Bulls find postseason a new season

While it may have seemed like a pricey acquisition last summer for anyone not named LeBron James, it should be easier to see now why Derrick Rose was so interested in getting Joe Johnson to sign with the Bulls.

Much easier.

Johnson would have been the instant offense that doesn't exist for the Bulls if Rose isn't creating it.

The way the Bulls lost to Atlanta on Monday remains a shock to Bulls Nation — any time it happens — because Rose was so dominant for so long and saved so many games on his own this season.

But it's hardly new. This has been the Bulls and this will be the Bulls until the day they find a consistent and serious scoring threat beyond Rose.

The only difference between Rose's MVP season and Game 1 is that this is the postseason and teams are finally playing as hard as the Bulls.

Credit them for playing every game this season — or at least treating every fourth quarter seriously — but most teams don't do that and now the teams alive in the tourney are playing for keeps.

So the Bulls' reliance on Rose hasn't altered, but the way teams approach him has changed dramatically.

For six months they had the Coach of the Year, Tom Thibodeau, coaching every possession like it might be their last, and preparing for every game the same way.

They had the player of the year competing at a ridiculous level, and they had the NBA's most consistent defense.

But the other teams have joined the fight, and Monday night the Bulls were out-coached, outplayed and outworked defensively.

Opposing teams now have the time to scheme Rose and the energy to match him.

As Joe Johnson said postgame Monday, “That was the regular season. This is the postseason.”

And in the fourth quarter when the UC crowd was waiting for Rose to take over like he has done dozens of times this season, leading the furious comeback and frenzied rally, there was an opponent on the floor interested in the outcome.

This time there was Joe Johnson, Al Horford, Josh Smith and Jamal Crawford — all better than their Bulls counterparts — refusing to let it happen, and it didn't help that the Bulls were a disaster defensively.

Strangely, all Rose has been told since Game 1 ended is that he must attack more, get to the paint and create more offensive chances, free throws and foul trouble for Atlanta's front line.

Seriously, you don't think he was trying?

This is what happens when there's no serious option beyond your MVP.

And you're not facing the Pacers any more. Atlanta's big guys are much more athletic than Indiana's, and every time Rose came off a screen Monday night there were two big guys waiting for him, knowing they were quick enough to slide back on Joakim Noah or Carlos Boozer if the Bulls' bigs were trying hard enough to get open underneath.

Everything in the lane was contested and Rose didn't have the freedom he's had all year.

Now, it's up to Thibodeau to create the right matchups, and it's up to the supporting cast to fight for loose balls, prevent second chances, get open and make shots.

It happened a few times, like when Rose drove the baseline, was forced under the bucket and out of bounds, but while in the air found Noah coming down the lane for an easy dunk.

There just wasn't a lot of that on Monday.

This season has been filled with new experiences for a Bulls team that finally won its first playoff series last week.

This is yet another as they get used to the idea that they must actually play defense, not just talk about it.

They know now their MVP won't have his way simply because he desires it, and their coach won't have his way merely because he has done more homework.

It doesn't mean Rose can't dominate again as he has for months, and that the Bulls won't win this series just as they've won games all season.

It just means there's another team in the building now.

And the MVP could use a little help.

brozner@dailyherald.com

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