Former Chicago Bulls: Derrick Rose off to scorching start with Pistons
The Detroit Pistons, and former superstar point guard Derrick Rose, will travel to the United Center on Nov. 1 to take on the struggling Chicago Bulls.
The Detroit Pistons are going to be a pesky Central Division foe for the Chicago Bulls this season. And the first matchup between the Pistons and the Bulls is set for the first day of November at home in Chicago at the United Center. Nov. 1 could be a key date for the Bulls as head coach Jim Boylen will look to get the best of the former face of this franchise tonight, against veteran point guard Derrick Rose.
Through five games this season, D-Rose is averaging more than 20 points per game and posting a player efficiency rating better than 26.0. He’s also registering one of the better win share per 48 minutes ratings of his career, at around .150. His impact coming off the bench for the Pistons thus far is enormous.
It’s really starting to look as if the Pistons made one of the better under the radar free agent signings of the offseason with Rose. They nabbed him on a two-year contract worth around $15 million total. That’s a steal for the type of production he’s putting up so far.
To go along with all those other impressive numbers for Rose thus far, he’s also shooting 56.9 percent from the field and averaging 6.2 assists per game. The production for him on both ends of the floor is more evenly spread this season too. His offensive and defensive ratings are both sitting above 110.
All in all, Rose is actually on pace this season to post the highest number of points per 36 minutes of his career. He’s just shy of averaging 30 points per 36 minutes. That number might drop of his playing time starts to decrease, but he’s on a tremendous pace in the first five games of the regular season. He’s getting around 25 or 26 minutes of time on the floor per game.
If Rose actually is able to stay healthy this season, he could be a true contender for the Sixth Man of the Year honors. He likely won’t be able to play enough minutes night in and night out to sustain a full 82-game season with how fragile his injury status was for around the past decade. But he was on a good pace for those honors with the Minnesota Timberwolves last season before a UCL injury sidelined him for the year after playing in 51 games.
Next. Redrafting each Bulls first round pick since Derrick Rose. dark
Moreover, the Bulls carry a 1-3 record into the Nov. 1 home showdown against D-Rose and the Central Division foe Pistons. With the Bulls falling short against other divisional opponents like the Cleveland Cavaliers of late, this is a big rebound opportunity. And despite the solid efforts and production from D-Rose so far this season, the Pistons only carry a 2-3 record into this game.
Boylen needs this game tonight to keep this Bulls team from falling too far back in the Eastern Conference standings.