, so there isn’t any proof of them still be able to score a lot of points, but they have the same team they did last year.

D-Rose will do his thing, but who else will step up to help the Bulls win not just this game, but every game until Boozer is back in the fold?

Late in the third quarter, the Bulls had a 82-80 lead. The Thunder tied the game before the end of the quarter and never looked back. In fact, the Bulls never looked ahead.

Chicago scored only 13 points in the fourth quarter and committed four turnovers which three of them led to Thunder points. Derrick Rose had two bad passes Russell Westbrook picked off and Luol Deng was called for a goal tend, which was actually a block. The Thunder took every advantage of the Bulls mistakes as they ran fast breaks, one ending in a nasty dunk by Westbrook.

In one half-court set, Kevin Durant blew by Deng and there wasn’t any help defense to stop him from throwing down a massive dunk. The Bulls played like they didn’t care anymore while the Thunder went in for the kill.

One thing, me and 30 other people on twitter noticed was the lack of playing time for Kyle Korver. The Bulls couldn’t find any way to score points unless Rose was driving to the hoop, while the best shooter on the team was riding the bench. Korver played 16 minutes going 2-of-5 from the field to score 4 points.

Durant had three steals in a minute and a half while Thabo Sefolosha was glued to Rose, C.J. Watson and Kyle Korver when he was assigned to them, causing turnovers and creating steals and blocks for his teammates.

Rose finished the game with 28 points off 12-of-31 shooting and six assists, Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson both had double-doubles with 18 points/ 19 rebounds and 16 points/11 rebounds.

Durant, Westbrook and Jeff Green had more than 20 points, with Durant getting his first 30-point game out of the way on the season opener.

The Bulls first match up will be a tough test.

Not only are the Thunder looking to upgrade from the eighth spot in the playoffs last season, but many columnist think OKC’s superstar forward Kevin Durant is going to best LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and other top players in the league to become the Most Valuable Player of the 2010-11 season. I think he will as well.

Although, Carlos Boozer is out because of his freak tripping accident, the Bulls have a chance to start off the season with a W.

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As usual, it starts with Rose. He is a better defensive player than Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook is an offensive player. On the other side of the ball, Rose’s lane penetrating ability is better than Westbrook’s defense. Rose can also back down Westbrook who is the same size, but plays smaller than Rose does.

Luol Deng will be matching up against Durant. The man can’t be stopped but if Deng puts a hand in his face and denies the ball from getting to him occasionally, he could finish the game in the low 20′s instead of mid 30′s.

On paper, the Thunders huge advantage is of course Durant, but past him, the Bulls have a better player on the court in almost every other position. Rose is better than Westbrook, Joakim Noah is better than Nenad Kristic, Keith Bogans and Thunder’s Thabo Sefolosha is a draw with Bogans being a better offensive player and Sefolosha a better defender and Taj Gibson or Omer Asik match up extremely well with Jeff Green, Nick Collison or even rookie Cole Aldrich if he sees much playing time.

With this said, Durant may go for 40 points, but the Thunder could still lose the game if the Bulls play to potential.

This should be an interesting fast paced game with each team being led by a definite all-star player, if not two superstars. This game will also be a defense vs offense match, which I think will be in the favor of the defense, Bulls.

Other games tonight with my picks

Boston at Cleveland–After last nights performance, no doubt, Boston

Detroit at New Jersey–New Jersey will be better, I go Nets

Miami at Philadelphia–The 76ers drafted Turner, who will be a future all-star, but the Heat will win because of higher talent level

New York at Toronto–interested in seeing Amare with the Knicks, he’ll help get a win against Bosh-less Raptors

Milwaukee at New Orleans–Hornets, Paul is healthy, enough said

Sacramento at Minnesota–Sacramento drafted last year’s rookie of the year (Tyreke Evans) and this year’s (DeMarcus Cousins), Kings win

Atlanta at Memphis–Memphis is what we thought they were, a horrible team while Atlanta is trying to prove they belong in Eastern elite, Hawks

Charlotte at Dallas–I’m going with Charlotte, they’re an up and coming team with plenty of young talent

Indiana at San Antonio–Pacer’s Collison will make this closer than it was last year, but Spurs reign supreme.

Utah at Denver–Utah is going to show they won’t skip a beat without the three players who now play for the Bulls

Houston at Golden State–The Rockets are going to start out 0-2, the Warriors are too fast for Brooks, Martin and a bunch of slow people

Portland at Clippers–I’m riding the Portland band wagon this year, if healthy, they can beat anyone

If the roster is looked at, they’re all starters for their team in the NBA.This doesn’t mean they couldn’t be semi-scrub, but to be on a starter on an NBA lineup, the player has to have talent. They’re not junior varsity, they play in just as many close meaningful games as any other player in the NBA.

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Chauncey Billups is an NBA champion and a Finals MVP. Lamar Odom is a two-time NBA champion. Kevin Durant was the top scorer in the NBA last year and is a rookie of the year winner. Derrick Rose is also a rookie of the year award winner. All these guys have been NBA All-Stars except Odom, but Danny Granger has.

Sure, these guys are not LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade or Carmello Anthony, but they’re big time players in their own right. Odom is seen as one of the most versatile players in the NBA and Billups is a true floor general who is clutch at pivotal points in games. Durant and Rose have made huge splashes in the NBA and have only been it for a few years a piece. Each player on the lineup has a strong suit whether it be scoring, defense, rebounding or assists. On 2008′s USA Team, Bryant and Wade were the only NBA champions to be on the team. Well, there is two this time as well. Odom helped Kobe win the last two and Billups was the main reason the Detroit Pistons played so well.

