Derrick Rose tragically tore his ACL in the last 2 minutes of a game that the Chicago Bulls had already wrapped up. Tom Thibodeau put in the Bull's starting lineup after the Sixers had begun to ware down a double digit lead. Instead of dribbling the ball and killing clock, Rose attacked the drove into the lane with reckless abandon and landed awkwardly...and the Bull's championship run was over.
There has been plenty of criticism of Thib's decision to put Rose back in the game since the Bulls were blowing out the Sixers. Some of it is warranted. Rose had missed over 20 games this season with a variety of injuries and in hindsight it would have been a good idea to rest Rose. However, Thibodeau made a valid point in defense of his decision. Thibs said that he wanted to have the starters to practice closing out a game together and he has a point.
Rose missed almost a third of the season with various injuries and the starting five and the top defensive lineup have not had a chance to get into a rhythm playing with Rose. All they had to do was play solid defense and kill the clock and the victory would have been in hand. The only problem with that plan is that Rose is INCAPABLE of laying of the gas.
Arguably, the greatest part of Derrick's game is his ability to get to basket at will. The only problem with that is he ends throwing his body around and taking way to many hits. That is one of the biggest reason's why he missed so much time with injuries this season. As soon as he would recover, Rose would come back and play with reckless abandon and get hurt again and again and again.
Another great player had this same problem a few years ago. His name is Dwayne Wade. Early in his career Wade missed a lot of games (31 games in the 06-07 season and 21 games in the 07-08 season) with a string of significant shoulder injuries. Wade's former playing style was similar to Rose's current style. Then Wade learned that in order to survive and entire NBA season and have a great career, he was going to have to change the way he played. Since the 08-09 NBA season, Wade played with more control and developed his outside jumper. The rest is history. If Rose wants to have the career that Wade has now, he will need to learn how to play with some control.
Most people don't realize it, but Rose's career is at a crossroads. Will he take the path of Dwayne Wade or Pistol Pete Maravich? Only time will tell.
BOLD PREDICTION: and let me preface this by saying Derrick Rose is a great player and that he's not a Carmelo Anthony type guy who always has to have the ball to feed his ego. Having said that, I think the Bulls play better offensive basketball without Rose. When Rose is on the floor that offense is entirely about wether or not he is having a good game that night. However, as we've seen when Rose was out this season, that O spreads out the ball much more efficiently without him on the floor. So, my prediction is that the D Rose injury will not effect their playoff run at all. I think they still win this series, and the next one against Boston/Hawks, and then lose to the heat.
ReplyDeleteWith Derrick Rose the Bulls had a chance to beat the Heat. I didn't predict it in my prediction post but I thought it was possible. I didn't think the Mavs would beat the Heat but I was pleasantly surprised last year.
ReplyDeleteI think that Rose really bolsters the offense and gives the team an identity which really fuels their play. Without him, people such as Lucas and Noah do step up and come to play, but I feel as if they lose some confidence that is only present when he is calling shots on the court. Regardless, I still see them winning this series, because in general they are the better team. The next round is a different story though, both Boston and Atlanta are good teams, especially in the playoffs. Also, they have their fans confidence, which I feel that at this point the Bulls do not, I know that I lost all hope of making the Finals when I heard the news. It will be interesting to see what happens.
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