Derrick Rose Blames Himself for Chicago Bulls’ Collapse


DRose blamed himself quite a bit for his team’s shortcomings in the Eastern Conference Finals, but I’m not sure there’s anything else he could’ve done against this Miami Heat juggernaut. From SI: “At the end it’s on me,’ said Rose, who had 25 points on 29 shots to go with eight assists and four turnovers. ‘Everything is on me — turnovers, missed shots, fouls … I wasn’t tired. I was just making dumb decisions and it cost us this game.’ Of course that wasn’t true. In fact he was in the same hopeless position James, Wade and Bosh had been before they joined together — he was one MVP trying to beat several stars at their collective best. Rose, who had converted a spinning, high-difficulty leaner moments earlier, was unable to finish another difficult runner. At the other end he watched James deliver another three, and it was 79-79 with 1:01 remaining. By now Rose wasn’t able to complete a simple lateral in the frontcourt. It was stolen by James, who dribbled down the clock as defender Ronnie Brewer watched helplessly, then strode left to drain a keytop jumper. Coming out of their ensuing timeout trailing 81-79 with 29.5 seconds left, the Bulls were greeted by a standing ovation. But there was no confidence behind it. It was farewell applause. Rose drove right at James with no hope but to draw the foul. He missed the second free throw hard off the back iron. Bosh made two free throws to stretch it out to the final score. It ended when Kyle Korver picked up his dribble 30 feet from the basket as seconds escaped like balloon air until Rose got it back with nowhere to go. He dribbled around the arc in front of 6-foot-8 Udonis Haslem. James blocked his shot from the side. In that moment as the buzzer sounded, Rose and James were facing each other the way boxers pose, the heavyweight against the bantam. One will seek to improve as James has done, and the other will continue to pursue a goal of which he, Wade and Bosh could never be certain of achieving this season. Even now they still can’t be sure of beating Dallas in the Finals, which is a good thing for them. See how well they respond to doubt?”