CHICAGO - Andre Miller wasn't the first opponent Derrick Rose beat to the basket. And he won't be the last. But the final Chicago possession of the second quarter Sunday, in what became a 103-92 Bulls' victory, remains etched in the minds of anyone who saw it.
Rose, the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft in June, left Miller with his ankles buckling and falling to the floor of the Wachovia Center with a spectacular crossover dribble, getting credit for two points when Samuel Dalembert was called for goaltending on the attempted layup. "I just did a simple move and he fell," Rose told Chicago reporters Monday. "I've done that before. It's just that's the first time it happened in a game. I just thought it was a regular play; it just naturally happened. I just wanted to score and I put myself in a situation that I could get to the basket."
He can call what he does "simple." When is the last time you saw "simple" plays on a highlight reel?
And make no mistake, Rose created an imposing reel in that game. He left Lou Williams flat-footed on a drive to the basket late in the first quarter. He caught the fastbreaking Miller from behind late in the second and swatted away a layup. He dropped in a one-handed bank shot and threw down a one-handed slam on a lob feed from backcourt mate Ben Gordon in the third.
As for getting caught from behind, Miller said, "I was shocked, but it happens to a lot of players. It was a good play by him, a pretty good play. Normally, big guys, athletic wing players, track a guy down and block a shot. For him to stay within the play, he has a lot of heart."
Rose seemed to wonder what all the excitement was about.
"That's how I've been playing my whole life" he said. "I just try to win. For those plays to happen, it just takes a will. I just wanted those plays to happen."
Rose had 18 points and 10 assists in that game, his second double-double, his first with points and assists; he had 26 points and 10 rebounds Nov. 11 against the Atlanta Hawks. The latest in an outstanding line of Chicago-bred guards that includes Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks, Doc Rivers, Isiah Thomas and Dwyane Wade, he is the first Bulls rookie since Michael Jordan in 1984-85 to score at least 10 points in his first 10 games.
He is also the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month.
"He probably never even heard of me anyway," Cheeks said, smiling. "He just has this poise about him. I know I didn't have the poise he has at his age. That's one of the things I was impressed about . . . If I wasn't coaching against him and he wasn't doing the things he was doing against us, I would have had a great time. The things he was doing, they looked so instinctive, running the team, just the command he had." *
