Boston Celtics
PG Dennis Johnson
SG Sam Jones
SF Larry Bird
PF Kevin McHale
C Bill Russell
6th John Havlicek
7th Bob Cousy
8th Robert Parish
9th Paul Pierce
10th Rajon Rondo
11th Tommy Heinsohn
12th Antoine Walker
Dennis Johnson
There’s a very big reason that I have 3 players in the starting lineup from the 86 Celtics: they were arguably the greatest team of all time. Why change anything? DJ was a great defender, a serviceable scorer, and a pretty good passer. He gets the nod over Cousy and Rondo solely because of the chemistry he would already have with Larry Bird and Kevin McHale.
Sam Jones
Sam Jones is one of those guys that I know very little about, but I know enough about him to know that he’s an all time great. He was a great scorer for his time and a good fit with Bill Russell.
Larry Bird
If I were to make this list and leave Larry off of it, I would be a laughing stock. And I would deserve to be. He’s a top 5 player all time, and the greatest player in Celtics history, unless you want to make the Bill Russell argument. Great scorer, great passer, he’s a man who truly revolutionized the game.
Kevin McHale
This man had some of the best footwork and best post moves of any player ever, along with being a good defender. He’s a perfect compliment to Larry, and I could see him and Bill Russell being an awesome duo to watch together.
Bill Russell
One of the greatest of all time. He won 8 (eight!!!!) rings as a player, and he’s known as one of the greatest rebounders ever. He was an elite defender, and his showdowns with Wilt Chamberlain are legendary. Bill was truly an amazing player for his time.
Bench:
PG: Rondo and Cousy are too very good backups. I really wanted to start Cousy, but I could not justify it. He played in a broken era, and wasn’t what I would consider dominant. Rondo didn’t get the nod mostly because there are rumors of him being a headcase. With his play as of late though, he could easily change my mind and make me look dumber than I already look.
SG/SF: Paul Pierce and Hondo will have to man these two slots, as I could not find anyone I could deem deserving of these two spots. Both players are great scorers. Antoine Walker is there only for a spark. In his prime, he was a player that would definitely help this team a lot.
PF/C: This team is DEEP at these 2 positions. Russell, Parish, Heinsohn, and Walker? 3 of those are Hall of Famers, and one of them is a coke dealer! Sounds like the winning formula in my book.
Two brothers, Joe (25) and Mike (18). Not many people love the Bulls like we love the Bulls, might as well write about them. Enjoy
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Monday, April 9, 2012
All Time TEAM Series
The Chicago Bulls
PG Derrick Rose
SG Michael Jordan
SF Scottie Pippen
PF Horace Grant
C Artis Gilmore
6th F Bob Love
7th F Toni Kukoc
8th SG Reggie Theus
9th SF Luol Deng
10th PG Kirk Hinrich
11th C Joakim Noah
12th C Tom Boerwinkle
Summary:
You would think the Bulls would be an easy all time team to do. They have to of the greatest players of all time in MJ and Scottie, then they have one of the biggest stars of today in Derrick Rose. Horace Grant made the starting lineup because with him in there, nobody scores on this starting lineup. The only defender there worse than “elite” is Derrick Rose, and he is definitely a serviceable defender in his own right. The bench is where things get a little sketchy. The forward position is strikingly strong until you realize that of the 3 forwards on the bench, one of them was a shoot-first-defend-later Bob Love, whose PER never peaked 17, while the others are the notoriously soft Toni Kukoc and the always-defending and always-streaky Luol Deng. That said, beyond that, the only major hole is at backup point guard, but that happens when a team has had all of one elite point guard throughout their long and illustrious history.
