The Official 2008 Chicago Bulls Off Season Thread: BG Signs 1 Year Deal; No one cares; BASEBALL FTW

If Bulls pass on Rose, thorns await them

June 24, 2008
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BY JAY MARIOTTI Sun-Times Columnist

As the media crowds were shooed from the locker room, Derrick Rose didn't move from his chair. He still had something important to say to the columnist from Chicago. Did it involve crushing UCLA? Being the best player on the court in the most significant game of his young life? Something to do with money, ego, glory, fame, wine, women?

No. Rose wanted me to know that several functions were being held in his honor back in Englewood, where poverty and murder have been community curses for too long and an epidemic of violence has killed too many children this school year. It would be easy to abandon his roots and leave behind the gangs, drugs and guns he somehow avoided growing up. But his sleepy eyes suddenly brightened when I inquired about the neighborhood, about people rallying around his stardom while wondering when the next blast of gunfire would rattle the streets and trigger more fear.

Derrick Rose is a humble and talented basketball player. The Bulls should take Rose who could become the next Jason Kidd.

"I'm thinking about Chicago all the time," he said. "And I'm appreciating the support. There were a lot of parties, 10 or 15."

His words were more impressive than his highlight reel of signature moves that night, the 25 points, nine rebounds and four assists he threw at the hoops world in the Final Four semifinals. The moment suggested Rose is as humble and selfless as advertised, the central reason why the Bulls can't possibly shun him Thursday evening with the first pick of the NBA draft. John Paxson and the new head coach, Vinny Del Negro, continue to insist publicly that they're torn between Rose and Michael Beasley, the incredible shrinking forward with the scoring skills. Please, don't insult our intelligence.

"I'm an unselfish guard who's willing to do anything to win. And I mean, anything," said Rose, in the quote that defines him.

If Paxson had summoned the basketball lords and said, "I am a desperate man who needs your help to fix my wayward, lifeless, underachieving group," Rose would have been their packaged solution. In a cause lacking direction and purpose, he's a born leader. On a team that forgot how to win last season, he's a winner coming off a close loss in the NCAA championship game and two state titles at Simeon. In a town that hasn't had a reason to truly embrace a Bull since the dynasty was dismantled, he looks like the league's next great point guard, a unifying force who isn't the most dazzling talker but inspires poetry when he moves the ball upcourt with a combination of power and speed rarely seen. The best description I've heard was from Kansas coach Bill Self, who beat Rose and Memphis in the national title game but always will realize it took a late series of missed free throws - with Rose among the guilty parties - to survive in San Antonio. The magic starts, Self says, when Rose goes up for a rebound on the defensive end. Think Jason Kidd.

"Derrick has a gear that very few have, if any. And to be that big and that powerful at a young age, he can go from head of the circle to head of the circle in two bounces," he raved. "We watched an edit clip of him. He got the rebound right under the basket and laid it up in four bounces and was never full speed in those four bounces. He's just got a different gear. And he's big enough to jump right over you."

Excited? You should be. What also impressed me that weekend was Rose's reaction to the loss. He was devastated, not caring at all that he had become a major growth stock during March Madness and assured himself a wealthy life in the pros. Having rarely experienced losing in college and high school, he takes every loss hard and makes you wonder how he'd deal with 40 or more losses in his first Bulls season, his probable rookie fate as he and his new team endure predictable growing pains. Hey, that's precisely the tone this franchise needs, a fresh prince who despises losing. It still devours Rose that he missed one of two free throws with 10.8 seconds left, allowing Kansas an opening that Mario Chalmers seized with his crowning three-pointer.

"It's real tough knowing that I was one of the reasons we lost, not hitting a free throw," Rose said last week at the Berto Center, where his workout with the Bulls was somewhat lost amid Cubs-White Sox fever.

His Deerfield appearance, if you missed it, was vitally important to his Bulls future. A few days earlier, he had expressed mixed emotions about returning to his hometown, saying he wouldn't mind being selected by the Miami Heat with the No. 2 pick. Only 19, he's still learning the media game and likely didn't understand the perplexed reaction of some of us in Chicago, who thought he might want another address in the manner he rejected Illinois and DePaul for John Calipari's rebel program at Memphis. Surely, Rose was programmed to be much more enthusiastic last Thursday by his brother, Reggie, the influential guidance counselor who will have more say in his career than anyone else.

"I would love to play here," said Rose, lobbying hard. "It's a dream come true. You get to bring the Bulls back to where they're supposed to be, hopefully, take it step by step and make progress."

