High-Octane Bulls Can Prove They're Much More Than Derrick Rose's Comeback Story
The stage was set for another compelling chapter in one of the NBA's most captivating stories to be written.
The bright lights and raucous crowd at Madison Square Garden. The boos raining down from the rafters when he first touched the ball. The specter of Carmelo Anthony, another superstar playing for his hometown team, lingering in the triangle for the New York Knicks.
And yet, when the Chicago Bulls' 104-80 victory over the Knicks—one in which the visitors led by as many as 35 points—was in the books, Derrick Rose, the presumptive protagonist, was little more than a footnote to an all-around extraordinary effort.
The spotlight was occupied for the night by, well, just about everyone else, be they fellow starters or super subs.
Taj Gibson, a serious Sixth Man of the Year contender in 2013-14, kicked off what could be another hardware-worthy campaign with a game-high 22 points. He made mincemeat of New York's moribund front line, taking turns torturing the Knicks with spin moves in the paint and jumpers in the mid-range.
Pau Gasol, Chicago's biggest offseason addition, had his way with the Knicks' bigs as well. The slender Spaniard looked far more like a four-time All-Star than a 34-year-old Los Angeles Lakers washout as he piled up 21 points, 11 rebounds and countless shot alterations with his length on the defensive end.
Fellow newcomer Doug McDermott appeared plenty feisty himself. The rookie out of Creighton poured in 12 points off the pine—albeit mostly in garbage time—to go along with five rebounds, two assists and a steal in 24 minutes.
"When things run smooth like the way they were running tonight, I think everyone got a look at our whole entire team and they saw how deep we are," Rose said after the game (via The Associated Press).
Not that Rose's night was entirely forgettable.
The former MVP put in 13 points, five assists, three rebounds, two steals and three turnovers in 21 minutes. He spent most of the evening tethered to the bench on account of the chasm on the scoreboard, though the reserves had plenty to do with that gap. According to ESPN, the Bulls were 20 points better than the Knicks when Rose sat, as opposed to four points better when he was on the court.
But even Rose's contributions were rivaled by his backup, Aaron Brooks, who tallied 13 points and six assists in 24 minutes of his own.
Granted, that says more about Brooks, who's poised to become Tom Thibodeau's latest point guard reclamation project, than it does about Rose, who'd missed all but 10 games over the prior two campaigns—not to mention the 27 he sat out during the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season on account of myriad maladies.
Of course, none of those ankle tweaks and groin strains could compare to the devastation wrought by Rose's ACL tear in 2012 and his subsequent knee injury in 2013. It will take time for Rose to recover to the point where he consistently resembles his MVP self, assuming he ever does at all.
As nondescript as Rose's overall performance was Thursday, there were flashes of the old Derrick: the frenetic fast breaks, the quick drives, the eight trips to the free-throw line (and seven makes therein).
Those were interspersed between glimpses of a new Rose, one with a greater grasp of how to change speeds rather than go full bore at all times, one willing and able to pull up for jumpers rather than throw his body into harm's way at every turn.
To be sure, Rose was far from the only one who looked ragged at MSG on Wednesday.
The Knicks struggled to generate offense in their proto-triangle, with a heaping helping of mid-range bricks to show for their work-in-progress. That, combined with a lackluster showing on the defensive end (the Bulls shot 50.7 percent from the field and outpaced the Knicks 42-28 in the paint), left New York far enough behind that Rose didn't have to play a single minute in the final frame.
The Bulls clearly have some kinks of their own to work out too. Rose and Mike Dunleavy combined to miss all seven of their three-point attempts. Joakim Noah's passing, particularly his burgeoning partnership with Gasol, left much to be desired. As ESPNChicago.com's Nick Friedell noted:
"The Bulls still have a lot to improve upon, especially taking better care of the ball early in the game, but the second unit played well together and gave even more credence to the notion that this is Tom Thibodeau's deepest team to date.
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In Noah's defense, he was still battling the aftereffects of offseason knee surgery. Jimmy Butler, he of the sprained thumb, spent the game in street clothes, leaving Kirk Hinrich (12 points) to hold the fort at shooting guard.
All of which makes Chicago's season-opening performance—and its prospects for the campaign to come—that much more impressive. This team is teeming with upside, between Butler's return, Noah's recovery, Gasol's integration and the acclimation of McDermott and European import Nikola Mirotic to the NBA game.
To think, if Thibs guided a lesser supporting cast to 48 wins last season, and 45 wins and a trip to the second round of the playoffs the year before, what could he accomplish with this tantalizing cast, irrespective of Rose?
The Bulls can only hope they won't have to find out. As stacked as Chicago's roster may be, this team would hardly have a prayer of competing for the franchise's seventh championship without a healthy and effective Rose leading the way.
After all, one eye-popping performance against a retooling Eastern Conference squad does not a contender make. It will take 81 regular-season games and scores more in the playoffs, with all the trials and tribulations that accompany such a grind, for the Bulls to become whatever it is they will be as a team. That final chapter will ultimately be written by Rose.
But for him and the Bulls, it's good to know that there will be no shortage of ghost writers at the ready.
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