Player-by-Player Analysis:
Derrick Rose
This is a player that I have been watching since he was in college. I’d be lying if I said I knew he’d be a Bull from his days in Memphis. The Bulls were a fringe playoff team without a hope of getting a top pick in the lottery, until the unthinkable happened: they actually won the lottery with a 2.7% chance to get the number one pick. At the time, the decision between D-Rose and Michael Beasley seemed like a tough one, but now, it seems that Derrick was the obvious choice. Beasley has turned into a burnout who is the bud of many “getting high” jokes around plenty of NBA fans, and Derrick Rose is now an MVP. Rose’s career has taken off fast. He won his first MVP at age 22, becoming the youngest MVP in NBA history. He has never seen his PER dip below the average of 15, and has improved his scoring drastically with each season, unless the current season is counted. This year, he has been injured very often, although he should be returning soon.
Michael Jordan
What else is there to be said? The man is the greatest of all time. He led the league in scoring an astounding 11 times, he won the MVP award 5 times in the regular season, and won the Finals MVP award for each of his 6 rings. He is regarded as one of the best perimeter defenders of all time, and was able to put up a career points-per-game average of 30.1. I don’t need to argue for Jordan, but I know somebody who has never seen him play will argue his vulnerabilities with me.
Scottie Pippen
Any list that has MJ on it has to have Scottie Pippen on it. Scottie IS the best defender of all time, and he was a great offensive player too. Those two years Jordan took off to play baseball? Yeah, Scottie carried those teams. Scottie was legit.
Horace Grant
It was debatable as to which team Horace should have been placed on, but he fits in perfectly with the style that this Bulls team would play on defense, and he’s not so inept on the offensive side that he’d be useless like Joakim Noah can be at times.
Artis Gilmore
I can honestly say I do not know much about him, I was unable to watch him play due to him playing in the 70’s. But what I do know about him is that he could score well, as he averaged 18 ppg throughout his career, and 24 ppg a few times. He also averaged 12 rebounds per game throughout his career. That is quite an impressive number. He was also a prolific shot blocker, averaging 5 blocks per game during his rookie season in the ABA. 5 blocks per game! I find that extremely impressive at any level.
Commentary on the bench will be provided on a later date.
PG Derrick Rose
SG Michael Jordan
SF Scottie Pippen
PF Horace Grant
C Artis Gilmore
6th F Bob Love
7th F Toni Kukoc
8th SG Reggie Theus
9th SF Luol Deng
10th PG Kirk Hinrich
11th C Joakim Noah
12th C Tom Boerwinkle
Summary:
You would think the Bulls would be an easy all time team to do. They have to of the greatest players of all time in MJ and Scottie, then they have one of the biggest stars of today in Derrick Rose. Horace Grant made the starting lineup because with him in there, nobody scores on this starting lineup. The only defender there worse than “elite” is Derrick Rose, and he is definitely a serviceable defender in his own right. The bench is where things get a little sketchy. The forward position is strikingly strong until you realize that of the 3 forwards on the bench, one of them was a shoot-first-defend-later Bob Love, whose PER never peaked 17, while the others are the notoriously soft Toni Kukoc and the always-defending and always-streaky Luol Deng. That said, beyond that, the only major hole is at backup point guard, but that happens when a team has had all of one elite point guard throughout their long and illustrious history.
Player-by-Player Analysis:
Derrick Rose
This is a player that I have been watching since he was in college. I’d be lying if I said I knew he’d be a Bull from his days in Memphis. The Bulls were a fringe playoff team without a hope of getting a top pick in the lottery, until the unthinkable happened: they actually won the lottery with a 2.7% chance to get the number one pick. At the time, the decision between D-Rose and Michael Beasley seemed like a tough one, but now, it seems that Derrick was the obvious choice. Beasley has turned into a burnout who is the bud of many “getting high” jokes around plenty of NBA fans, and Derrick Rose is now an MVP. Rose’s career has taken off fast. He won his first MVP at age 22, becoming the youngest MVP in NBA history. He has never seen his PER dip below the average of 15, and has improved his scoring drastically with each season, unless the current season is counted. This year, he has been injured very often, although he should be returning soon.
