A Moment of Silence for Derrick Rose

R.I.P. Derrick Rose. It was pretty awesome when you were still alive. You made some great dunks and crazy layups where you spun the ball off the backboard and stuff.

I only got to see you alive 3 times in person, but each time was pretty great. In your rookie season, I remember you doing some sort of behind the back to a crossover move during a fast break against Jose Calderon that made me be like, "I think this guy is going to be pretty good."

Another time, I won some tickets on Twitter and got to see you guys blow the T-Wolves out at home and you didn't play much and then I got wicked hammered, but it was still cool to see you do your thing for like 20 minutes.

The greatest memory I have of you in person is when you tied your career high of 42 points at Indy in 2011. Even though the Bulls lost, you made everyone on the Pacers look like idiots for most of the game. You entered the game for Ronnie Brewer at the 8:11 mark in the 4th quarter down 80-95 and proceeded to score the next 19 of our 22 points. It was fucking incredible to watch. Every possession was a pick and roll with like Kurt Thomas probably and you either scored or got fouled. Then you got fouled shooting a 3 near the end of the game and made all your free throws to tie it at 102. Then Danny Granger foolishly tried to shoot a 3 to win it and you blocked him, sending the game into OT. I chanted "M-V-P" up in the nose bleed seats with my friends and I'm pretty sure you heard us and briefly we were friends. Anyways, then you fouled out and we lost.

I will one day tell my kids about how mindbogglingly explosive you were. In 30 years, when there's some new flashy guard in the league that my kid thinks is "the bee's knees", I'll tell him he's an idiot and send him to youtube and make him watch you do some crazy shit. He'll love it. And then we'll bond over you being awesome.

Thanks for helping me bond with my future son, Derrick Rose. I will always love you.

Rose on the Cover of GQ

You can find the full interview here. It mostly focuses on his quiet nature and how it clashes with his lifestyle. By far the best quote in the article, is the one about being compared to Michael Jordan.

Unlike every other basketball player I've ever spoken to, Rose does not shy from comparisons to Jordan. "I've run into him a couple of times, but we don't have a relationship," he says. "His titles drive me. I'm not scared of him; if anything, it makes me work harder when I do train."

Rest of the photos after the break.

2010-2011 Bulls Roster Looking Very Promising

With free agent acquisitions of Carlos Boozer, Kyle Korver, and Ronnie Brewer the Bulls are in very good position to not suck next year. In fact I will be very surprised if this team doesn't surpass 50 wins barring major injuries (see histories of Deng, Luol & Boozer, Carlos).

As of right now the roster will look something like this:
PG: Rose/backup yet to be signed
SG: Brewer/Korver
SF: Deng/Korver/James Johnson
PF: Boozer/Taj
C: Noah/Asik/backup yet to be signed

This is a very versatile lineup that should match up with most teams in the league. There's no reason we shouldn't win the division and be one of the top 3 or 4 teams in the East. But as with every team in the league, there are still strengths and weaknesses that need to be addressed.