Rose happy to see Bulls’ balanced scoring
There are 37 NBA players averaging at least 17 points per game, and as of Wednesday none played for the Bulls.
Balanced scoring has been the rule for the Bulls this season. Since Carlos Boozer scored 31 points in a losing effort at Miami in the opener, the most points scored by any Bulls player is 23 — by Luol Deng against Indiana.
“I think guys are sharing the ball, making quick decisions, making plays for each other, and that’s important,” coach Tom Thibodeau said.
But isn’t Derrick Rose supposed to be the team’s dominant scorer? He’s still getting acclimated after an 18-month layoff, no doubt, but he also scored 32 points in 31 minutes in the preseason against Indiana. The rust seemed to be gone on that night.
Before leaving for Denver to begin the six-game circus road trip, Rose talked about how he “could care less” about his stats.
“Winning takes care of everything,” he said. “My job is to win games. If I wasn’t the leading scorer, who cares?”
Maybe the Bulls should care. There usually aren’t many teams without an 18-point scorer among the league’s elite.
Oklahoma City has Kevin Durant at 29.6 points and Russell Westbrook at 22.8, but that’s an extreme case. San Antonio peaks with Tony Parker at 18.5 points.
Rose has hit 20 points just once — against Indiana on Saturday — and his assist total is relatively low at 4.5 per game.
“I think what he’s doing a lot of right now is forcing the defense to collapse, then making the right play, which I think is giving us rhythm 3s,” Thibodeau said. “As we continue to shoot better, it will open up the floor more for him. It all goes hand in hand. Just make the right play.”
The final moments of Monday’s defensive struggle against Charlotte provided some good signs. Rose scored 2 late baskets with the Bulls clinging to a small lead. On the first, he pulled up in front of three defenders and hit a quick, one-handed bank shot. Then he broke through the lane for an uncontested lay-in.
Earlier in the fourth quarter, there were a couple of times when Rose gave it up early, which resulted in Joakim Noah finding Carlos Boozer for a 2 key lay-ins.
“I think he’s real close to exploding,” Thibodeau said of Rose. “The way he stepped up at the end of the game, not only the baskets that he made, but the plays that he made. When they came with the early trap, he made the right read, hit Jo in the middle of the floor.
“That’s the way we have to play. The game’s going to tell you what you have to do.”
It is tough to argue with anything that happens during a five-game winning streak. The Bulls will need Rose to deliver some big scoring nights down the road.
But reaching the second round of the playoffs last season without Rose may have provided the confidence in both Rose and his teammates that this one player doesn’t need to dominate on this team.
“I’m happy with how I’m performing,” Rose said. “I’m OK with it. I know that I’m going to catch my rhythm. As long as I’m playing defense and giving a great effort, that’s all I can do right now.
“I can’t get frustrated; I’m doing everything in my will to prepare my game and really work on my game, being efficient. It’s not clicking the way I want it to yet, but it’s going to come.”
mmcgraw@dailyherald.com