Chicago Bulls: 10 Reasons Why Derrick Rose and His Team Can Dominate Like Mike's
Derrick Rose's Chicago Bulls team is in the infancy stages of achieving greatness, much like Michael Jordan's teams of the 1980s.
It seems like I would need to suffer from some kind of head injury to think that a team in the NBA today could put together a team that could possibly win six titles again. Well, a guy named Kobe Bryant out west is trying to do that this season, so there is no reason why it can't happen again.
Now, let's get this straightโI am not saying that Derrick Rose is the next Jordan. Nobody is the next Michael Jordan and nobody ever will be, but this team is shaping up to be a great one.
The Bulls have been ravished by injuries so far this season, and we're only a quarter of the way through. Nevertheless, they are still staying afloat quite easily.
They have survived on the exceptional play of Taj Gibson during Carlos Boozer's injury and now the team is going to have to show their mettle once again with an injury to Joakim Noah.
Nonetheless, this team has a very bright future, and could end up winning multiple championships in the Association.
1. The West Is Waning
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Over the past decade (since MJ retired really) the Western Conference has been the premier conference in the NBA, with the Lakers and Spurs combining for nine titles since the 1998-99 season, but that is slowly coming to an end.
Yes, the Lakers, Spurs and Mavericks look like the best teams in the NBA right now, but they boast aging superstars and coaches on the verge of retirement. Dallas' Rick Carlisle is 51, San Antonio's Greg Popovich is 61 and Phil Jackson is 65 while swearing that this is his final season.
Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, and Dirk Nowitski are nearing the twilight of their careers and a significant dropoff in production is expected at the very least.
After the decline of these three, the biggest threat in the west comes from Kevin Durant's Thunder, Deron William's Jazz and possibly Chris Paul's Hornets, depending on how the league's ownership of the team rolls out.
That leaves arguably the three most powerful teams in the Eastern Conferenceโthe Miami Heat, New York Knicks and Chicago Bullsโas favorites to lead the next decade.
Feels like the 90s all over again, doesn't it?
2. The East Is No Beast Yet
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It is yet to be seen what the Miami Heat can be.
Whether they become one of those perennial title threats or the team that LeBron James was on in previous yearsโa great regular season team who comes up short in the playoffsโremains up for debate.
The New York Knicks are a blossoming team with Carmelo Anthony all but buying an apartment in Manhattan and the fans waiting to buy his jersey.
However, we don't know how these teams will fare in the playoffs; we know what the Bulls can do.
For the past two seasons, the Bulls played out of their minds in the playoffs, nearly beating the Celtics and Cavaliers teams that were much better than they...on paper.
They took the Celtics to the brink in 2009 in the most exciting first-round series ever played, only to come up short in Boston in Game 7.
A season later they played a better team, and despite the five-game loss, they played a close series, giving the Cavaliers a run for their money.
The core of the Bulls have shown the ability to play together in the playoffs, especially Derrick Rose, who has been known to explode in big games.
They have a head start on the other two potentially great teams in the east.
3. Tom Thibedau
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One of the hidden gems since the early 90s, Tom Thibodeau is one of the best defensive minds of his day. Much like Phil Jackson is the master of the triangle offense, Thibedau is the master of shutting down offenses.
Every team that he has signed on with to coordinate the defense has rocketed up the NBA in that discipline, culminating with his work on the Boston Celtics. The C's won a title in 2008, mostly due to their stellar defense.
He can teach things in a simple wayโhe can teach toughness, boxing out, and all of his defensive schemes quickly, as seen so far this season with the Bulls.
His team is eighth in points allowed with 96.2 per game and second in rebounding, grabbing nearly 45 a game.
Thibodeau was given credit for the defense that shut down everyone but Kobe Bryant in the 2008 Finals, forcing him to do it by himself.
4. They're a Classic Team
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The classic build to a championship team goes as follows.
One superstar, two to three really good players and five or six good role players that make the team nine to 10 players deep.
In Chicago, it goes without saying that Derrick Rose is the superstar, followed by Carlos Boozer, Joakim Noah, Loul Deng and then the rest of the team that knows what their roles are.
Their role players range from the "stand in the corner and shoot" guy that is Kyle Korver, to the lock-em-down, drag-em-out defense guys coming off the bench like Taj Gibson and Ronnie Brewer.
Then there is the good luck charm Brain Scalabrine, but more on him later.
He deserves his own slide.
5. Joakim Noah vs. Dennis Rodman
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It goes without saying that Dennis Rodman was one of the most important players on the Bulls team that grabbed its second three-peat.
He was the mean guy who got under players' skin, grabbed bucketfuls of rebounds and kicked a camera man on occasion.
Well, Joakim Noah is that with 38 percent less crazy in his head and a scorer's mentality.
