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Rose, Moore have a history

Long before they became Chicago Bulls teammates, Derrick Rose and E'Twaun Moore were pretty fierce rivals.

Rose grew up on Chicago's South Side. Moore is from East Chicago, Indiana. They didn't meet up on the playgrounds but rather the national-level AAU shootouts.

Moore's SYF Players squad also featured his future Purdue teammate Robbie Hummel, among others.

“It was a grimy team,” Rose said. “It was East Chicago, that's all I know. I don't know the jerseys right now, but that team was just grimy. There were some good battles, though. Very good battles.”

Both players estimated the rivalry began in seventh grade and featured no clear winner.

“We used to battle,” Moore said. “I used to get him sometimes; he might have got me a couple times. So we used to go back and forth. It was real fun. We never knew we'd playing with each other today. It's just kind of special and surprising.”

Rose became a much bigger NBA star, but in the 2007 final ESPN recruiting rankings Moore was rated No. 20 in the nation. Rose was No. 5.

When the Bulls signed Moore in the summer of 2014, he was thought to be a bottom-of-the-roster player, even though he had decent success with Orlando. Last season he was a seldom-used reserve, appearing in 56 games for an average of nine minutes.

New coach Fred Hoiberg has shown plenty of confidence in Moore. During Friday's 102-97 victory over Charlotte at the United Center, Moore played the entire fourth quarter, sharing the backcourt with Rose for most of it.

Overall this season Moore is second on the team in total fourth-quarter minutes played, behind Taj Gibson. And he's third in fourth-quarter points, behind Jimmy Butler and Rose.

“E'Twaun was solid. He gave us great minutes,” Hoiberg said after Friday's contest. “At the end, we wanted a little more size out there.”

Moore is 6-feet-4, but in a two point-guard lineup, that size gives him an edge over Aaron Brooks. Moore took 2 shots in the fourth quarter and hit them both, to go with 3 rebounds.

Overall this season Moore has been efficient, shooting 51 percent from the field. He's averaging 5.9 points and 18 minutes.

“E'Twaun, he could be the point, I could be the two; it could be vice versa,” Rose said. “I like playing with E'Twaun. It's kind of weird, because we had a lot of battles (growing up). I know his competitive spirit. I know why he's here, and he deserves every minute that he's out there, every second that he's out there.

“He knows the game, he's a great teammate, a great dude. We need guys like that on the team. I'm just happy he got the opportunity.”

It makes sense that Rose and Moore would hit it off as friends. Both are quiet and soft-spoken. In fact, Moore probably is the quieter of the two. So he's not one to get excited about fourth-quarter opportunities.

“That's my demeanor. I never get rattled,” Moore said. “I just go out there and play and I guess coach feels confident in me to keep me in at the end of the game. I've just got to keep doing what I do and finish games strong.”

The Bulls have one more home game, Monday against Indiana, before departing for the annual circus road trip.

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