Michael Jordan
What else is there to be said? The man is the greatest of all time. He led the league in scoring an astounding 11 times, he won the MVP award 5 times in the regular season, and won the Finals MVP award for each of his 6 rings. He is regarded as one of the best perimeter defenders of all time, and was able to put up a career points-per-game average of 30.1. I don’t need to argue for Jordan, but I know somebody who has never seen him play will argue his vulnerabilities with me.
Scottie Pippen
Any list that has MJ on it has to have Scottie Pippen on it. Scottie IS the best defender of all time, and he was a great offensive player too. Those two years Jordan took off to play baseball? Yeah, Scottie carried those teams. Scottie was legit.
Horace Grant
It was debatable as to which team Horace should have been placed on, but he fits in perfectly with the style that this Bulls team would play on defense, and he’s not so inept on the offensive side that he’d be useless like Joakim Noah can be at times.
Artis Gilmore
I can honestly say I do not know much about him, I was unable to watch him play due to him playing in the 70’s. But what I do know about him is that he could score well, as he averaged 18 ppg throughout his career, and 24 ppg a few times. He also averaged 12 rebounds per game throughout his career. That is quite an impressive number. He was also a prolific shot blocker, averaging 5 blocks per game during his rookie season in the ABA. 5 blocks per game! I find that extremely impressive at any level.
Commentary on the bench will be provided on a later date.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Apologizing For Our Disappearance- Mike
So, its safe to say that it has been awhile since Joe or myself have posted anything of note on this blog. To any of our loyal readers, I would like to apologize. I have been under the weather quite a lot recently, and with allergy season in full effect, I will probably be under the weather a lot throughout the spring and summer. Joe has been busy with work, so he hardly has time to post anything anyways. But I would like to announce that the two of us are working on a huge project. We are working on creating All-Time teams for each NBA franchise. This will be unlike any you have ever seen. Instead of focusing on who the best players were, we are going to focus on the players that would create the best team. For example, because the Lakers would already have Kareem and Wilt, Shaq would get relegated to the Orlando Magic. I hope this example is understandable. I truly believe that this series will be one worth reading, so stay tuned.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Ugh. Rigged dunk contests. -Mike
This year's dunk contest may have been the WORST one I remember. The dunks were cool, sure. I loved Jeremy Evans' 2 ball dunk, and seeing Paul George jump over Roy Hibbert and Dahntay Jones was cool, but really? This just seemed like the NBA trying to reach into Vince McMahon's pockets. How fake did this seem? And why is it faked? What is the point of it? Do they really think more people will watch because of a planned dunk? Look at the greatest wrestling matches in history if you want to see how that works out. The obviously faked "spots" in wrestling are the ones that get pointed out, and these are the things that water down a match.
Take a look at Mick Foley's fall during his Hell in a Cell match with Undertaker. Was he supposed to fall? Probably not, at least he says he wasn't. But was the fall necessary? Of course it was! America loves accidents! America loves surprises! Watching Mick Foley fall to what everyone figured was a storyline death brought thousands of more fans in. So what would be wrong with letting these professionals, who play an actual sport, go out and do something that will amaze the fans, and possibly draw more fans in? Why not give players an actual reason to join the dunk contest? Why not give a cash prize? Or here's something even crazier: how about making it a tournament? Here's an idea for the format.
Since the NBA seems obsessed with fan voting, how about the fans choose 8 participants, who have been given a choice on whether or not to be included on the ballot. We know from the offseason how whiny the players (and owners) can get.The 8 players that get voted in are put into seeds, much like the playoffs. The 1 seed faces the 8 seed and so on. The dunks should be based on originality, not on this intensity meter bullshit. Players can use any props needed. The tournament format forces players to pull out all the stops on every attempt. You never know what your opponent might pull off.
One more idea: why not give amateurs a shot? You want to tell me that James "Flight" White wouldn't have won this dunk contest? Why not hold a contest for amateurs? Sprite is already doing something similar. They have a campaign where you send in a video to them of you doing a trickshot or whatever, and they do something with it. I wasn't really paying attention, but I got the gist of it. So a sponsor of the NBA hit what could be a gold-mine for them. I highly doubt the NBA will take advantage of this. But damn it, I wish they would.
