Chicago Bulls: Why Derrick Rose Will Continue His MVP Play

Derrick Rose is going to continue his domination of the NBA. The young point guard is the defending MVP, and he is an excellent position to repeat.

Take a look at the following factors, and it is clear that Rose is not going to suffer a drop in production.

Natural Progression

It's easy to forget, but Rose is just 23 years old. This will be his fourth season. He is just now getting to an age and experience level where he should be figuring out how to be a star, and not returning from an MVP season. 

Needless to say, Rose has had a rapid acclimation to the NBA. 

His points have jumped from 16.8 to 20.8 to last year's 25.0. He averaged 6.3 assists as a rookie then dropped to 6.0, and jumped to 7.7 last year.

Rose is clearly in a position not to just continue his MVP play, but to raise it. Thanks to offseason additions, Rose should have a bit of the scoring burden lifted off his shoulders. So his points will not take the huge jump they have over his first three seasons.

However, this should ease the defensive pressure all of the Bulls face on offense, and this will certainly help his assist numbers.

The Rip(ple) Effect

The reason Rose will not have to carry as big a scoring load this season will be due to the ripple effect—as in the addition of the former Pistons' shooting guard Rip Hamilton.

The addition of Hamilton gives the Bulls the shooting guard this team sorely needed. They now have a complete starting five, and a solid offensive option at four of five positions on the court.

Hamilton's production fell off last season. After 10 straight seasons where he averaged at least 17.3 points per game, Hamilton put up just 14.1 points per game. However, this was largely due to a reduced role. Hamilton averaged just 27.2 minutes per contest—that was down 6.5 minutes per game from his previous season.

Hamilton is still an effective player, and a very effective mid-range weapon. He shot .429 from the field, and if defenders leave him to help with Rose or another player, he will make them pay the price.

Domination of Ball

The factor that guarantees that Rose's production will not fall off is that he is a point guard. He has the ball in his hands for the majority of the game, and is not reliant on others to get him looks.

Big men need their point guard to get them the ball and commitment of the offense to work a low-post game to be productive. Rose does not have those concerns.

He is going to dictate this offense, and he is going to produce.