What's Up with the Association's Top Teams?

We are slightly farther into the NBA season and even though it has only been a few days since I last shared my thoughts on the world’s greatest game, there have been some developments worth discussing regarding some of the league’s biggest and brightest teams.

Miami Heat:Artist rendering of LeBron James last night

Wow have these last few days been a learning experience or what? First, we find out Dwyane Wade may have plantar fasciitis. For those unaware, that is a very painful inflammation in the foot. After missing three games due to soreness in the foot, Wade was adamant he was fine and returned against the Warriors on Tuesday and looked very good, scoring 34 points and shooting 48%. However last night he shot 35% en route to to 17 points and a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. With this vicious schedule putting teams in action with hardly any rest, that foot is going to be a nagging issue that could come back to haunt Miami big time since Wade has hit both game winners for the team this season.

As for LeBron James, he spent the summer training with NBA legend Hakeem Olajuwon to improve his post game. Hakeem’s career highlight is leading the Houston Rockets to back-to-back championships, leading to the city being dubbed “Clutch City.” Apparently Hakeem couldn’t do much for him as LBJ has spent the last two nights constructing “Anti-Clutch City” for himself and his fellow Heatles by performing miserably in the fourth quarter and overtime of both games. LeBron did practically nothing against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday, notching three points in the fourth and overtime...combined. Then last night LeBron went 1-6 in the fourth and overtime, and missed several crucial free throws down the stretch. Granted it was one game in January, but it is worth pointing out the Heat have won on two game winners this season and they weren’t LeBron. Now when he’s had the ball in his hands in the clutch he’s been ineffective and cost the team. It is great LeBron has taken his game inside the three point arc and is using his superior athletic skills, but until he gets over whatever it is in his head the Heat are in serious trouble if Wade is out.

Chicago Bulls:

I get so nervous thinking about Chicago's issues so I look at this to relax

You want to talk about a team in trouble? Chicago has the deepest team in the league and may very well be the best team in the league, but there are some concerns moving forward. The most important is Derrick Rose’s health. He missed last night’s game with a sprained toe and has been having issues with his left elbow. He says he is fine, but who is really going to come out and say “Yo I’m fucked up, man”? If his toe is hurt badly then he won’t be able to drive as much and this is not a good thing. No Rose means no offense in the Windy City since there is not one person on that team who can create for themselves consistently.

The other major issue here is Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah. The Bulls are paying them a whole lot of money and in the fourth quarter of the last few games they’ve been doing a whole lot of sitting on the bench. People have theorized that coach Tom Thibodeau doesn’t trust them enough to play them in the late game situations, but I feel it is too weird that they are sitting for an entire quarter. My theory on it is that they are both injury prone so he is going to limit their minutes in the early season to play them longer stretches come playoff time. At least that is what I hope this is all about. If Rose is jacked up, their next best scoring options are Boozer, Rip Hamilton, and Luol Deng. Rip is nursing a groin injury, Deng plays too many minutes to be relied on too often, and if Boozer isn’t even playing then this is all very bad. And Joakim Noah’s defense and rebounding is key to the team’s success, but if he isn’t being used due to ineffectiveness, then Chicago is in some serious trouble in their quest for a ring.

Oklahoma City Thunder:

I have no clever image for this one

People are saying Durant and Westbrook are fine, but I just don’t buy it. I also don’t like how Westbrook’s percentages are going up, but his assists have stayed the same. I don’t buy that Westbrook and Durant will coexist peacefully and win a title. Well maybe they can win one, but I don’t know how great this relationship will be in the future. The Thunder also have a bit of an issue now with Eric Maynor, their back-up point guard, going down for the season with a torn ACL. He was an important piece of that Thunder depth and if the injury bug starts hitting them harder this is going to be a long season.

