| 21 March 2010
You want a recap of last night's game? Derrick Rose. That's the recap. Seriously. Well, almost. But boy, did he make his presence felt. When a franchise player is gone for a while, it's almost as if you forget what a difference he makes. Then when he comes back, it becomes so obvious why it is that he's the franchise player. That's exactly what happened last night. If anybody ever questioned the significance of Derrick's production, which I doubt anyone ever has, no one will ever question it again. 
To be honest, no one put it better than Ricky from Sixers4guidos. After the game, Ricky told me that "the Sixers are the best cure for any ailing opponent." While I agree with that statement, I still think the Sixers could have come out with a victory had they encountered the Bulls a day earlier. Or more precisely, a day before Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah both returned to the basketball court. And let's not underestimate the significance of Joakim Noah's return, even though he only played 9 minutes in the game. Joakim managed to score 7 points and 4 rebounds in his 9 minutes. But what was even more important than that production was the boost in morale his actual court-presence so obviously provided. The way this team plays is just so different when Noah is on the court. He provides energy and always plays with confidence. And it's infectious. Plus the fact that he's a dominant rebounder and plays with just a different level of toughness obviously helps.
But let's talk about Derrick Rose for a bit. In his first game back from injury, he played for 37 minutes...second most in the game behind Kirk Hinrich's 42. By the way, I still don't understand why Kirk Hinrich has to play 42 minutes and Acie Law is only allowed to play 4 minutes, especially when he's played twice as good as Hinrich as of late, but I digress. But back to Rose. In his 37 minutes, he scored 23 points on 9-16 shooting, with 5 assists, 4 rebounds, a steal and a block. The most interesting part of Derrick's stat-line from this game? He went 4-6 from three-point land. More than half his points were from three. Incredibly strange. Derrick never shoots threes. I think the most threes he's attempted in a game prior to this one is three. Has he been practicing the three-point shot? He's gotta be practicing. How else can you explain him attempting 6 threes? That's incredibly out of character. But forget the amount of attempts. He freakin' made two-thirds of his attempts. 4-6? Hinrich couldn't even dream of going 4-6 from three-point land, and he's been shooting them without a consciense since he came into this league. If Derrick is developing an effective three-point shot, the man can maybe play a more effective 2-guard than point guard. With that added to his arsenal, he, in my mind, becomes the best point guard in the league. Maybe even one of the best shooting guards in the league. You can't guard him off the dribble, so if you have to worry about his perimeter shooting, especially out there from three-point land, he becomes literally unstoppable. It's over. And he was doing this with an ailing sprained left wrist and all. Not to mention every offensive play was run through him. It's amazing how an intelligent and talented basketball player has an effect on absolutely every offensive possession that a basketball team runs. The outcome of evey Bulls game effects so heavily on Derrick Rose's presence, but he knows this, and he looks totally prepared for this. Clearly, and this goes without saying, Jannero Pargo and Kirk Hinrich, with all their powers combined, are simply not Derrick Rose. And this is why I haven't lost faith in our playoff hopes yet, Bulls Faithful. And I believe this is the point that Jalen Rose was getting at in that video I posted a few days ago. With Derrick Rose coming back healthy (and nailing threes), anything is possible.
Let's not go too carried away. Philadelphia, at this point, are probably tanking. It's in their favor to lose so that they can move up in the lottery. They have no legit star. Elton Brand is so obviously washed up that Taj Gibson looks like Karl Malone in comparison. Andre Iguodala, right now, couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat. Everyone else is a second or third-tier nobody. Players I'd consider near D-leaguers at best. And they know this...which is why they're banking on the lottery. So I suppose the win wasn't that impressive. But then again, the Bulls came out and did what they were supposed to do against a bad team. With their two best players in action, the Bulls routed a bad team away from the United Center. You can't ask for much more. They still got outrebounded slightly, but they shot the ball much better than the Sixers and had nearly double the assists...and only 9 turnovers. And they again held a team to under 100 points...for the 2nd game in a row. Good lord, it's a miracle.
Also, quick side-note...Kirk Hinrich played much better. This is because the lack of pressure to score and run the offense. The guy just can't do it when the success of the team and the offense is on his shoulders. But he can definitely do it when Derrick Rose is the man, and he can just sit back and play a supporting role. He's played better in that supporting role all season. He finished the game with 17 points and 11 assists, off of 7-15 from the field. Probably one of his best games of the season, if not the best. Plus, besides Hinrich, it looks like James Johnson is starting to develop nicely...and hopefully he can fill the void of Luol Deng at least slightly with his superior athleticism and incredibly solid defense. I like him more and more every day.
So the truth is, Bulls fans, there is still plenty of hope out there. The Bulls still sit 2.5 games back of Toronto as I predicted they would by weekend's end, since Toronto played the Nets last night, which is an automatic victory. They're also only 3 games back of the Bobcats. And they're still slated to play these teams. Anything can happen now that Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah have returned to action, as long as these two stay healthy, or as healthy as possible. The Bulls play the Rockets tomorrow. I think this game is winnable. More on this tomorrow...Go Bulls.
