Derrick Rose Just Isn't The Same...For All The Right Reasons

It was exactly what the Chicago Bulls had lacked all last season. It was the problem that they could not find a solution for on a consistent basis. It was the issue that cost the Bulls a handful of wins simply because they had no one to fill the role. That role was the role of a finisher. A guy who you could give the ball to with five minutes to go in a close game and say "Here. Take us home." And while last night's game didn't go exactly as the Bulls would have liked, former MVP Derrick Rose proved that when it came time to close out a game, he was one of the best in the business.

The floater said it all: DRose is back

With Rose's baseline floater over Raymond Felton and former Defensive Player of the Year Tyson Chandler, the Bulls snagged their first win of the season on Rose's regular season Homecoming to the United Center. Yet the floater itself, though as pretty as it was, doesn't quite do Derrick Rose's comeback to basketball justice. Everyone has noticed that his game is coming back to him and coming back quickly. He's just as quick (if not quicker), his shot has improved, and his work ethic is as noticeable as ever.

However, his overall performance and athleticism is something that fans and players expected to eventually change for the better. What people have not seemed to notice is how Derrick Rose's attitude as a whole has changed for the better. After hitting that floater on the night of Halloween, Rose was quoted saying "If I'm going to miss the shot, I'm going to miss it. If I'm going to hit it, I'm going to hit it. I just love taking it." Love him or hate him, you have to admire his confidence.

That's exactly what has changed since he suffered the infamous knee injury over a year and a half ago. Coming into the league as the number one draft pick, the native son of Chicago, and the 19 year old kid who was the first piece of the puzzle in raising a seventh banner into the rafters of the Madhouse, Derrick Rose had the weight of an entire city on his shoulders. And he knew it. Through the first two or three years of his career we saw Rose shy away from the media and keep a low profile. He even admitted to not being a fan of the media simply because he didn't want the attention. God only knows what life for him was like knowing that every eye in Chicago was on him, and continues to be.

But then came the MVP season. DRose quickly established himself as one of the best in the league by being the youngest player to ever accomplish the feat. Just as the expectations grew and began to become realistic, Rose fell to the ground on the baseline during game one of the first round in 2012. The city was deflated and Rose went unheard of until he sent out a video on YouTube during his recovery phase.

Rose was emotional at the release of his new shoe last year

Amidst all of the physical therapy and work outs, Rose released a new shoe through Adidas. Even though he wasn't on the court, the hype was through the roof simply because Rose was once again in the public eye. Yet it was at the release of his shoe that we saw the human aspect of the All-Star point guard. While being interviewed, he visibly teared up saying how thankful he was for the support and continually emphasizing that he felt he didn't deserve all of it. That's the humble Derrick Rose that Chicago fell in love with. The kid who grew up in the same city he now plays for was taking the time to appreciate those that were pulling for him. In the days of guys like Dwight Howard, who could care less about loyalty, Rose was showing his appreciation for his fans, and meaning every word of it.

Now let's fast forward the clocks to these past few weeks. Derrick Rose is back. He's healthier than ever. He's quick as hell and is on a mission. Somewhere along the line, the old Derrick Rose vanished and we are now witnessing a drastic change in attitude. The once quiet kid has now become a demonstrative man. It shows in his answers to reporters' questions, it shows in how he conducts himself on the court, and it shows in how he speaks about the improvements he has made. Derrick Rose is no longer going to shy away from the media, rather he's begging everyone to watch what he does. Rose wants your attention, he wants you to criticize him, and he wants you to doubt him and his teammates.

All the hype about the Heat winning their third consecutive championship and LeBron claiming his third straight MVP have been all over ESPN since last June. And while Rose once said just a little over a year ago that he didn't deserve anything that he had, his mindset has quickly changed into "Screw it, that MVP trophy is mine and I'm going to prove it."

Rose now expects to be the best and expects to have a championship ring on his finger at the end of this season. You could see it in the way he reacted after he hit the game-winner last night. He didn't pump his fist or beat his chest like he did after he buried a game-winner in the face of Brandon Jennings a few years back, he simply jogged to the bench. That's when you knew that Derrick Rose expects to be great and won't stop until he is. He wants the ball in his hands and wants everyone to watch closely. Chicago's quiet and unassuming native son is gone. It's now time for the new and improved Windy City Assassin to take the stage.

Rose Debate Needs to Be Put to Rest

Rose has been practicing full speed, but still no return

We've all heard about it, analyzed it, dreamed about it and grown tired of it. The Return of Derrick Rose has been hyped up since the Chicago Bulls' star point guard crumpled to the United Center floor last April in Game 1 of the playoffs. With the season nearing its end, we're now starting to wonder if DRose will ever make The Return or if it truly was all hype. Rose has been practicing with the Bulls and everyone who has seen him claims that he is ready to go, but he has yet to hit the game floor. Every day is a new day of speculation and its time to end that. It has affected the entire Bulls organization in a negative way and its time that they make a statement with a definite date.

Rose suffered a torn ACL, which many have always thought meant a year on the shelf. However, along came Adrian Peterson and the idea has changed. Obviously no man's body is the same, but Peterson returned to the field just nine months after the same injury and not only played, but dominated. He won the MVP award for the Vikings and nearly broke the single-season rushing record. With that fresh in everyone's' mind, Rose's patience is almost frustrating. But why?

