King Me

The early criticism of Derrick Rose this season has been that he's been too unselfish with the ball. While unselfishness is an important quality in a basketball player, your team suffers if you're the leader and you're not taking shots yourself. Tom Thibodeau told Rose to change that. While he didn't do a complete 180 in a 108-98 win over the Sacramento Kings, he still led the team with 19 points and eight assists. He was also rusty in taking care of the ball as he committed a game-high six turnovers. This win was more than about Rose however.

There was balance on offense all-around. Rip Hamilton created his own shots and knocked them down. I particularly liked how he got open on the baseline and hit his attempts effortlessly. It may be early, but Hamilton's first three games have been very inspiring and encouraging. How about Carlos Boozer? All he did was record a double-double of 16 points and 15 rebounds. That was pretty amazing. Luol Deng had 12 points. So did Ronnie Brewer, who made all five of his shots. C.J. Watson did well off the bench with eight, as did Kyle Korver, who scored all six of his points from beyond three-point range. Keep it up, Kyle.

Of course, this win wasn't perfect. The Bulls didn't take good enough care of the ball to hold off a Sacramento run. Also contributing to that inability of holding off the Kings was the lack of intensity they displayed whenever they were able to add on to the deficit. When they build up a decently sized lead against a weaker team like the Kings, they need to go for the kill, especially when they're not on their home court. You don't want to lose any momentum. They need to stay out of foul trouble too. No one received a DQ, but Rose had four fouls in the third quarter, forcing Thibodeau to pull him in favor of Watson. Rose finished with five, so did Noah. Omer Asik had four. The Bulls don't want to find themselves in a situation where both true centers foul out because even though Taj Gibson is certainly competent down low, you don't want to have to be creative like that at the end of a game.

The Bulls did outhustle the Kings on fast break points. I don't know the numbers exactly, but the Bulls had well over 30. There was the jump ball in the second half that lead to an easy open layup for Hamilton. That's just one example though. That hustle will come in handy when the team gets back at it tomorrow night in L.A. against the Clippers. Chris Paul and Blake Griffin will be ready for that type of play, so the Bulls better have a good strategy against this up-and-coming team. Should be an exciting one.