Los Angeles Lakers:This is all I think of when I think of Kobe

Some will say Kobe is playing great, I will say Kobe is hogging the ball because he wants to send some kind of a message that he’s still good. Yeah good for him, let’s see how taking 30 shots a game works for them come playoff time. I still refuse to believe that the FIFTEEN YEARS of wear and tear on his body aren’t going to come back and haunt him during this insane schedule. He is already nursing like four different injuries, and if doesn’t take time to heal and keeps trying to do so much this won’t end well. And even if the injuries don’t pile up for Kobe, the Lakers can’t win a championship if he is playing like this. I am glad for Mike Brown that the Lakers are playing better than people thought they would, but sadly reality is going to hit this team at some point.

Also, Andrew Bynum is going through the best stretch of his career. Let’s give it about six more games before he gets injured. And that is very sad because Bynum and Gasol up front gives LA an advantage over almost everybody, but for some reason Kobe is taking the most shots per game he has since 2006...when they had Kwame Brown and Smush Parker. Keep in mind Kobe is older and more beat up than he was back then. The Lake Show is almost over so we should enjoy it while we can. Kobe doesn’t have Phil Jackson there to stop him from being so enamored with being Kobe. Mike Brown is an enabler who allowed LeBron James to build up the biggest ego on the planet, so we can expect more of the same here.

That is it for now. There are games on TNT tonight that will be so bad I will more than likely spend my night reading Keith Richards’ autobiography and watching WWE’s Bret Hart compilation from 2005. Why on Earth do I want to watch the unbelievably overrated Knicks take on a Grizzlies team missing their best player? And why would I want to watch Dwight “I am half-assing it because I don’t want to be here in Orlando” Howard play the Warriors? Yuck.

You Can Act Like a Man: A rant on the weak Indiana Pacers

Aside from people who don’t hold the door open for those behind them, nothing in life pisses me off more than poor sports. Of course as a little kid I’d flip out if I lost in games and I’d be ruined. I try not to do that as I’ve grown up but it still comes out. Granted I’m talking about video games or board games, but it is still childish and lame to freak out about losing. Freaking out about that stuff when you’re a kid is one thing, but for an adult professional athlete making millions of dollars a year to act like a baby after losing is something that drives me over the edge. When you’re a grown ass man and you lose, own up and accept it like a man then use it to go back and get better. Don’t go around bitching or making excuses.

I hate it when people pull a Carmelo Anthony and make a bunch of excuses as to why their team lost and then say, “But I’m not making excuses.”

I hate it when greatest fighter of all time Anderson Silva dodges all of Vitor Belfort’s punches, easily discards Vitor’s takedown attempt, and then kicks Vitor in the face and lays him out and a few weeks later Vitor starts saying Silva only won because of luck, but he doesn’t believe in luck, but basically he’s saying it was luck.

I was once briefly a LeBron James fan but gave up on him after he started acting like a prick. The epitome of his pre-The Decision dickness came after losing to the Orlando Magic in the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals. Rather than shake hands and tell Dwight Howard and Co. good game as the series ended, LeBron stormed off the court refusing to shake hands or talk to the press. His reasoning for this was because he’s a “winner.” No, I’m pretty sure it is because he’s a baby.

But last night I was not pleased when the Chicago Bulls finally closed out their first round series against the Indiana Pacers. Granted that was a very happy moment as the Bulls routed Indy 116-89. Derrick Rose took it to a whole new level in the third quarter. When the Pacers got within four, Rose assisted Taj Gibson on a jumper. That was the beginning of the end for Indiana.

Watch this. Rose, injured left ankle and all, hits a three. Then he goes and blocks a Roy Hibbert dunk, and yes Hibbert is over 7 feet while Rose is maybe 6’3”. Then Rose hits two more threes. He even hit a free throw somewhere in there too. That beefed up Chicago’s lead and essentially finished the game. Up until the deciding game when Chicago ramped up the intensity and blew Indiana out of the water, it was a tough series and both teams played hard, my man. But Indiana’s star player Danny Granger had to ruin it.