You can view DRose's situation in two ways: smart or scared. He is either smart for waiting and being patient; making sure his knee and body are back to full strength so that he doesn't ruin the rest of his career, or he is scared. Scared that he won't be the dominant point guard that he was before the injury and scared that he might get hurt again. Whichever way you look at it, its okay. Rose is smart for waiting and its 100 percent okay if he is a bit scared. For a player as explosive as he is, it has to be frightening to go out and continue that style of play after tearing your knee up.

Blake Griffin sat out his rookie season due to knee surgery and nobody made a big deal about it. In fact, before Peterson made his triumphant return to the field, the general move with knee injuries was for the athlete to take his time and not rush anything in the recovery process. Yet, there was Peterson on the brink of history and suddenly we were wondering how soon DRose would make the much anticipated Return.

We're still wondering.

I have no problem with Rose showing patience and not rushing anything, but I do have a problem with the constant media circus that revolves around his status. In the day and age of Twitter, Facebook and instant news, the Bulls have made life difficult for themselves by not giving a definite date of when Rose will return. I fully understand that no one knows when he will be healthy enough to play and even he said that God only knows. However, that leaves it open for every day speculation and that wears on the rest of the team. In Chicago, this season hasn't been about the Bulls, but rather Derrick Rose's injury. That's not fair to the rest of the team and it has to have taken a toll.

The locker room interviews for Bulls players this season consist of a few questions about the upcoming game and then a flurry of questions about Rose's status. That gets old. It also gets old for the fans who have to speculate if tonight will be the night. It has become a source of frustration and it could easily be fixed if the Bulls came out and said Rose wasn't coming back until some specific date. Say he's not coming back at all this season and at least you end the circus. No one will be mad if he ends up coming back this season. The point is, some date needs to be given so that the speculation will stop and the Bulls can focus on basketball.

For Rose, he needs to continue to work and try and get on the court as soon as possible. I don't think taking an entire year off is something he wants to do, but at the same time I do realize this team isn't built for a championship run. That said, the Bulls are going to make the playoffs and anything can happen once the postseason starts. Obviously I want to see Rose out there, but he has a long career ahead of him and it may be best if he waits until next season.

Whatever the decision is, let's make one sooner rather than later. The Return was nice and hyped, but now it looks like one big joke. It's time for the speculation to end and it's time for Chicago to focus on Bulls basketball as the postseason begins...with or without their MVP.

Tradition is Gone, Nike and Adidas Are In

Every athlete, and even non-athletes for that matter, can admit that at some point in time he or she has been a fanatic over the newest Nike or Adidas gear. Whether it be training gear, basketball gear, rugby gear, you name it and the world's powerhouse corporations have it and provide any color you could ever imagine. I myself even found my Christmas list loaded with new Adidas training gear and, quite frankly, I love the ClimaLite and ProCombat clothing lines.

Nike and Adidas have gained such an influence on sports today that you would be hard pressed to find a team that still has their traditional uniforms and that really bothers me. Traditional programs with absolutely classic uniforms such as UCLA and Indiana are among the few basketball programs that have not yet been taken over by Nike and Adidas' newest "fashions". There are few uniforms better than the classic baby blue and gold or the sharp-looking red and white. They look good, they're simple, and they have been around for generations. They represent programs that have history and have shaped college basketball into what it is today. UCLA and Indiana have not come out with ugly uniforms or ridiculous color schemes to try to make a statement, so why are other teams?

For instance, why does it seem that every team seems to be wearing either black uniforms or grey uniforms, regardless of whether or not it's an actual school color? In my mind, Georgetown and Ohio State are the only teams that should be wearing grey. Travel back to the 70's and 80's and you'll find the Hoyas and Buckeyes donning the grey uniforms. Now Nike wants to give teams like Arizona, Syracuse, Duke, and North Carolina grey uniforms? Why!!! Talk about four traditonal programs that should stick with the uniforms they have, especially Duke and UNC. It's not right that teams have to come out every other week with new uniforms.

That brings me to the newest campaign for Nike and Adidas which, for Nike, means putting the logo on the front above the number while putting the school nickname on the back where the players' names would go. On the other hand, Adidas has gone to either the bright fusha uniforms or the uniforms that are the same color all over (i.e. the NBA's Christmas Day uniforms). I will say this, Nike's idea made a much better impression than Adidas' but both are still stupid. Like Zach said in his blog about players wearing too many sleeves and accessories, the players are there to play ball, not see who can stand out the most. Take Gonzaga for instance, they show up to Hinkle Fieldhouse on the first day Butler has ever hosted College Gameday and break out the new Nike uniforms. The game ended with Butler hitting a buzzer-beater and the students storming the court. But don't worry, Gonzaga looked real good in those new uniforms!

I'm not a fan of all the unnecessary change going on in college basketball; it's pointless. Let the team's keep their uniforms for a few years or just leave the uniforms alone entirely. I think it's stupid that Nike and Adidas feel the need to take away from the game of basketball with all the new uniform schemes. I like the old school feel and that's because I was raised in an old school home. My grandpa is a Hall of Fame basketball coach that always told Zach and I the less fancy you look and play the better. Keep it simple. That is exactly how Nike and Adidas need to treat college basketball uniforms. Just keep them simple!