Back on Track and On the Road, Looking for Rose

Luol Deng has plenty to celebrate right now.  Leading the Bulls in scoring at 16.9 points per game is nice, but he likes what his team has been doing.  During the last three games, none of which I was able to watch due to work, the Bulls have had three different types of wins, showing signs of being the contender everyone thinks to be.

In Toronto, Tom Thibodeau elected to sit Derrick Rose so that his star point guard could rest a injured hamstring against an inferior opponent.  The Bulls won handily and were back in Chicago before midnight.  The next evening, the Bulls made Paul George eat his words by handing his Indiana Pacers, the last undefeated team in the NBA, their first loss of the season.  That game was over well before the final buzzer sounded.  It wasn't as exciting as stopping Miami's long winning streak last spring, but the United Center is sure becoming known as a place where lengthy streaks die.  Last night, the Bulls had a little trouble with MJ's Charlotte Bobcats, but pulled away in the last few minutes to win their fifth in a row.  Deng put it away with a clutch three, wrapping up a 21-point night.

Don't make any plans to go to the West Side for the rest of the month if you want to watch basketball.  That's right.  It's time for the annual Circus Trip, a six-game road stretch that really lets you know more about the team.  I know it's never fair to lose your gym for two weeks, but a lot can happen in that time.  While we expect the Bulls to contend this year, they can really make a statement if they do well during these games.  How they perform could depend on the crowd's reception when they return home Dec. 2 against the New Orleans Pelicans.

Most pressing has to be Rose's early drought.  In eight games played out of a possible nine, he's third on the team in scoring behind Deng and Carlos Boozer, averaging exactly 15 points.  It's not so surprising that the two players in front of him are those two, but after tearing it up in the preseason, Rose has scored 20 just once, which came in the last Indiana game.

Sure, defenses are playing him tighter now and they probably just took it easy on him during the exhibition schedule.  Still, you would have thought he'd have more than one 20-point contest by the start of this road trip.  I hope he's merely getting used to the competition playing all-out again.  If he truly believes he's the best player in the league, it's going to be time for him to put up or shut up and soon. 

He'll probably get voted onto the All-Star team if he just performs decently, but wouldn't you rather have him prove that fan voting is not just a popularity contest?  He needs to earn that trip to New Orleans in February and shouldn't have to rely on his name to get there.  There's plenty of time to make it happen, but it sure would be nice to get started as November winds down.  Maybe I'm being a little harsh, but a 25-year-old former MVP has to start playing more like one sooner or later.

Rose's next chance at a breakout game comes Thursday, a nationally televised game against the Denver Nuggets.  Plan on being up late as the tip-off is at 9:30.  If you're not used to these West Coast stretches on this trip by now, you've been living under a rock.  The Bulls are great this year, but we may learn how great over these next two weeks.