Quiet Confidence: Why Derrick Rose Is Making a Case For MVP

When Derrick Rose says something, you better take him seriously. Which is why when the humble, superstar point guard said at the beginning of the season, "Why can't I be MVP?" he was not kidding. 

Rose is averaging 25.2 points with 8.5 assists early in this NBA season and doesn't look to be slowing down. With Carlos Boozer still nursing a hand injury, Rose is putting the Bulls on his back, and is nearly impossible to guard now that he developed an outside shot. The biggest knock on Rose was that he could not shoot, but he continues to prove the doubters wrong. In his first two seasons, Rose made just 16 threes per year, and now 11 games into this season Rose already has 14 threes. He warned us that his outside shot was coming, and he is showing everyone he was not lying.

Let's take at the Bulls-Rockets game for example. The Bulls were down 71-63 through three quarters and were struggling to develop any rhythm on offense. Rose came into the game and hit back to back threes, six of his 17 fourth quarter points. The Bulls won that game 95-92.

With Rose emerging as one of the league's top point guards and Joakim Noah continuing to do the intangibles, the Bulls will be even better when Carlos Boozer comes back. They are fortunate to have Taj Gibson, and will be able to bring him off the bench when Boozer returns.

In Dallas, the Bulls could not have won without Taj Gibson, who had 17 points and 18 rebounds, eight of them offensive. Not to mention, he hit a miracle three pointer in the first attempt of his career beyond the arc. It will be a luxury to have him come off the bench.

This leads me to my next point, why the Nuggets are crazy to not take a package that consists of Luol Deng and Taj Gibson for Carmelo Anthony. They will not find better value anywhere. Luol Deng has come into this season with a bang, averaging 18.5 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.

The question is though, when Boozer does come back, do the Bulls need to make a trade? With Deng playing well and Gibson off the bench, this Bulls team will be special. 

With Derrick Rose playing like he is, the sky is the limit for them. Joakim Noah said it best when he said the Rose does not care about stats, just about winning. That is the kind of player I want on my team.

Derrick Rose warned us all, and he has created a monster.