I am not as concerned with Rose’s passing as you are. I think he is a very capable passer who seems to be improving each year. My main concern with Rose is his Mid-Range to 3 Point-Range shooting and his difficulties on Defense. I really hope all the work he has been doing on his shot pays off. I couldn’t get a great idea of that on the US Team because of a lack of attempts. I also hope he has been putting in time practicing and listening to knowledgeable coaches on how he can become a more dependable defender. Westbrook did play well on the US team but I think that has more to do with Rose trying to adapt his game to best help the team win. When it comes to the NBA game where Rose is a franchise player expected to make things happen for the Bulls that is really when he shines much more brightly than a Westbrook in my opinion.

Always like to read your comments as they are well thought out. When I compared D-Rose to Tony Parker and Stevie Francis, it is strictly based on basketball skills on the court. Not his attitude or demeanor or coach-ability. Of course Rose is already at their peak level only after two seasons and he is still showing rapidly rising improvement curve so Rose should be a much better player then either of those two in a year or two. That said, passing skill is not accurately reflected by checking the assist totals in the box score. Rose will no doubt have a higher assist average this year. However, what I would like to see from him is better court vision. I would like to see him make more passes that lead to another pass for an easy bucket. In other words more “hockey assists”.

Matt Steig…,

I hate Rondo. I hate him for the cheap shot on Brad Miller. I hate him for throwing Captain Kirk into the scorers table. I wouldn’t like him even if he played for the Bulls, just because of his personality. But I’d have to side with that knucklehead, Rondo’s passing is, if not amazing, certainly elite. Think about it, the guy can’t shoot or make free throws to save his life. Yet he is the starting PG for a club that won the championship and nearly won another in two of the last three seasons. He has clearly taken over the leadership of a club that has KG, Pierce and Allen on the team. And he PG for a coach who was a pretty good PG in his playing days. He may be the enemy, but you have to respect his game. By the way he got cut mostly because he can’t make a jumper or free throws, both of which are very necessary skills in FIBA basketball. An his personality probably didn’t help his cause either with coach K.
By the way IMHO Russel Westbrook played as well or better than D-Rose for Team USA.

I’m sorry but saying Rose is like a S. Francis right now is pretty out there. Francis never seemed willing to put the team above himself and Rose does that. Rose appears to be much more coachable which makes a big difference in team success when it involves a point guard in my opinion. I can’t wait for the season either its gonna be an exciting one!

http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/chicago-bulls-confidential/

While most comments here jumped on Nugs Fan with a lot of venom and hate, I’d say he’s not far from the truth. That said, the Jazz have been pretty good (50+ wins) past three of four seasons. While short of being title contenders, they did make it as far as conference finals and that would be huge improvement that I will gladly take as a Bulls fan. And while I like D-Rose, he has a long ways to go before he catches up with D-Will. I know I will generate a lot of hate mail for what I’m about to say. D-Will’s game is pretty complete, (scoring, dishing, defending, 3pt range), D-Rose at this time in his career is a scorer only, though he is improving in the other areas. I have not yet seen the creativity in setting up plays for others from Rose as I have from elite point guards such as Gary Payton, Jason Kidd, Nash, Paul and D-Will. (Living in NJ, I got to witness J. Kidd first hand, the man could control a game with passing and defense, even without scoring!) D-Rose’s passing game looks mechanical. Watching Kidd, Nash, Paul, Rondo and D-Will, their passing game is as fun to watch as their scoring. D-Will is arguably the best point guard in the league right now if you take into account his durability and playoff performance over CP3 and better defense than Nash. To me Right Now D-Rose’s is closer to Tony Parker or a Stevie Francis. Of course D-Rose has the tools and potential to be as good or better than D-Will. For Bulls sake, I hope he’ll blossom.

I do think though that this Bulls team is as good as the Jazz teams with Williams, Boozer, Okur, and Kirilenko with perhaps an edge on defense. So it should be a lot of fun watching this team and contending for conference title.

Is it October yet?

Far as the Nuggets are concerned, they can keep Melo. Enjoy your one and done playoffs, kids.

GO BULLS!

It is not about Melo over Noah. We would be giving up Deng and Noah. Which would leave us starting K. Thomas at Center. How you think that would upgrade our current team is beyond me. The drop off of talent from Noah to K. Thomas is in my opinion far greater than the drop off of talent from Melo to Deng.

Also, your comparison of Rose to Iverson is a bit flawed. First they play a different position. Second one is a gym rat that you can’t get off the practice floor and the other (AI) was not very fond of practice. Meaning, I think Rose will elevate his game just as many of the greats did through hard work in the gym and practice floor. All the greats had drop offs in athleticism as time went on the difference is they worked on improving other aspects of their game to compensate for the loss of athleticism. I think Rose has the determination/dedication to do the same.