Take a look at Mick Foley's fall during his Hell in a Cell match with Undertaker. Was he supposed to fall? Probably not, at least he says he wasn't. But was the fall necessary? Of course it was! America loves accidents! America loves surprises! Watching Mick Foley fall to what everyone figured was a storyline death brought thousands of more fans in. So what would be wrong with letting these professionals, who play an actual sport, go out and do something that will amaze the fans, and possibly draw more fans in? Why not give players an actual reason to join the dunk contest? Why not give a cash prize? Or here's something even crazier: how about making it a tournament? Here's an idea for the format.
Since the NBA seems obsessed with fan voting, how about the fans choose 8 participants, who have been given a choice on whether or not to be included on the ballot. We know from the offseason how whiny the players (and owners) can get.The 8 players that get voted in are put into seeds, much like the playoffs. The 1 seed faces the 8 seed and so on. The dunks should be based on originality, not on this intensity meter bullshit. Players can use any props needed. The tournament format forces players to pull out all the stops on every attempt. You never know what your opponent might pull off.
One more idea: why not give amateurs a shot? You want to tell me that James "Flight" White wouldn't have won this dunk contest? Why not hold a contest for amateurs? Sprite is already doing something similar. They have a campaign where you send in a video to them of you doing a trickshot or whatever, and they do something with it. I wasn't really paying attention, but I got the gist of it. So a sponsor of the NBA hit what could be a gold-mine for them. I highly doubt the NBA will take advantage of this. But damn it, I wish they would.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Joe and Mike talk Lebron and AI
Joe: No doubt that LeBron is one of the most entertaining players in the NBA. If LeBron retired today his career would have to be considered a disappointment even though he is a 2 time MVP, right?
Mike: Considering his unearned ego, the pussy ass move of leaving a city that would do anything for him to go play with 2 other superstars, and his near refusal to work on his game in the offseason, I would say that his career is about as meaningful as Allen Iverson's.
Joe: Good comparison, but what is funny about that is while it is disappointing for LeBron, I would never say that AI's career was disappointing. You would have to say that his career was much better than expected, right?
Mike: Exactly. But AI will be a hall of famer, no doubt. LeBron will be too, but the difference is that AI cared too much to the point of nearly crippling himself, and LeBron just cares too little. Give LeBron AI's mentality and drive and I have no doubt in my mind that he would be the greatest of all time.
Joe: I wouldn't say that LeBron doesn't care enough. He could care more, or sometimes he cares about the wrong thing, but its not like he doesn't care at all. Iverson had that killer instinct like Jordan and Kobe, and we haven't seen that from LeBron and it looks like we never will.
Mike: LeBron only cares about the things that do not matter. Money, contracts, big markets. Like Playboy X in Grand Theft Auto IV. He doesn't give a rats ass until there's a media backlash. AI is basically Dwayne. A hard worker who got a bad rap for a lot of stupid crap he did in the past.
PS: I think Derrick Rose gets to be Niko.
Mike: Considering his unearned ego, the pussy ass move of leaving a city that would do anything for him to go play with 2 other superstars, and his near refusal to work on his game in the offseason, I would say that his career is about as meaningful as Allen Iverson's.
Joe: Good comparison, but what is funny about that is while it is disappointing for LeBron, I would never say that AI's career was disappointing. You would have to say that his career was much better than expected, right?
Mike: Exactly. But AI will be a hall of famer, no doubt. LeBron will be too, but the difference is that AI cared too much to the point of nearly crippling himself, and LeBron just cares too little. Give LeBron AI's mentality and drive and I have no doubt in my mind that he would be the greatest of all time.
Joe: I wouldn't say that LeBron doesn't care enough. He could care more, or sometimes he cares about the wrong thing, but its not like he doesn't care at all. Iverson had that killer instinct like Jordan and Kobe, and we haven't seen that from LeBron and it looks like we never will.