In his post-game interview, Granger said Bulls center Joakim Noah is a dirty player. He said this because during Game 5 Noah’s energy and intensity which helped pump up the Chicago crowd and the rest of the team, got under the skin of some Pacers. Josh McRoberts threw some womanly strikes at Noah and got ejected for it. McRoberts was claiming Noah elbowed him in the throat so he had to retaliate. While there was an elbow by Noah it should be pointed out McRoberts was shoving him at the same time and this series has been classic physical playoff basketball so it is whatever. Later on Tyler Hansbrough started getting pushy with Noah as well since Noah was acting in a way Granger described as “cowardly.” With this being one of the most physical playoff series in recent memory, I tend to think it was more frustration out of getting stomped out and sent home than Noah being a dirty player.

Joakim Noah is not a dirty player at all. To somebody who is not a Bulls fan Noah may be ugly, annoying, and an asshole but to say he is a dirty player is ridiculous. Bruce Bowen was a dirty player, Derek Fisher is a dirty player, Kevin Garnett can be a dirty player, but Noah is not like that. Noah brings so much energy and heart to a game that if he’s on your team you’d love him but if he isn’t on your team you think he’s an annoying dick. The latter was the view the Pacers took and it led them to act like babies.

But Granger wasn’t being a baby, man, he was just standing up for his teammates. He tried to go after Noah when the players were shaking hands after the game. Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau intervened, which I’m sure was terrifying for Granger since if you type in Tom Thibodeau in a Youtube search, the first search suggestion is “Tom Thibodeau yelling.” Thibs is an intense man. Granger is a punk bitch.

Granger went on to say that once “you start cheap-shotting people it gets out of hand.” Ah yeah, those god damn fucking son of a bitch Chicago Bulls and their cheap shots and dirty play reminiscent of the 2007 San Antonio Spurs. Uhhhh what? All series we’ve heard about the lack of physicality from the Bulls. Scottie Pippen said the Bulls had to start fouling people hard and standing up for themselves….because the Pacers were the team using dirty tricks and hard fouls.

As Basketbawful pointed out earlier, Pacers reserve center Jeff Foster was at the forefront of dirty play as two of his fouls against the Bulls were ruled as flagrant. First he went after Rose’s face, then he cheaply elbowed Deng in the head. Also in Game 1 Rose got in his face after a cheap foul that involved Foster clubbing at his head. Josh McRoberts, Johnny I Have To Defend Myself Against Blows I Feel Are Cheap, cheaply elbowed Rose in the face following Rose’s monster dunk in Game 4.

After seeing that shit, how am I supposed to believe Joakim Noah is some dirty player because in a scramble for a rebound he got into it a little with McRoberts and Hansbrough? Keep in mind the Bulls did not once call McRoberts or Foster dirty players. When asked about Foster’s cheap foul in Game 1, Tom Thibodeau just said Foster is a hard worker and given a lot of great years to the league. Everybody said it is playoff basketball and this is the game. Then after a massive blowout loss ending the Pacers’s season, Danny Granger tries to make Joakim Noah look like a shit head.

And McRoberts and Hansbrough can go suck a fat baby’s balls for getting so upset that Noah was constantly attacking and bringing energy while their team was losing. It wasn’t even like Noah was dancing like LeBron James when the Cavs would beat shit teams. Noah was just pumping up the crowd in the United Center and was working his ass off. His grandfather who had never seen him play in the NBA was there so he was pumped, and this was the series clinching game for a Bulls team with championship aspirations. The Bulls were flat all series and Noah's energy was the catalyst behind their good play last night. He wasn’t shit talking the Pacers, they were just being sore losers. I wasn’t aware trying hard and pumping up the crowd is “cowardly.”

Noah had nothing but praise for the Pacers after the game, saying they played hard as hell. Swingman Kyle Korver pointed out that the playoffs are physical so this stuff happens, as well as stating the Pacers were upset because they were down by a lot so they were frustrated. He also pointed out the Pacers were the team giving hard fouls through the first four games so this anger at the Bulls makes no sense. Agreed.

Either way, this has only given me more reason to not like the Pacers. McRoberts and Hansbrough were punks for trying to get into it with Noah just because they were losing, Foster is a punk for head hunting, and Danny Granger is the biggest punk of all for having a selective memory over what has happened in this series. McRoberts and Hansbrough going after Noah in the heat of the game can be understood I guess since in the heat of the game you get crazy, but Granger acting like a child and talking trash after the game is messed up.

