Boozer's Back, Who Cares?

 

When the Chicago Bulls announced that they would sign All-Star forward Carlos Boozer this past summer, everyone assumed Chicago would be the dark-horse team in the top-heavy Eastern Conference, which includes a championship-tested Boston Celtics, star-studded Miami Heat, and defensive-minded Orlando Magic. However, just before the start of preseason, Boozer announced that he would miss the first two months of the regular season with a hand injury. With Boozer out, Chicago would return to the mediocre lineup that only brought them the last playoff seed in the East before being knocked out of the first round of the playoffs.

Before the start of the regular season, before the start of the preseason, before even the Boozer trade, guard Derrick Rose was mentally focused to becoming the best player in the NBA. He even went on ESPN to challenge the idea that there should be no reason he shouldn't be named the 2010-2011 Most Valuable Player Award. No one considered it cocky, but no one considered it true either. For me, I took it as a very talented player who will improve but will still show the NBA that he is still only 22-years old.

Rose has taken stock of his bold commitment and is seeing it through to its fullest. Not only is he averaging a career-best 26 points and 8 assists, but he's also conducting himself as the best player on the floor every night, even against the dominant teams like the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics. A quarter into the season, he's led this same Boozer-less Chicago roster that he's had for his two years in the league to the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference. And that's after a treacherous 7-game road trip, where they came atop over 500. And with Boozer back in the lineup, there's no question that he'll make an impact. But let's make one thing clear: Boozer is not going to take this team to the next level, like we all were quick to assume before the season began. Derrick Rose will be, and quite frankly, he already has.


- Leather Head