Mike: LeBron only cares about the things that do not matter. Money, contracts, big markets. Like Playboy X in Grand Theft Auto IV. He doesn't give a rats ass until there's a media backlash. AI is basically Dwayne. A hard worker who got a bad rap for a lot of stupid crap he did in the past.
PS: I think Derrick Rose gets to be Niko.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Mike is bored as hell
My game has been canceled tonight, and the Bulls game will not be televised in my area, which I find odd. I live in the Chicago area. Either way, I have decided to write an article that has absolutely nothing to do with basketball tonight, because honestly, I am getting pretty sick of everything I do involving basketball. So I will focus on a new medium tonight: video games. My top 10 favorite video games of all time, in fact. So, in an attempt to enjoy the pre-SOPA/PIPA internet, I will review and discuss several games that I consider to be among the best of all time. (My opinion may piss you off, and I have not played a lot of games that are considered great. So this is really a list of "Greatest games of all time that I have actually played.")
10. Pokemon (Series)
An 18 year old kid (man in some places, although I can admit I am not very mature) should not be writing about Pokemon. But as someone who grew up with the game, how can I not include this game on my list? I'm not exactly a fan of RPG's, in fact, I have spent a large amount of my life hating on them. I mean, Final Fantasy and many other games that are loved by millions on the internet are, in my opinion, are some of the most overrated and boring games I have ever attempted to play. So what makes Pokemon different? Maybe I was young when I started playing. But maybe, just maybe, there was finally an RPG made that got me hooked. My favorite game of the series would have to be the 2nd generation, Gold/Silver/Crystal. I was able to get my hands on a copy of Crystal the day it came out, and every once in awhile, when I have to spend a large amount of time on the toilet, I put it in the ol' Gameboy Color and pass the time away.
What made Crystal so great was the very large map, the numerous choices in Pokemon that a person had, and the (at the time) gripping storyline. It was marketed towards 8 year olds. And I was an 8 year old. Mission accomplished, Nintendo. Also, to be completely honest, Heracross is still the most badass-yet-weird-looking game character ever.
9. Guitar Hero/Rock Band (Series)
Yeah, as you can already tell from my first two games, I am a nerd. And of course, you have 2 questions. Yes, I can play on expert, easily. And no, I have never learned how to play a real guitar. But when I was younger, around junior high age, I was invited to a kid's birthday party. That's where I first played Guitar Hero 2, and after that, I begged my parents for it for Christmas. Suffice to say, this was a great Christmas present. I have gotten many uses out of the game, and it has also introduced me to 2 of the worst-yet-amazing songs I have ever heard.
8. Call of Duty: Black Ops/Modern Warfare
Same game, essentially. I normally hate Call of Duty, but 4 (Modern Warfare) was great, and Black Ops was 4 with zombies. Sounds like a winning formula to me.
7. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
Nostalgia is blinding me. I first played this game when I was 4 and too young to realize what was going on. I went back and beat it over the summer and realized a lot of the racist and sexual undertones in this game. Go ahead and play it, you will wonder what the hell you are doing. At one point, one of the bad guys refers to "only wanting the Princess's cake," followed by *stunned silence* and him saying "Wait, that came out wrong." It did have one of the greatest games songs ever.
I get a lot of strange looks walking around school while whistling this.
6. WWF No Mercy
I was a wrestling fan for awhile. This was probably the only wrestling game that I liked. Sadly, I didn't get much time to play it, but I can tell from my short time with it that it is head and shoulders above any other game on this list.
More on the way later, this is a 2 part series.
