Chicago Bulls Will Need Richard Hamilton to Lead Them to a Championship

This isn't why the Chicago Bulls got Richard Hamilton in the offseason.  They got him to compliment Rose.

To take on some of the scoring load. To be the savvy vet.  To be the final piece of the puzzle that gets the Chicago Bulls past the Miami Heat. 

He was supposed to be a companion on the Derrick Rose title ride.  Now, if the Bulls are to beat the odds, Rip needs to take control of the team and lead them to a title.

Hamilton can't be Rose, let's get that straight.  He won't be able to play at an MVP level for the rest of the playoffs. He wasn't able to do it in his youth so there is no reason to think that he can suddenly put a team on his shoulders and carry them to a title now. 

However, with the way the Bulls are constructed, he doesn't need to carry them, he just needs to guide them.

He needs to flash his championship ring every night as proof that it can be done. A team can win a title without a superstar—without having a single player on the team who averaged 20 points a game during the regular season. A team can win a championship with a collaborative effort from all-star caliber players and a commitment to the defensive end.

This Chicago Bulls team is every bit as dominant on the defensive end as the 2003-04 Detroit Pistons championship team. That year, the Pistons only lead in one category: blocks.  They were second in defense, 10th in rebounds and 14th in steals.  

This year's Bulls team is first in defense, first in rebounds, third in blocks and 24th in steals. 

Hamilton's Pistons also had to go through a powerhouse team where stars came together for the sole purpose of winning a title.  Now, granted two of those four stars were past their prime, but the 2003-04 Los Angeles Lakers were every bit as good as this year's Miami Heat team. 

While Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal were brought together instead of choosing to be together—actually they choose to be apart—the 2003-04 Lakers still featured two of the five best players in the league.  And a past-his-prime Karl Malone wasn't far off from an in-his-prime Chris Bosh this year.  

Karl Malone: 13.2 PPG, 8.7 REB, 3.9 AST, 1.2 STL and .5 BLK

Chris Bosh: 18 PPG, 7.9 REB, 1.8 AST, .9 STL, and .8 BLK

Gary Payton also wasn't a scrub during that season and was starting on a championship team two years later. I'm sure the Heat wouldn't mind having 2003-04 Payton starting at point guard over Mario Chalmers.

Not that Chalmers is hot garbage, he's just not as good as a past-his-prime Payton. Providing more evidence that the 03-04 Lakers were every bit as good as this Miami Heat team.

Now, it's going to take more than Rip telling his teammates that they can win it all without Rose. The team has to believe what he is saying.  They have to believe that all those wins in the regular season without Rose do matter now.

Everyone wants to discount those wins as, "only working in the regular season," but the Bulls players can't buy into that talk. They have to buy into what Hamilton, hopefully, tells them, that they still have a chance to win a championship.  

No one person can replace all the things Rose did for this team. On the court, everyone is going to have to step up their game. 

Noah is going to have to resume his role as the emotional leader of the team.  Rose took that title from him last year and was one of the reasons he was the MVP. Boozer is going to have to be the leading scorer in Rose's absence. 

Luol Deng is going to have to be the run killer. The guy that steps up and makes a shot to tell his team, "We're NOT losing this game." It's up to C.J. Watson to be better on the defensive end to make up for the fact that he can't be Rose on the offensive end.

It's up to Hamilton to lead this team mentally both on and off the court.  And it's up to the rest of the Bulls to prove that teamwork, chemistry, unselfishness and hard work can lead to a championship.