It's lonely at the top

The Charlotte Bobcats came into Chicago riding a three-game losing streak on Tuesday night. Guess who their last win was against? That’s right, the Bulls lost to them last Wednesday. It seems like this team goes through periods of playing to the level of their competition and last night was no different as Chicago fell to Charlotte 83-82.

Usually 33 points from Derrick Rose is enough to scrape out a win by itself, but when Rose missed a fade away jumper that would have won the game it underscored the reason for the loss. Simply put, Derrick Rose cannot win by himself.

Now let me be clear. I LOVE DERRICK ROSE. As a huge Bulls fan, it’s an absolute privilege to be able to watch this kid play every night. As a basketball fan, I think he’s the obvious MVP choice at this point in the season. But it has been proven over and over again that great players simply cannot win championships by themselves. Now to put things in perspective, Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah - two of Chicago’s version of the “Big Three” are battling injuries and did not suit up for the game. Tuesday’s contest was also the fourth game in five nights for the Bulls, and with Dallas coming into town on Thursday it’s possible, maybe even probable that the Bulls were looking forward to a short break instead of focusing on the team at hand. But when you see your star point guard doing literally everything he could to give the Bulls a chance to win, it should motivate you to step up your play. Apparently Rose’s efforts fell on deaf ears last night. Only three Bulls scored in double figures with the second leading scorer being Ronnie Brewer with 12. Luol Deng was a no-show, scoring 10 points and hitting only two of his eleven shots and Chicago had trouble hanging onto the ball, turning it over 13 times in the loss.

I understand it’s a long season and every team and every player is going to have those days from time to time. Its just the fact that the last four losses for this team have come at the hands of 3 teams that are a combined 43-78 this season. What was frustrating about last season with this team was that they played to the level of their competition which I have long said is the mark of an average team. The Bulls are a different team this year, there’s no doubt about that. They are much better defensively, being ranked third in the league in opponents ppg and when Boozer and Noah are on the court they’ve shown themselves to complement Rose’s game almost perfectly. Come to think of it, they do have the fifth best record in the NBA and the third best record in the Eastern Conference…..

Maybe I’m looking too deep. Maybe the flashbacks from the Tim Floyd era are still too traumatic. Maybe the constant feeling of being letdown by an underachieving team in the past has made me unable to enjoy the success of an evolving contender. Whatever “it” is, there’s one thing for certain when it comes to Derrick Rose and this team.

He can’t do it alone.