As Don Vito Corleone told Johnny Fontane, “You can act like a man.” When you lose, lose with dignity. Karl Malone still gave the Bulls props when losing to them in the Finals for the second straight year in 1998. Even when the Phoenix Suns got screwed against the San Antonio Spurs in 2007 Steve Nash still hugged Spurs players and gave them props, he didn’t try to confront them and start shit. McRoberts’s wussy punches and Granger’s trash talk hurts that reputation as a tough, scrappy team the Pacers built in this series and instead makes it seem like they have a weak ass childish leader and are sore losers. Rather than just say it was a good series, Granger had to let his frustration of almost toppling a championship hopeful only to get smashed take over and say stupid things.

On the bright side though, the Indiana Pacers are out of the NBA Playoffs.

And let me just state my above statement on KG being dirty from time to time does not change the fact he's one of the best ever and one of my favorites ever. I'll cry when he retires, but that doesn't change the fact he undercut Channing Frye and smacked up his dick.

Derrick Rose is My Basketball Jesus

“I’m gonna have to apologize to the people; I don’t think I can really be objective.”

That was said by Bobby “The Brain” Heenan while doing commentary in the 1992 Royal Rumble and cheering for the wrestler he was managing, “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair. It is also the first thing I thought of when I realized every piece about the NBA I want to write is just about how Derrick Rose is the best player in the Association this year. Rose is my favorite player so I will always go nuts over everything he does, though I do feel I did a pretty good job of staying unbiased in the first post I had here on Black Belt Basketball. Rose’s major statistical improvements and the unexpected rise of the Chicago Bulls speak volumes for Rose’s MVP candidacy. As a student of the game I’m able to see that.

But as a Chicago Bulls fan, this has been the greatest season for the league in 13 years. I can’t help but start buying into the hype. The Bulls currently hold the top spot in the Eastern Conference and according to ESPN they have the best chance of winning the championship this year and being a dynasty in the future. I don’t want to jinx them so I won’t say they’re going to win it all, but as a fan this pumps me up to see other people saying it. And all of this is because of Derrick Rose.

When Rose came into the league people said he wasn’t clutch and couldn’t play defense. This year he’s shattered those misconceptions. Ask Chris Paul and Deron Williams if Rose can play defense. Following a loss to the Blazers, Portland’s Nicolas Batum said Rose can’t guard anybody. Chicago’s next game was against the Jazz, and Rose forced Williams into 38% shooting and 5 turnovers. It wasn’t done there. The next game was against the Hornets and Chris Paul was held to 3-10 shooting and only 6 assists. The top two point guards in the league decimated in back to back games. The on St. Patrick’s Day the Bulls played the Nets who now have Deron Williams. Williams is apparently nursing an injured wrist, but Rose still held him to 1-12 shooting and had a beast block on him in the fourth quarter. Then against Indiana last week the Pacers had a chance to win in the closing moments of the fourth but Rose blocked the shot. I don’t think Rose can guard people.

As for him being clutch, that isn’t even a debate anymore. Rose unloaded 19 fourth quarter points to send that game with Indiana to overtime. In the first game against Houston this year, Rose scored 17 points in the fourth to carry Chicago to victory. In the second meeting with Houston this year Rose hit that three to send the game to overtime then scored five of Chicago’s ten points in the OT period. Against the Phoenix Suns, D. Rose hit clutch shot after clutch shot and even scored more points than the entire Suns team in the second overtime. Rose also made big plays against the Lakers, and has been making big plays all year. Some people would say Rose is a killer now, but I like the way Brian Scalabrine put it:

"[Killers] are the guys who get you the need baskets. I have a different word for killers. I call them motherfuckers. And right now, Derrick Rose is the baddest motherfucker in the league by far. He is the reason we win."