What makes this 2010 squad a B’ team compared to other squads? All rosters in the past ten years, look the same. They’re a couple of people who have won championships and are all-stars. It isn’t like these world championship teams are the 1992 Dream Team with Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Scottie Pippen and Magic Johnson. Even when they played, Bird and Johnson were at the end pf their careers and they had so called “B’ Team” players in Christian Laettner and Chris Mullin.

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The 2010 team hasn’t lost a game whether it be in the official tournament or exhibition and in order to advance to the semifinals, they bone stomped Angola 122-66.

These guys mean business and are making a point to show they’re just as deserving to be on the USA Team as anybody.

With 16.5 seconds left in the game, Rose hit two free throws to put USA ahead and eventually win the game. On an interview on ESPN, Rose spoke of his go ahead free throws.

“I thought, ‘I’ve got to hit them,’” Rose said. “Over here, people are going to remember me for this.”

The reason I viewed this game was to see the point guard match up. Rose did get the start, so, we were able to see Rubio and Rose go at it more than I initially thought.

Rose took it to Rubio at all times. Rubio seemed glued to the floor at times as Rose drove right around him to get to the basket or dish it to Lamar Odom or Durant around the basket. Rose scored only 13 points, but led the team with his determination on the court.

Durant is a beast and one of the best scorers in the world, not just the NBA. He showed his superior skills against Spain. He also showed his defensive skills as he blocked three point shot attempts from Rubio and Rudy Fernandez at the end of the game.

Team USA only has more exhibition game before the World Championship games begin Aug. 27.

This game against Spain was by far the hardest test during the practice games since they’re the defend champions. Both teams came to win and showed an elite level of basketball. USA coaches Mike Krzyzewski and Jim Boeheim also displayed they will switch up defensive strategies or the lineup if they need to in order to win games.

There should be plenty of excitement around World Championship basketball with the young stars of the NBA playing at such a high level in the international circuit.

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This brings a lot of speculation.

First, it is a well known fact Fernandez wasn’t happy with the amount of minutes he received last season as a Portland Trailblazer.

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If Fernandez is a Bull, he will be behind Rose, Brewer, Watson and probably Kyle Korver. If he is fifth on the back court depth chart, he will get less minutes than he did in Portland when he was behind Brandon Roy, Andre Miller, Steve Blake and Martell Webster.

There is a possibility he would get around the same amount of minutes, is he going to be happy with that?

Jerry Reinsdorf doesn’t need to sign players who are going to make the transition from being a consistent eight seed to an elite team in the eastern conference harder than it already is. Fernandez has talent and would fit in well with the team on the court when he does get in. But, if he has a problem sitting on the bench when he isn’t needed in the game, then don’t sign him.

The talent Fernendez has is needed, I won’t understate it. He would be an additional three point shooter. After last years poor shooting performance, the Bulls can’t possibly have enough sharp shooters. Rudy can also take it to the lane. Having another guy, besides Derrick Rose, who can cause more than one defender to drop into the paint and leave his match up would be great for the Chicago playbook.

What would the Bulls have to give up to get Rudy Fernandez?

There have been talks of trading last year’s rookies, James Johnson and Taj Gibson. Also, there have been rumors the Bulls would throw in a first round draft pick with Johnson if the Blazers wanted more.

First of all, Gibson should not be traded unless your going to get a top five player in the NBA. They’re not going to get LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade, Chris Paul or Kevin Durant, so he shouldn’t even be on the market. In his rookie year, he was fantastic. He adds depth in the front court who can take it to the hoop or keep the opposition away from it. The Bulls are not paying him top dollar but he is putting up top numbers for where they got him in the draft.This equals a great investment.

Johnson could be traded for Fernandez, I have no problem with the idea. The Trailblazers are not going to give him up for only Johnson though, at least they wouldn’t if they’re smart.  They want to throw a draft pick in the situation. A second round pick, okay, no problem. But, there is no way the Bulls should give up a first pick and Johnson for Fernandez.

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Draft picks are a big reason why teams like the Spurs, Lakers and the Trailblazers have stayed relevant. Draft picks are how teams such as the Nuggets, Cavaliers, Bulls and the Kings have become relevant or are becoming relevant.

Rudy is a solid player, but he is not good enough to throw away an option on a future player who could help the Bulls get to or stay at an elite status. Fernandez could be the player to help instead of getting a draft pick, but if he is complaining about minutes, the better idea would to get a player out of college who just wants to show he belongs in the NBA.

Fernandez has been in the league for two years as a Portland Trailblazer. In those two seasons, he averages 9.4 points, 2.0 assists, 85% from the free throw line, 40% from the field and 39% from the three point line.

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The season opener will be Oct. 27 in Oklahoma City against reigning scoring champion Kevin Durant and the Thunder.

ESPN will air a Chicago Christmas Day game against the New York Knicks at the Madison Garden.

The opener against the Thunder is going to serve as a perfect meter of what kind of impact the off season is going to make for the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls have a new coach and a new supporting cast for their young nucleus. The Thunder are one of the leagues up and coming teams that show nothing but promise to go deep in the playoffs. If the Bulls can beat them on the first game of the season, perhaps they go into the same discussion in the eastern conference.

The Christmas Day game should be fun. I love watching Spike Lee throw a temper tantrum on the sideline when his Knicks are losing. Amare Stoudemire is a good player, but not good enough to win by himself.

The full schedule will be released and discussed Aug. 10 on NBA TV.