Pippen Ain't Easy
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Why Derrick Rose Was Outstanding Against the Warriors

By Jacob Iden

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Yes, Derrick Rose had 11 turnovers and one assist, and yes, it took him 33 shots to score 30 points, but I absolutely loved the way he played against the Warriors last night.

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Right from the start you could tell he was in attack mode, scoring 10 of the first 16 points for the Bulls. He played with so much determination and will throughout the game, that it forced him into turnovers, but it was a joy to watch. Even when he would miss a few shots in a row he just kept on firing. That is something he has done this year and in my opinion is great quality of his.

He is such a big part of the offense and everyone relies on him to shoot that he needs to keep shooting to keep the flow of the offense. Also when you are missing your two best wing scorers in Butler and Dunleavy, there is even more pressure for him to pick up the slack offensively and he was ready for that challenge against the Warriors.

One thing that bothers me at times is, while his 3 point shot is much improved, he settles for it a little too much. When Draymond Green is switched on to him he shouldn’t be taking pull up threes and look to beat his man to the rim. Also it would be nice to see him get to the free throw line more as he didn’t shoot any tonight, but he attacked the rim with the same venom as his MVP year, which was fantastic to watch.

As the game continued into overtime, Rose saved his best for last. After missing his first three shots in overtime, he nailed a vintage step-back game winner with seven seconds left over Klay Thompson. It was a perfect way to finish off the game, ending the Warriors 19 game home winning streak in the process.

With all that being said, the issue people will have with his performance is the lack of assists and the outrageous amount of turnovers. Personally, I have no issues with it. The lack of assists is very deceiving because the offense was clearly run through Pau Gasol and Joakim Noah tonight. The stats show that too, as they combined for an astounding 14 assists!

Rose benefited greatly from Gasol and Noah’s passing ability, finding himself in great scoring position time and time agin after receiving the ball from Gasol or Noah. Also his one assist was maybe the most crucial one in the whole game as he unselfishly hit Kirk Hinrich for the go ahead three with 15 seconds in the fourth quarter.

While you see point guards have only one assist from time to time, you never see them with 11 turnovers. The reason why the 11 turnovers do not bother me is that his turnovers were a result of playing extremely hard and attacking relentlessly. He often over dribbled or tried to be too fancy, but at least he is trying to get into the lane and make plays. It’s obvious the Bulls are at their best when he is looking to score at the rim and trying to collapse the defense. Obviously if he were to have 11 turnovers every night it would be an issue, but if he can keep his turnovers down while playing with that ferociousness, then the Bulls will start to find themselves on the winning side of games more and more.

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