Yes he is. He’s playing like an animal and I am so happy because of it. When the Bulls drafted him I was so happy. I don’t pay attention to college basketball so I had no real knowledge of what Rose had done previous, but to get the local boy with the first pick in the draft and excite the entire fan base was a big thing. I’ve followed every game of his career. I’ve seen every big game he’s had, from the 36 point explosion against the Celtics in Game 1 of the 2009 Playoff series all the way up to his 42 point onslaught against the league-best San Antonio Spurs this season. I was walking around the room with my arms in the air in triumph during the Bulls’ demolition of the Hawks last night in which Rose had 30 and 10 and hit six 3 pointers.

Every time Derrick Rose steps on the court I turn into a 10 year old. Every time he goes to the hoop and hits one of his unreal acrobatic layups I stand up pumping my fist. When he hits a three right over a defender I walk around the room with my fist in the air. When he dunks on somebody I get crazy eyes and just start yelling “Yeah!” When he hits a big shot in the fourth I get up and run around the room with my hand over my face screaming. I’m not embarrassed. It just goes to show that Derrick Rose is so good he can make a grown ass man act like a bitch.

This of course would probably lead you to ask why in the blue hell I get like this over Derrick Rose. Rose embodies everything I’d want to see in a player in my favorite sport. The best thing about him is the fact he’s so humble. He could easily brag about the damage he’s doing to teams this year, but instead he gets very shy if you tell him he’s been the best in the league this far. After beating Miami for the third time, Rose was interviewed after the game and rather than celebrate having a good game and winning he freaked out about how he nearly cost his team the game with two turnovers and missing a jumper. He felt terrible that he nearly ruined the game for his teammates. When the reporter interviewing him tried to get him to talk a little trash about Miami’s big three and say something about the great season he’s been having, Rose just shook his head and smiled and said it was all about the team’s success and it doesn’t matter what he does on his own.

That’s pretty big for a superstar to do. When Boston beat the Lakers in the 2008 Finals, I remember Kobe saying the loss hurts because it had been such a big year for him. LeBron James constantly talks about himself like he’s a global icon. Derrick Rose has been playing better than both of them all season but doesn’t want to hear about how good he’s been, he just wants you to talk about what a great team the Bulls have been. Saying he wanted to be MVP before the season started was the only time Rose has ever gotten cocky. Other than that he’s always respectful and reserved. I love it.

The other thing that makes Rose so great is that killer instinct he has. Over the summer he contacted both Dwyane Wade and LeBron James about coming to Chicago. He contacted Wade a few times, but Wade blew him off. Then when the big three decided to form in Miami, Rose hit the gym and went nuts. He developed a three point shot, his free throw shooting has gone way up, his defense is way better, and he’s approached the season with a determination nobody knew he had. All the effort he’s put into this year started because of the free agency period in which the Bulls management wanted him to court James and Wade. Rose knew he could lead the Bulls on his own and when LBJ and Wade went to South Beach he set out to prove to everybody he can. That’s the type of drive that brings to memory a certain guard who also played for the Bulls.

Rose also preaches Tom Thibodeau’s message constantly and has helped Thibs transform the culture of the Bulls this year. He doesn’t call Thibs out and make it seem like his coach is the issue if the Bulls lose a game. He doesn’t slam into Thibs on the sideline if he’s mad about his decisions like some stars. He trusts what Thibodeau brings to the table and he believes in him. That faith and loyalty to a coach is something you’d expect out of a truly dedicated star, but because of the bond Rose and his coach have developed it has the Bulls playing at a level nobody except the most serious of Bulls fans would have believed.

Derrick Rose is such a special player. When he proclaimed he could win the MVP award deep down I wished it would happen, but on my other blog I still said Kevin Durant would be the one who wins it because I hadn’t seen exactly how much Rose had improved in just a few months. On my other blog I had said the Bulls would be the 4 seed in the East, but in conversations before the season started with my brother and my friend Josh, both Bulls fans, I said I believed they had the parts to contend right away because Rose was going to be that good. It was just the extremely biased Bulls fan in me saying what I really wanted to happen this year. But now it is happening. I’m stunned.