10. Pokemon (Series)
An 18 year old kid (man in some places, although I can admit I am not very mature) should not be writing about Pokemon. But as someone who grew up with the game, how can I not include this game on my list? I'm not exactly a fan of RPG's, in fact, I have spent a large amount of my life hating on them. I mean, Final Fantasy and many other games that are loved by millions on the internet are, in my opinion, are some of the most overrated and boring games I have ever attempted to play. So what makes Pokemon different? Maybe I was young when I started playing. But maybe, just maybe, there was finally an RPG made that got me hooked. My favorite game of the series would have to be the 2nd generation, Gold/Silver/Crystal. I was able to get my hands on a copy of Crystal the day it came out, and every once in awhile, when I have to spend a large amount of time on the toilet, I put it in the ol' Gameboy Color and pass the time away.
What made Crystal so great was the very large map, the numerous choices in Pokemon that a person had, and the (at the time) gripping storyline. It was marketed towards 8 year olds. And I was an 8 year old. Mission accomplished, Nintendo. Also, to be completely honest, Heracross is still the most badass-yet-weird-looking game character ever.
9. Guitar Hero/Rock Band (Series)
Yeah, as you can already tell from my first two games, I am a nerd. And of course, you have 2 questions. Yes, I can play on expert, easily. And no, I have never learned how to play a real guitar. But when I was younger, around junior high age, I was invited to a kid's birthday party. That's where I first played Guitar Hero 2, and after that, I begged my parents for it for Christmas. Suffice to say, this was a great Christmas present. I have gotten many uses out of the game, and it has also introduced me to 2 of the worst-yet-amazing songs I have ever heard.
8. Call of Duty: Black Ops/Modern Warfare
Same game, essentially. I normally hate Call of Duty, but 4 (Modern Warfare) was great, and Black Ops was 4 with zombies. Sounds like a winning formula to me.
7. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
Nostalgia is blinding me. I first played this game when I was 4 and too young to realize what was going on. I went back and beat it over the summer and realized a lot of the racist and sexual undertones in this game. Go ahead and play it, you will wonder what the hell you are doing. At one point, one of the bad guys refers to "only wanting the Princess's cake," followed by *stunned silence* and him saying "Wait, that came out wrong." It did have one of the greatest games songs ever.
I get a lot of strange looks walking around school while whistling this.
6. WWF No Mercy
I was a wrestling fan for awhile. This was probably the only wrestling game that I liked. Sadly, I didn't get much time to play it, but I can tell from my short time with it that it is head and shoulders above any other game on this list.
More on the way later, this is a 2 part series.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
All I Can Say is WOW! -Mike
Derrick Rose has pulled yet another win out of his ass. I have never in my lifetime see a player who does so much for his team. I know a lot of people were upset at Stacey King's "most dominant player in the game" comment, but honestly, try and make an argument for anyone else so far this season. You will not be able to. The fact of the matter is, when things have mattered the most to his team, Derrick Rose has come through consistently, and although it is early in the season, I would love to believe that he can do this on a regular basis. The emergence of Luol Deng as his second option and Carlos Boozer getting resurrected from the dead sure helps a lot, but Rose deserves a lot of credit. I am going out on a limb right now and just outright saying it: Derrick Rose is the best point guard in the league right now.
There's that dirty word: point guard. Ever since he came into the league, purists have been arguing on what position he really plays. He was a scorer, a prolific scorer even, but he never seemed to be able to set his teammates up well enough. Until now. I have never seen a player so intent on creating shots and setting up his teammates in late game situations. Last year, the Bulls late game offense consisted of "get out of Derrick's way." Now, it consists of much more than that. Late in the game tonight, I watched an inbound pass go right by Rose and into the hands of Joakim Noah, who then made a beautiful pass to a cutting Luol Deng. I can only imagine what I would have had to say about that last year. But after watching the Bulls this year, I think the Bulls can trust their supporting cast more now. Derrick seems to have a way of keeping everyone motivated and working hard. Maybe Thibs deserves more credit for this, but it is hard to say that Rose has not been a leader on the court this year, because he sure looks like one.
This is where I get really out of my mind. Watching Derrick Rose this season has reminded me of two players, a hall of famer and a future hall of famer, barring any scandal. (This is very possible with this man.) The two legends I see him fitting the description of? None other than Isaiah Thomas and Allen Iverson.
