'Through a tough 5 games, Derrick Rose has given Chris Paul, Doc Rivers and the rest of the LA Clippers all that they could handle. And not simply from a scoring standpoint. "What's made him so tough to guard is they he's making all the right decisions. Adjusting to our adjustments. We've had a hard time containing him because when he draws attention, he's getting the help offensively from his shooters. With the way they play D, it makes them a very tough out." Stated doc when prompted about the toughest part of guarding Rose this series.

This doesn't sound like a coach preparing to try to even the NBA finals at 3-3 but instead a man at his wits end, preparing for the inevitable. "To be this close to my childhood dream. To bring my home town team a championship, is all that matters right now." Said Rose at the media session before GameDay. He continued, "I think having Pau here and some of the other vets we picked up made a big difference this year. To win it with Jo, Taj, Kirk and this group of guys would be amazing."

It was in the air. You could feel like something was on the verge of happening. It was familiar. Reminiscent of the Jordan era's first title run. And D-Rose and company delivered a 108-99 victory on the road for Chicago's first basketball title in 17 years.'

^^^As you can tell, i have very high hopes for the season. I really think this year we make it happen (barring major injuries). It'll be the only ring Rose wins in his career, but it'll be the only one he needs. If we don't win it this year, I'm not sure we win one with him in a Bulls jersey.

The reason for my optimism is that this is a 50 win team...without him. Last year we were 1st in points allowed and 30th in points scored. The former should be right around the same, the latter should increase significantly. Based on that, I'm thinking we'll land around 58-62 wins and probably the best record in the league.

The roster is likely set and low key we made some really good late offseason signings.

pg-rose, Kirk, Aaron brooks
SG-Jimmy buckets, snell, E'twon Moore
SF-dunny, mcbucketts
PF-Pau, Taj, Niko
C-Noah, Nazr, Bairstow

Lots of flexible depth there, good balance of offense and defense and a good group that 'fits' together.

I'm happy to eat crow if the team falls short of my expectations but i refuse to be passive about this teams capabilities. Let the games begin!

How's everyone else feeling about the season?