Noah is a bump/grind type of player that has a nose for the ball and has enough energy in him to get the whole team riled up.
His rebounding totals have gone up every year, and at this point in the season, he is grabbing 11.7 a game. The first time Rodman was averaging as many minutes as Noah has this year, he was grabbing 12.5 a game. Not too big a difference.
The biggest thing that makes Noah better than Rodman is his ability to shoot.
By the time Rodman got to the Bulls, he averaged only five points a season and his shooting dipped under 50 percent for the first time since an injury shortened season in 1992.
Well, Noah is averaging 14 points a game this season on 51 percent shooting and is becoming a legitimate scoring threat down low.
He can even make a good chunk of his free throws, something the Worm always struggled with.
6. Kyle Korver
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If there is one thing every team needs, it's the "stand over there out of the way and shoot it when we give it to you" guy.
Kyle Korver is the John Paxson/B.J. Armstrong/Steve Kerr/Toni Kukoc guy that MJ always had on his team, but maybe better than any of them.
The best three-point specialist that Jordan ever had was Kerr in the 1995-96 season in which they won a measly 72 games. He shot 51.5 percent.
That rate, 51 percent from beyond the arc, is amazing. However, if Kyle Korver from 2009-10 traded places with 1995-96 Kerr and got as many open shots as he did, he would probably shoot north of 60 percent.
Korver's 53.64 percent from a year ago is an NBA record, and with more open shots he could do even better.
7. Can Loul Deng Become Scottie Pippen?
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This one is probably the biggest stretch.
Scottie Pippen is one of the 50 greatest players of all time, Loul Deng is fighting for the title of greatest British basketball player of all time.
Loul Deng is a good shooter, bordering on great. He has busted the 50 percent mark once in his career, but he is also an average defender.
Scottie Pippen was a great smart shooter and a great defender.
Loul Deng has the right coach to turn him into Scottie Pippen, or something near that. If anyone can do it, Tom Thibodeau is a good candidate to be the guy to turn a lazy shooting guard into a lock down swing-man.
8. So What Is Carlos Boozer?
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We have a Scottie Pippen (kind of), we have a Dennis Rodman (but better), and we have our role players, so what is Carlos Boozer in the whole dance?
He's good enough defensively to be Horace Grant, but his offense is too good. Same goes for Toni Kukoc or Luc Longley.
So what we have in Carlos Boozer is something that Jordan never had: a second borderline superstar.
Carlos Boozer is a hard working guy, who is a mercenary and will work as hard as he can in order to get paid (he did screw over a blind man back in 2004).
He does the little things like chasing down rebounds and playing with his back to the basket, but he also does the very noticeable things, like shoot 54 percent and lock down defenders when he tries.
He has never been on a team with a defensive minded coach that can get him to concentrate more on taking his man out of the game, which he can do. If Thibodeau can do the trick, it will be a tremendous benefit to the squad.
9. Derrick Rose As a Superstar
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I've gone pretty much the whole way with minimal mention of the seemingly most important guy on the floor: Derrick Rose.
Now, there isn't a snowball's chance that Rose can overtake Jordan. Ever. Never.
But, he can be a great player in his own accord, and as he has shown this season, he can be an MVP caliber player.
He has steadily improved since being the number one pick in 2008, going from 16.8 points a game in his rookie season to 23.9 points a game this season.
He has become a three-point shooter this season, shooting 41 percent from downtown after shooting 22 percent and 26 percent in the previous two seasons.
His three-point shooting explains his slight dip in field goal percentage, which is down two percent from a year ago, but it comes at more points on the offensive end.
He has become a true point guard and facilitator, and is up to nearly nine assists a game this season after being criticized as a shoot-first type of guard.
Rose has also had a vast improvement on defense (thanks to who else but Tom Thibodeau) this season, and is up to averaging a steal per game, and just looks more at home on the defensive end of the floor.
If he continues to improve, it will be hard to keep him from being in the MVP discussion, and even more important, maybe the Finals MVP.
10. The Luck Of The Irish
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Is Brian Scalabrine even Irish? I don't know, but he does have red hair, plus he is the luckiest player in the NBA.
He was drafted to one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference when the New Jersey Nets grabbed him in 2001, getting to go to the NBA Finals twice in 2002 and '03.
Then he spent two more years on decent Nets teams, then got traded to Boston a few seasons before Ne Jersey fell apart.
Boston was turrible (if you'd ask Charles Barkley), but like magic they became elite. Thanks to a trade for Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, once again Scalabrine was on a good team.
He then got his first championship ring in 2008 before signing with Chicago this past summer.
Despite his luck, it's always good to have a big goofy-looking white guy for the fans to cheer on during blowouts.
Keep this man and rings will follow.
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