Rose sees big things for Bulls this season

On the day before the Bulls begin their preseason, Derrick Rose offered a very positive outlook on the state of the team.

Rose believes everything is going well with his own game, new addition Pau Gasol can carry the offense early on, and the starting five already is playing lights-out, Tom Thibodeau-style defense.

"This is a dangerous team," Rose said after Sunday's practice at the Advocate Center. "I think when you have (Gasol) and Jo (Noah) passing the ball the way that they do and you've got Jimmy (Butler) cutting and getting in lanes and me running, pushing the ball … we have a dangerous team, I think."

All those rosy predictions will be put to the test when the Bulls open the preseason Monday night against Washington at the United Center. They play again Tuesday at Detroit.

Yes, it's only preseason, but it will be interesting to get a look at a healthy Rose and some new Bulls in an actual game.

Rose made it clear he will be looking to feed the post with Gasol early. That's a similar strategy to starting Carlos Boozer the past few years. The Bulls had mixed results with Boozer as a go-to scorer, but Rose has confidence in Gasol, who sports a career scoring average of 18.3 points.

"When you have somebody like Pau, you could just let him start out carrying the offense right from the beginning of games and just let him dictate how the game is going to go," Rose said.

"I don't have to worry about starting off games the way I used to in the past. If we keep him healthy, we know we've got a good year. It's all about keeping him healthy."

Wait a minute. Most people would say this season is about keeping Rose healthy. Guess he's not worried about that.

Rose said Thibodeau has been running the team more during the first week of camp, which he appreciated. Rose also complimented Butler's outside shooting.

"We've been playing kind of fast," Rose said. "Pau and Jo, they don't care if me and Jimmy or Dun (Mike Dunleavy) push the ball. They just run out there, run behind us and don't complain about touches or anything."

Rose put it on himself to get Gasol touches. Low-post scoring should create more open looks on the outside and paths to the basket for Rose. At least, in theory, that's how it will work.

"Pau, you can tell he's been scoring the ball ever since he was younger," Rose said. "Jo, he was just a rebounder and an energy guy, and we forced him to shoot the ball the last couple of years he's been in the league. If anything, I think (Gasol) is going to help Jo's game a lot."

Thibodeau didn't think the Bulls were particularly sharp at Sunday's practice. Rose, on the other hand, felt good about the defense during the first week of camp.

"The whole team's been great, but the first five, we're so good defensively, I think it's kind of scary," Rose said. "We're kind of like in midseason form defensively with the first five."

There will be no definitive answers in the next two days, but it will be a good sign if Rose plays well and the Bulls start learning how to play through Gasol. Obviously, rookies Doug McDermott and Nikola Mirotic will be in the spotlight, as well.

"I think they're anxious to play in a game," Thibodeau said of his players. "You're going against the same people every day. It's important to not get bored and to lock in to what we're doing, try to improve, and you need your entire team to make that commitment."

Rose had one last prediction. He's not likely to see the fourth quarter early in the preseason, but when it comes to crunchtime, the ball's not going into the post. At least, not initially.

"Who's going to have the ball? Me," Rose said with the laugh. "There's no doubt that I'm not going to have the ball. I think everybody on the team knows that."

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