I texted Josh earlier saying Derrick Rose is the second coming of either Jesus or Michael Jordan. Josh responded that Rose has taken the best parts of both of them and combined them into one superhuman. He may be right. After the Bulls beat the Hornets in that game I mentioned earlier, Carlos Boozer said of Rose, “He’s a monster, man. And I keep telling people, when it’s all said and done—he’s 22—he’s going to be the best one.” I don’t know about him being better than MJ, but we’re witnessing a special player this year. He’s so humble and so driven and has his team playing at an unbelievable level. I’m so happy I’ve been supporting him from the moment the Bulls drafted him.

I’ve never cheered for an athlete the way I’ve been cheering for D. Rose (I don’t know if I could give almost three pages to Steve Nash), and I’ve never pulled for a team the way I’m pulling for the Bulls. I’m so pumped for the next 12 games and the Playoffs, as well as the many years of success the Bulls likely have in store. Knock on wood.

LBJ MVP? Don't insult Derrick Rose like that

As the NBA season enters the home stretch, people are offering up their opinions on who should win the end of season awards. The biggest debate seems to be coming when discussion who should win the biggest award: Most Valuable Player. People are picking sides like they have in all great battles before this, be it Team Edward vs. Team Jacob, North vs. South, the Madness vs. the Mania, or even Rock vs. Hogan. This time it appears the debate tearing the universe apart is who deserves to be MVP: Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls or the Miami Heat's LeBron James. LeBron has won the last two years and is one of three people, alongside Steve Nash and Karl Malone, to win two MVPs and no championship. If he wins his third this year he will be the first man in history to have three MVPs and no titles. And looking at how the Heat have been playing, it doesn't seem like his championship drought is ending anytime soon. Meanwhile Derrick Rose has the Bulls playing on a level only the diehard fans imagined the team getting to this year. LeBron may put up some beastly stats, but at the end of the day Derrick Rose does too much for the Bulls to be denied the MVP honors.

LeBron continues to have his ego stroked because he can beef up a stat line like no other, but stats shouldn't be the only criteria for an MVP. I disagree with his first two MVP wins, but you could make the case for him deserving them since he made the Cavaliers look like they could be contenders (only to choke in the playoffs every year). This year though, there's no way to cover for the Heat's shortcomings. After last night's loss to the Knicks, the Heat are now 14-15 against teams who are at .500 or better. They can't win games decided by fewer than 7 points, and they are 1-7 against the NBA's elite. Sure three of those losses are to the Celtics, but if this were a playoff series they'd be on the verge of being swept. Boston outclasses them and humbles them every time they play. Miami punks out crap teams but the Heat have a serious issue against the league's better teams. Chicago, who leads the league in back to back games, has played Miami twice on the second night of back to backs and won both times. The Dallas Mavericks made the Heat their bitch the first time they played in Dallas, then went to Miami and beat them again after being down to start the 4th. The Heat's only big win was against the Lakers on Christmas, and the Lakers never give a shit about the Christmas game. Seriously the Lakers are 2-5 on Chistmas. But this isn't about them. Miami is 1-2 in their last three because losses to the Bulls and Knicks sandwiched an easy win against the lowly Washington Wizards. In those losses to the Bulls and Knicks, LeBron showed us the type of play he usualy saves up for the playoffs, and I don't mean that in a good way.

When the playoffs hit, LeBron is notorious for taking shots he can't hit and turning the ball over a lot. In 08 against the Celtics, the Cavs went out in Game 7 as LeBron took 11 threes, only connecting on 3. He jacks them up but has never been consistent or proven he should have any reason to take them. He's hit one big three ever and feels he is like a new age Ray Allen and can keep launching the three ball no matter what. In 08, what would've happened if he just took the ball at Paul Pierce and Tony Allen rather than try to launch threes up? Could the Cavs have won? I would say the odds were much more promising. But LeBron didn't learn from that mistake because the next year he hit the one big three of his career. Of course this meant he was a big time three point marksman and went 2-8 from deep in the deciding Game 6 of that series. Then last year against Boston he went 7-26 from deep for the series, including two games of going 0-4 and one going 0-5. LeBron still didn't learn from these mistakes and went 1-5 from deep against the Knicks last night and 0-4 against Chicago on Thursday. What's better is the Heat have 3 Point Contest winner James Jones and clutch shooter Eddie House, but LBJ takes the big threes. He bricked badly against the Bulls on a game tying three attempt, then last night came back from getting the shit stuffed out of him by Amar'e Stoudemire on a go ahead bucket only to brick another game tying three. The one time he hit a big three was almost two years ago, but it doesn't stop him from taking them. His inability to hold on to the ball is also costing his team. LeBron is currently third in the league in turnovers and is the only non-PG in the top five. He added to that epic stat by giving up the ball five times against New York, a team that can't even play defense. In such a close game, I'd want my star player holding on to the ball a bit better.

