Rose Ends Up On Short End Of PG Duel

Last night I saw an amazing point guard match-up at the United Center.

Bulls vs Jazz. Rose vs Williams. Both guards made their first all-star games this season. Both are local products. Williams is from Texas but attended Illinois while Rose is a hometown kid who spent a year in Memphis.

Last night the two combined for 53 points 30 assists and 5 rebounds as the Jazz beat the Bulls 132-108. On a side note before the game I predicted that the Bulls would lose by 25 so I was close.

Williams, the 5th year guard, had 28 points and 17 assists and had a poster dunk on Rose that shocked me because I never thought Deron could get up that high. He also only 1 turnover while having the Bulls best defensive guard Kirk Hinrich on him for most of the game. While on the other side of the court he spent most of his time guarding Rose.

Rose was able to score 25 while dishing out 13 assists but also had 5 turnovers.

Watching these two go back and forth was great and truly showed that Derrick does indeed belong in the conversation about the elite guards. He is hands down a top 10 point guard and probably top three under the age of 25 behind only Chris Paul and Deron Williams.

This game also provided the Bulls a look at another potential free agent target in Carlos Boozer who scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds  which was more then the 3 players who guarded him during the game. Chris Richard and Taj Gibson combined for 0 points 3 rebounds and 11 fouls with Gibson fouling out. Hakim Warrick had 11 points and 5 rebounds.

Boozer's backup Paul Milsap had 16 points and 9 rebounds.

Myself, I can't recall the Bulls getting so outplayed at one positon except maybe back in 95 when coach Phil Jackson just threw Will Purdue, Luc Longley and Bill Wennington at Shaq starting the hack-a-shaq defense.

Bulls also got a good look at a possible way to build around Derrick Rose surrounding him with a strong power forward and plenty of shooter. Williams is averaging 18.6 points and 10.2 assists while Derrick has to take more of the offense in his own hands is averaging 20.6 points and 5.8 assists.

CJ Miles of the Jazz went 6 of 7 from behind the arc scoring 26 points in only 19 minutes of playing time. Overall Jazz shot 60% from three point range.

Tuesday's loss drops the Bulls to 31-32 on the year and are now 1/2 game behind the Bobcats for the 8th and final playoff spot. I doubt they will be this close to the 500 mark again for the rest of the year and doubt they will make the playoffs unless they can get healthy quick and Noah comes back strong.

Random game notes....Deron Williams got a pretty good cheer when he was announced during the starting lineup while coach Jerry Sloan really didn't get much of anything. I wonder how many people know it's his #4 hanging in the rafters next to Jordan. Luol Deng left the game in the 3rd quarter and might miss the next two games against the Magic and Heat.

Alexander watch....Joe Alexander got another 2 minutes of playing time last night which brings his total to 5 minutes with the Bulls. He still has yet to score a point but has grabbed a rebound. My over/under on his points being under his #20 looks good while his number of minutes not looking so good with all the injuries piling up.