Seriously, Don't Hurry Back, Derrick

With my new job at the Chicago Tribune, I usually see the Bulls game on one of the many TVs in the newsroom, but since I'm busy working most of the time, I get to actually watch little to none of it. Last night against the Cleveland Cavaliers, I saw virtually zero, so I had to make sure I wasn't going blind when I saw the growing progressive score on the screen. All I can say is wow, what a blowout.

The team with the best record in the NBA slaughtered the Cavs to the tune of 114-75, once again without Derrick Rose. All starters except Joakim Noah, who hauled down 10 rebounds, scored in double figures. Luol Deng led all scorers with 21 and Carlos Boozer continued his recent hot streak with 19 points and 14 boards. C.J. Watson, who many have said recently would start regularly on many other teams in the league, contributed 15 points and seven assists. Rip Hamilton had 13 and Kyle Korver came off the bench with 14.

What about this? The Bulls set a new franchise record with 16 blocked shots. Omer Asik led the party with three of them and five players each had two. Tom Thibodeau had to have been all smiles in that locker room when talking with his players afterward. As we have seen so far this season, there are a few nights where the defense is MIA, but when it's on like it usually is, there might not be a better team that does it in the NBA. They'll need that every night when the playoffs roll around, especially when the inevitable rematch with Miami occurs (feel free to reference this post in the hopeful event it doesn't come to that).

The Chicago Bears could learn a thing or two from the Bulls. Losing a key part of your roster doesn't have to mean the end of the season. You just need the depth to compete and the Bulls are showing to have plenty of it. You and I know Derrick Rose just wants to play regardless of what the match-up is. Hopefully, his injury doesn't linger long enough to trigger talk about him sitting out of the All-Star Game, but that's for another day. In any case, as long as Rose's toe is bothering him and the Bulls are playing inferior opponents, there's no need for him to come back yet. I would recommend that he sit out tonight's game against MJ's Charlotte Bobcats as well. With the upcoming schedule, maybe he should wait until next Sunday against the Heat to come back. The Bulls are fine and there's no sign they're in trouble. Just win and life is beautiful.