Meanwhile, there's the Chicago Bulls who are right on the cusp of the 1 seed in the East despite their full starting lineup only being together for 12 games now. While Rose's 24.9 points per game, 4.4 rebounds per game, and 8.1 assists and 45% shooting aren't as exciting as LeBron's 26, 7, and 7 on 49% shooting, Rose plays big. Where LeBron got the shit stuffed out of him by Stoudemire and has missed two game tying threes, Rose has made big play after big play for Chicago. There was the three against Houston. There was the ridiculous shot with the shrug against the Lakers. There was the clutch jumper a few minutes later. He hit the big shots to put Chicago in overtime against Phoenix and later win. He hit the big buckets to get them ahead against Miami. LeBron is shooting 33% from deep while Rose shoots 35 which is nearly 11 percentage points better than his average for his first two years. He has a little bit of LeBron syndrome and keeps jacking up threes he doesn't need to though. Rose is shooting 84% from the line to LeBron's 76. Derrick was a career 77.7% free throw shooter going in to the season and is now at 84%. That's amazing. Rose has 196 turnovers to LeBron's 213, and Rose handles the ball way more than LeBron does. Derrick is also the only player averaging 24 points and 8 assists in the entire NBA. The Bulls are two games back from the Eastern Conference lead and have played fewer games than Miami and Boston so far. The fact they can be the 1 seed is amazing considering Rose is his team's only All Star while Miami has their Big 3 and Boston has their Big 4.

LeBron gets to play with fellow MVP candidate Dwyane Wade and fellow All Star Chris Bosh. Chicago signed Carlos Boozer over the summer but he missed the first 15 games with a broken hand. Rose still had the Bulls in the top 4. Then right after Boozer returned, Joakim Noah had to have surgery on his hand and missed 30 games. This was supposed to ruin Chicago since Noah's 13 and 12 and inside presence being gone would cripple them against the elite teams. The Bulls went on to become the hottest team in the NBA under Rose's leadership and devestating play. They beat Boston, something Miami hasn't done. They beat Dallas for a second time while the Heat couldn't beat them once. They beat the Lakers and Orlando. Then they went up against the NBA's best team, the Spurs, and Rose exploded for a career high 42 points to go with 8 assists, 5 boards, and only 1 turnover en route to a 109-99 victory. He shot 18-28 in that game too. Rose shot poor against Miami last Thursday but he hit a big time lay up over James and Bosh to put the Bulls up 85-84 then hit a monster jumper over Dwyane Wade to put them up 89-86. He's become a big time player and nearly single handedly carried Chicago into elite status, including an 8-5 record against teams ESPN sees as elite.

But why pay attention to that? The Heat have three stars and LeBron is a once in a lifetime physical specimen. It doesn't matter the Heat can't beat teams with winning records or that LBJ can't shoot free throws. I don't know how the sporting press could pick LeBron for his third straight MVP when Derrick Rose is doing so much more with so much less. Rose wasn't even in the debate of best point guard in the league going into the season, now he's in the debate of best player in the league. How does that happen and not earn somebody an MVP? The Heat could still win 50 games without LeBron. How many games could Chicago realisitically win without Derrick Rose? It is hard for me to believe LeBron is the most valuable guy on his team when I watched Dwyane Wade carry the Heat on his back to a championship just five years ago. The Heat have a good record as promised but that 14-15 record against .500 teams speaks volumes against LBJ's MVP quest. Derrick Rose has people talking title in the Windy City once again and has elevated his game to nearly unimaginable levels for only a third year player. The Bulls would be nowhere without him.