Isn't he a bit scared about returning home, as a teen, and being expected to revive a franchise in a building where Michael Jordan's statue is outside? Not at all. He tells a story about being with his agents, Arn Tellem and former Bull B.J. Armstrong, on the day of the draft lottery last month. Tellem placed cards with team logos on a table and asked Rose which team he preferred.

"Of course, I said the Bulls. And everyone was laughing because they said it's not going to happen. Then it happened - and it was just crazy," he said. "It was like a one-in-1,000 [shot], and they got the pick. God must have had something to do with it. I thought LeBron James was the luckiest guy in the world [in 2003], getting to play in his home state. Now I get that chance."

In the city, Rose already is a legend. It's staggering to think of the pressure he would inherit when you realize what he means to people. Don Pittman, the retired Hall of Fame coach and administrator from the Public League, didn't hesitate to compare Rose last week to Jordan and Barack Obama. "Derrick has a larger-than-life persona in Chicago," Pittman said. "He is a cult hero and great role model to the kids of this generation. He has that same type of magnetism as Obama or Michael Jordan."

Yikes.

But anyone who worries about Rose's equilibrium amid such expectations should understand how cool and mature he is. And anyone who worries about negative hometown influences doesn't realize how his family has safeguarded him. Think he's concerned about anything but ... winning?

"I can control the team," Rose said. "I'm a leader. And I'll push the players and everyone else to have that attitude."

Any more questions?

I have none.
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McGrady is a lateral move. He can score, but we're not winning this next season and likely the season after that. We regressed as a team, began theretooling by moving Wallace and the rest of our age, to acquire younger players that could help us. Now with the #1 pick we're rebuilding. We have verygood chips in Deng, Gordon, Thomas, Thabo, and Noah. We don't have a PG.

We're going to draft Derrick Rose. We're not going to trade for McGrady. We probably will trade either Hinrich or Nocioni. More likely it will beHinrich, but it probably should be both. Nocioni's contract stinks for a bench player.
 
if we trade for choking %*! Tmac i will drive from LA to chicago and DO WORK on paxon then burn down the stadium
 
t-mac, his weird eye, his playoff choking, and his back spasms can stay in houston.
 
some of yall just hate Noah just cause its the thing to do. he is the type of player EVERY winning team needs. he does all the little things for us, plays Dand Rebounds something none of are bigmen do. i hated the pick at the time but noah has growing on me
 
Originally Posted by Bigmike23

some of yall just hate Noah just cause its the thing to do. he is the type of player EVERY winning team needs. he does all the little things for us, plays D and Rebounds something none of are bigmen do. i hated the pick at the time but noah has growing on me
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Word

He's a scrappy dude. His offensive game is doo doo but you can't deny that he hustles on plays and does the dirty work
 
i also like the Noah pick he gives us energy and a guy that is willing to do the dirty work. im still very excited about this offseason. For some reasonBeasley is growing on me a lot
 
Originally Posted by Joe Billionaire

eww mcgrady they better not...they better not get wade either both players are injury prone.

marion ftw!!!
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Marion has already said he won't opt out and we already have enough guy at his position
 
Originally Posted by Stringer Bell 32

Originally Posted by Joe Billionaire

eww mcgrady they better not...they better not get wade either both players are injury prone.

marion ftw!!!
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Marion has already said he won't opt out and we already have enough guy at his position
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i meant that they can trade for him

we got too much small guards and too many bench forwards imo.
 
Originally Posted by Stringer Bell 32

we got too much small guards and too many bench forwards imo.
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How does Marion solve the problem of having small guards???

makes no sense


hes not small by any means 6'7 small guard is under 6'4, he moves like a guard and plays like a power forward i can understand what your saying ifi mention wade but marion is a skillful power guard, now i dont think they should give up the #1 but a 2 for 1 sounds reasonable.
 
some of yall just hate Noah just cause its the thing to do. he is the type of player EVERY winning team needs. he does all the little things for us, plays D and Rebounds something none of are bigmen do. i hated the pick at the time but noah has growing on me
Since I'm pretty sure that I'm one of the people your talking about I have to tell you I've been thought he was wack. I thought hewas a bad pick last year at 9 and he would have been an even worse pick the year before at number 2 (cause I'm almost sure we would have got him there). If a dude like lottery picks that whole game is some rebounds and screaming more power to you but I didn't want him then and still ain't feeling dude. I want him to do good since he play for the Bulls but I'm not going to be sad he got traded.
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Add Davis to list of Rose backers
Ex-IU coach puts him in class with Paul, Williams

June 25, 2008
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BY BRIAN HANLEY bhanley@suntimes.com

Mike Davis can give the Bulls three reasons why they should make Derrick Rose the No. 1 pick in Thursday's draft.

