Rose wants Bulls to bring some nastiness to Game 2
CLEVELAND - Despite the loss in Game 1 of their playoff series, Derrick Rose was still full of enthusiasm after the Bulls practiced Sunday at Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena.
He talked about how much he appreciates the challenge of taking on LeBron James and the top-seeded Cavaliers.
"That's when you make your name - especially if you go out here and win some games, everybody will be talking about you," Rose said. "Why not do it when you're playing against the best player in the world?"
Rose already delivered in the series opener. He was the Bulls' best offensive option by far, finishing with 28 points and 10 assists.
Looking ahead to Monday's Game 2, Rose challenged himself and his teammates to take a bold step.
"We've got to go out there and be totally the opposite of what we did last game," he said. "I don't think we were that aggressive on the defensive end. We talked about it today and we've got to have a type of swagger or nastiness about ourselves."
Sure, that sounds good in theory. But the Bulls getting effectively physical against James, Shaquille O'Neal and the tall, talented Cavaliers - well, that's a challenging task.
An argument can be made that the Bulls didn't get many calls against the Cavs' physical defense. For the most part, that's the way it goes in the NBA against a team with a strong defensive reputation. Rose, though, talked about fighting fire with fire.
"We've got to come out and just start hitting people," Rose added. "No 'and-1s' or anything like that. We've just got to hit people first."
Center Joakim Noah, who has to wrestle with O'Neal in the post, agreed with Rose's strategy.
"I think we were a little bit timid yesterday," Noah said. "We'll be ready to go on Monday. I think all this is a great learning experience. We've just got to keep fighting.
O'Neal, 38, played surprisingly well in Game 1, considering he hadn't played since Feb. 25 because of a thumb injury. He appeared to be in good shape, with his weight at least approaching the 325 pounds listed on the roster.
Whether it's Noah or anybody else, getting physical with O'Neal has a chance of ending badly.
"You've got to be physical. This is the playoffs," Noah said. "They're a very good team; there's no denying that. At the same time, we still feel we can compete with them and we still feel we can win one on Monday."
Oddly enough, coach Vinny Del Negro did not suggest a need to be more physical.
"I don't think the physicality bothered us at all," he said. "I think we responded in that aspect. As the series goes on, it will get more physical."
The Bulls' biggest problems in a 96-83 loss on Saturday were a slow start, too many first-quarter turnovers, a poor showing on the defensive glass and too few shot-makers.
Besides Rose, the Bulls' other four starters shot 36.8 percent in Game 1. The second-year point guard expects more help in Game 2.
"We're going to run certain plays to get other people open so they can take shots," Rose said. "Tomorrow it will be totally different."
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