Damn. Watch that passing ability. Watch him create shots. Watch him support his team. Watch everything he does. If the league isn't so intent on keeping its fans and players safe, the Bulls basically are the Bad Boy Pistons reincarnated. I mean, everyone already hates Joakim as much as they hated Lambeer, why not embrace it? Explain to me how the Bulls aren't like that Pistons team. They play hard-nosed defense, and a few players (Joakim and Boozer) are great at getting underneath other guy's skins when the game matters. Rose just needs to sit back and be himself, and let the rest of the team do what they need to do.
Wait... look at this though. 30 points in games. Consistently. While not exactly being the biggest player, and often being guarded by guys who are much bigger. Who am I describing? 11 years ago, there wasn't a basketball fan that wouldn't give you the answer "Allen Iverson" to those questions. Now? There isn't a fan who would argue that that is anyone other than Derrick Rose. Rose may not average 30 a game like AI did, but he doesn't have to. He's not putting up with Eric Snow as his 3rd best player. Unlike AI's 76er's, Rose has a team around him, and a team that seems to be more of a family than a team. Look at the way all these men defended Boozer constantly last year. They knew something the fans didn't. And thank GOD they didn't listen to fans like me and get rid of Boozer, because he looks really damn good this year.
This Bulls team has me so excited, and I just can't hide it. I cannot wait for the rest of the season. Goodbye, any sleep I'll get tonight.
There's that dirty word: point guard. Ever since he came into the league, purists have been arguing on what position he really plays. He was a scorer, a prolific scorer even, but he never seemed to be able to set his teammates up well enough. Until now. I have never seen a player so intent on creating shots and setting up his teammates in late game situations. Last year, the Bulls late game offense consisted of "get out of Derrick's way." Now, it consists of much more than that. Late in the game tonight, I watched an inbound pass go right by Rose and into the hands of Joakim Noah, who then made a beautiful pass to a cutting Luol Deng. I can only imagine what I would have had to say about that last year. But after watching the Bulls this year, I think the Bulls can trust their supporting cast more now. Derrick seems to have a way of keeping everyone motivated and working hard. Maybe Thibs deserves more credit for this, but it is hard to say that Rose has not been a leader on the court this year, because he sure looks like one.
This is where I get really out of my mind. Watching Derrick Rose this season has reminded me of two players, a hall of famer and a future hall of famer, barring any scandal. (This is very possible with this man.) The two legends I see him fitting the description of? None other than Isaiah Thomas and Allen Iverson.
Damn. Watch that passing ability. Watch him create shots. Watch him support his team. Watch everything he does. If the league isn't so intent on keeping its fans and players safe, the Bulls basically are the Bad Boy Pistons reincarnated. I mean, everyone already hates Joakim as much as they hated Lambeer, why not embrace it? Explain to me how the Bulls aren't like that Pistons team. They play hard-nosed defense, and a few players (Joakim and Boozer) are great at getting underneath other guy's skins when the game matters. Rose just needs to sit back and be himself, and let the rest of the team do what they need to do.
Wait... look at this though. 30 points in games. Consistently. While not exactly being the biggest player, and often being guarded by guys who are much bigger. Who am I describing? 11 years ago, there wasn't a basketball fan that wouldn't give you the answer "Allen Iverson" to those questions. Now? There isn't a fan who would argue that that is anyone other than Derrick Rose. Rose may not average 30 a game like AI did, but he doesn't have to. He's not putting up with Eric Snow as his 3rd best player. Unlike AI's 76er's, Rose has a team around him, and a team that seems to be more of a family than a team. Look at the way all these men defended Boozer constantly last year. They knew something the fans didn't. And thank GOD they didn't listen to fans like me and get rid of Boozer, because he looks really damn good this year.
This Bulls team has me so excited, and I just can't hide it. I cannot wait for the rest of the season. Goodbye, any sleep I'll get tonight.
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