And the former Indiana and current Alabama-Birmingham coach can do it in short order: ''He's fast, athletic, and he has a presence about him.''
Davis knows a little something about the pressures basketball brings given his successful yet stressful six-year run at Indiana. He led the Hoosiers to three 20-plus win seasons and four NCAA tournament appearances, including a championship game in 2002. Davis sees Rose, 19, as mature enough to take on the role of court quarterback, particularly given Rose's selfless approach to the game, which helped lead Simeon to two state titles and Memphis to the NCAA championship game last April.

''When you watch him on film, you really appreciate him because he always gets the ball to the right people,'' Davis said. ''That's the beauty of him. Because when a kid has such a high reputation like he has, you think he's going to be getting 25 or 30. If he didn't do that, you'd say, 'Well he didn't get his points.' But if you watch the film, everybody that was open, he got the ball to at the right time.''

Bulls general manager John Paxson has been watching film on Rose and Kansas State forward Michael Beasley since May 20, when the team beat its 1.7 percent chance and jumped from ninth to the top of the draft. Either Rose or Beasley will be handed a Bulls cap by NBA commissioner David Stern on Thursday at Madison Square Garden. But Paxson played it close to the vest Tuesday morning while meeting with the media.

''We're probably leaning a certain way, but I've learned in this business over the next 48 hours, a lot of things can happen,'' Paxson said. ''There's certain things we're still kind of waiting on; some information we've been trying to get on both guys. Not that it'll change anything but it's all part of the puzzle.''

Paxson and his staff spent the balance Tuesday going over the testing the team has done on Beasley and Rose. ''In terms of athletic, psychological,'' Paxson said. ''Again, it's all part of the information and puzzle. You don't have to call a name until Thursday night. We're not trying to be coy or anything like that, but it doesn't serve any purpose for us to say what we're going to do or what direction we're going to go.''

If popular opinion is an indicator, Rose is the Bulls pick.

''[Rose is] special, too,'' Davis said. ''You can tell he's a serious guy about being good. The hardest thing to get a guy to do is lift weights. And he put on 25 pounds over last summer as a freshman. That's basically unheard of.''

If Beasley, who weighed in at 239 pounds last month at the NBA predraft camp came closer to the 6-10 height he was listed at Kansas State, the Bulls might have some serious debate between he and Rose. But Beasley was measured at 6-7 without shoes and 6-8½ with shoes.

''He can score at that size,'' Davis said. ''He has a great feel for the game. And if he can add another 15 or 20, wow, he will be a beast.''

But Davis sees the NBA fast-becoming a guard-first league. In Rose, Davis sees a lot of Chris Paul, a former NBA rookie of the year (2006) and first team All-NBA last season, and Deron Williams.

''Chris Paul and Deron Williams are guys who can dominate a game,'' Davis said. ''And Derrick Rose is in that same class. He is an unbelievable player.''
Tomorrow can't come fast enough

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^^ You aint never lying and what number do you think Rose will wear if thats the pick? I'm assuming 25 and I know all the Bulls fans are going to be on it.Hell we all probably going to cop a Beasley jersey too.
 
Originally Posted by Peteweezy

^^ You aint never lying and what number do you think Rose will wear if thats the pick? I'm assuming 25 and I know all the Bulls fans are going to be on it. Hell we all probably going to cop a Beasley jersey too.
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I'm taking a red tee and putting 25 and Rose on the back for tomorrow's draft. Man, if Beasley gets drafted, I'm gonna feel like a douche.
 
There's an interesting article by K.C. Johnson in todays Sun-Times. K.C. talks about how Deng and Gordon have significance influence in whether the Bullswill be in line to make any major roster moves. Not influence in the sense of having any say, but those contract negotiations can't start until July 1st.The Bulls have until Oct. 31 to sign both guys, and the longer that process takes, the more difficult it will be to make changes. With the salary cap , andReinsdorf's reluctance to hit the luxury tax, the Bulls are in a pickle. A lot depends on how quickly other teams express interest in Lu and B.G.Personally, I'd like to see them both comeback. Both players should get better looks just by having D. Rose on the court. I can picture Rose driving andkicking it out to Ben for 3's or to Luol for his patented 18 foot jumper. That being said, if we could package one of them along with other talent for aproven veteran scorer, I'm down for that as well.
 
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