Chicago Bulls Offense Lives and Dies on Derrick Rose's Aggressive Attack

The Chicago Bulls depend on the aggressive attack of Derrick Rose to set up their offense. Because of the manner in which I'm defining "aggressive attack" here, this an argument that simply is impossible to make statistically, yet anyone who consistently watches the Bulls play will readily agree with that assessment. 

The Orlando Magic game and Atlanta Hawks game served as back-to-back examples of the two sides of Rose, each serving in stark contrast with the other.

In the game against Orlando, Rose was aggressive with the ball, attacking the paint, and when the shot was taken away form him, passing out of it. 

When he does that, it opens up the court for the entire team. Defenses collapse around him, and that opens up the scoring chances for everyone else on his team. Against Orlando, 11 of his 18 shots came from inside the paint. 

The number of field-goal attempts is easy to see, but what becomes invisible is where the assists come from. As a result of his aggressiveness, the Bulls were hitting from everywhere, and plenty of players were scoring.

The Bulls made seven three-point shots and a total of 24 field goals outside the paint. 

On the other hand, against Atlanta he didn't penetrate, and as a result he didn't create shots for his teammates. He only attempted three shots from the paint, and as a result the entire Bulls roster only made 12 outside of it. 

The Bulls have a drive-and-kick offense. It's predicated upon the drive.

When I talk about his being "aggressive," I'm referring to his driving. Whether he shoots or passes is secondary. If he's driving into the paint and passing out when the defenses collapse, it's the right move to pass. 

Once he sets up the drive, he tends to open up the court, and his threes seem to go in more, which makes it even harder to defend him. However, when he lays back and tries to set up the offense by passing from the perimeter, it doesn't work. 

Rose needs to be aggressive. He needs to be at least a threat to score from inside. He also needs to do this form the outset of the game. 

There are four games in which the Bulls either lost or struggled. In those four games, he shot three or fewer shots in the first quarter. 

Against Orlando after a rocky start, Rose "took over" in the first quarter and hit on five of his seven field-goal attempts, including one three. Once he started to score, Orlando was forced to account for him, and then he was able to get the rest of the team involved. 

While Rose only attempted three shots, he passed the team into success as the Bulls put up 27 points in the second quarter. 

While I appreciate Rose's endeavor to involve his teammates, he needs to first set up the offense and bear in mind it's predicated up on his driving ability. That's the best weapon the Bulls have, and when he stays back, he takes that away.