Bulls have had a whirlwind week
The surprising rise of Derrick Rose and the Bulls into the NBA’s elite class has come with certain complications.
Maybe they’re more distractions than complications, but Rose and the Bulls have been confronted with a number of side stories that threaten to derail coach Tom Thibodeau’s strategy of focusing on nothing but the next game on the schedule.
No. 1: Michael Jordan declares Rose the MVP.This happened after the Bulls pounded Jordan#146;s Charlotte Bobcats 101-84 on Wednesday. Jordan might be the vote that counts, but media members actually choose the winner.
#147;MVP of the season,#148; Jordan told reporters after the game. #147;He deserves it. He#146;s playing that well. He deserves it, without a doubt. And if he doesn#146;t get it, now he#146;ll see how I felt a lot of years.#148;
Jordan won five MVP awards during his brilliant career with the Bulls, but he also lost a couple of controversial votes to Charles Barkley in 1993 and Karl Malone in #146;97.
Rose#146;s top competition for MVP was thought to be LeBron James. But James#146; value is slipping with Miami losing five straight before defeating the Lakers on Thursday and dropping its third game of the season to the Bulls last week.
Let#146;s face it, unless Rose suffers a season-ending injury or the Bulls lose about 12 in a row, he#146;s got the MVP award pretty much wrapped up.
#147;I don#146;t let it get to my head,#148; Rose said Thursday at the Berto Center. #147;I#146;m just a basketball player. Basketball, this is my job. It#146;s something I love doing. Thank God I#146;m good at it. I just love playing this game, and I#146;m happy people are talking about it.#148;
Pressed about Jordan#146;s comment, Rose laughed and said, #147;That#146;s great that he said it. Trust me, I appreciate it and I will never forget it.#148;
No. 2: Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf projects four championships in the Bulls#146; future.Reinsdorf made the optimistic prediction in an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times. Considering how poorly the Heat#146;s premature celebrating last summer has come across, this was a surprising statement, but the Bulls took it in stride.
#147;That#146;s crazy,#148; Rose said. #147;We#146;re still trying to get up there. Our biggest goal right now is trying to become this 48-minute team. Winning championships, that#146;s later down the road. Right now we#146;re trying to focus on Atlanta and trying to play a perfect game, but that#146;s going to be hard.#148;
Rose turned around the championship talk by mentioning he#146;s yet to win a playoff series in the NBA.
#147;The biggest thing we can do this year is get past the first round, since we didn#146;t do it for two years,#148; he said. #147;Finals and all the championship stuff, that#146;s so far away. But I think we#146;re a good team.#148;
No. 3: The Bulls will host a reunion of the 1991 championship team at Saturday#146;s game against Utah.The timing of this event isn#146;t going to help squelch the title talk about this year#146;s team. But everyone seems to be excited about bringing together Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant, John Paxson, B.J. Armstrong, Stacey King and the rest.
#147;We#146;re thrilled to have them back,#148; coach Tom Thibodeau said. #147;It#146;s such a big part of our tradition and history, and what they did was amazing. The fact that they#146;re here is not going to help in terms of what we have to do on the floor.
#147;We#146;re excited that they#146;re here, but we know we have to play well. We can#146;t be distracted. We have to stay focused. Then after the game we#146;ll partake in the celebration.#148;
Pippen has been around the team quite a bit lately, including the recent road games in Orlando and Miami. He will join the television broadcast team for the playoffs.
No. 4: President Obama thanks the Celtics for giving up Thibodeau.Obama held a private meeting with several Celtics while he attended a charity fundraiser in Boston earlier this week. Thibodeau spent the past three seasons as a Celtics assistant.
#147;He actually thanked us for giving him our guy,#148; Boston guard Ray Allen said, according to espn.com. #147;He was like, #145;How#146;d you guys let that guy go?#146;#148;
Asked about that exchange on Thursday, Thibodeau perked up. #147;I can say that we certainly appreciate his support. I appreciate his support,#148; he said. #147;We know he#146;s a big fan of the Bulls and we#146;re excited about that.#148;
Added Rose: #147;Obama is my guy. He#146;s been supporting us when we were a bad team, and he#146;s still supporting us. It#146;s kind of good when you#146;ve got the president on your side.Hopefully, if we get to the Finals, he#146;ll appear at a game.#148;
Hang on. One opponent at a time, remember.