Rose in Bloom

Photo Courtesy of AP

So many words pop into my head when I watch Derrick Rose. Poised, smooth, clutch, leader and "wow" might as well be thrown in there to. The kid.... yes kid, can play.

In recent years the Chicago Bulls have always been almost unpredictable on who they might take with their lottery picks. They've been right (Ben Gordon) and they've been wrong (Eddie Curry). This year...they hit the nail on the head and now have the type of player, in Rose, that a lot of teams are drooling over.

Rose, only 20, was named the 2009 NBA Rookie of the year, the first Bull to earn the honor since Michael Jordan did so in 1984. I'm not going to say Rose is the next MJ, because there will NEVER be another MJ, but he is one of a kind, he's special, and he's exactly what the Bulls needed.

I have not had the opportunity to watch a ton of games this year, but from articles I've read, highlights I've seen and games I have watched, Rose's athletic ability is beyond the age of 20. Watching him, you would think he has been in the NBA for years. He's calm, he leads and most of all he performs.

In his first playoff game he dropped 36 points, tying Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's record for most points scored in a rookie playoff debut. Three of the four games of the series have been decided by three points or less. In every one of those games he has put the team on his back in the closing minutes. Whether he shoots, passes or entices a double team, he's always contributing, and is a big reason why a very athletic Bulls team, finds themselves tied at two games a piece with the defending NBA Champion, Boston Celtics.

Rose is the type of player that doesn't come around very often, which is why I like him as much as I do. He doesn't show off, shows some emotion but not too much, he's not full of himself and the millions of dollars he's making and he's a young pup who plays like he's been in the neighborhood for years. After a dismal 2008 season, the Bulls needed a player like Rose. They got him and now find themselves back in the playoffs. With the young, athletic talent around him, the Bulls should do nothing but improve in the coming years. Everyone raves about Kobe and Lebron, deservingly so, but in a few years everyone in the NBA just might be raving about a certain Rose that's just beginning to bloom in Chicago.