Monday, January 30th, 2012 at 9:00 am  |  85 responses

Derrick Rose Blames Himself for Bulls’ Loss to Heat


by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni

The truth of the matter is that were it not for Derrick Rose’s acrobatic heroics in the fourth quarter, the Chicago Bulls wouldn’t have even been in position to steal a win from the Miami Heat yesterday afternoon.

Unfortunately for Rose and the Bulls, all anyone will remember (including Derrick himself) are the two missed free throws late in the contest which would have given Chicago the lead with 22 seconds to go, and the resulting defeat that seemed to momentarily crush Rose’s spirit. He beat himself up following the loss.

From the Chicago Tribune:

He looked downward glumly. He swore. He referenced a higher power. Rose didn’t cry, although his voice caught during one answer, he stopped to compose himself during another and who knows what happened before reporters were allowed in the locker room.

“It’s definitely tough,” Rose said. “All I can say is, I guess God does everything for a reason. To miss both and let my team down, the only thing I can do is learn from it. This is so unreal. I had a chance to change the game. This time, it didn’t work out. I know my will to win is still very high. I guarantee you next time those shots are going down.”

This is familiar territory for Derrick Rose. He blamed himself last year when LeBron James and the Miami Heat ousted the Bulls from the Playoffs, and went into a long emotional funk before vowing to return stronger than ever before.

Until the Bulls figure out a way to come up with real answers for Miami, especially come Playoff time, the pain will not subside.

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  • robb

    Rose can’t do everything by himself, specially when playing against teams like the Heat. He needs help ASAP.

  • the Don

    @bike rofl hahaha

  • http://bulls.com airs

    As much as some ppl want to discount them (mutoni), the bulls aren’t too far away from beating this Heat team.
    No deng, no watson, no boozer*, taj fresh off injury and rip with a strained groin and they still are 2 free throws away from winning. At miami.
    The Bulls will be fine, especially if the heat don’t learn how to run some real plays down the stretch.

  • Brion

    Cosign “shutup’s” comment about Van Gundy’s head whip opinion. I totally agreed and feel alot of players do that. Also, obviously Howard to Chicago would be game over, but if that happened who would go in the trade?

  • http://cnbc.com JTaylor21

    Rose has nothing to feel down about because without him CHI loses that game by double digits. All the blame should go to Carlos Boooooooooooooozer for getting emasculated by CB1 yet again on national tv.

  • http://www.slamonline.com Nick Tha Quick

    Don’t know if it’s been said in prior comments but Rip was horrible offensively down the stretch. He did well defending Wade and even Bron on a few post ups but on the other end, he was terrible. More and more, it seems like Miami plays amazing for 36 minutes then give it all up by the 6 minute mark of the 4th and have to fight to finish the game. Still don’t get it. Their bench isn’t all that bad and either Bron or Wade is usually in there.

  • Ldub

    Look at how much love D-Rose gets even after a loss. This guy is my 2nd fav player in the L. He doesnt whine, doesnt complain, doesnt run around saying he’d rather play for another team, or wanna have another “SUPERSTAR” come play. Dude has literally carried the Bulls on his back with basically no help at all. Boozer was suppoed to be the help, and definitely underachieved last season. And I dont see him doing much more this season either. Bottom line is DRose is what many NBA players should strive to be. Show up, do your job to the best of your abilities and let nature take its course.

  • http://nyill.wordpress.com Enigmatic

    With a combined weight of 2,608 pounds, I highly doubt Rose has “literally” carried his teammates on his back.

  • http://www.slamonline.com house

    I really feel that with Deng healthy the Bulls would have won this.

  • http://shinefluid@aol.com yada

    honestly im more convinced than ever after yesterday, a healthy bulls are the best team

  • AQWORD

    Rose is a good guy. It’s gonna be a sic battle when they collide in the Playoffs. Lookin forward to it & cosign the doon !

  • Mo

    I like Derrick Rose. He seems like a cool and humble dude. But I wonder how long before the media stops giving him a pass for not closing out games against the Heat and stop accepting the “It’s all my fault” card he plays after every loss. Not hating on Rose but he’s gonna start catching heat (no pun intended) if this continues into the playoffs again this year.

  • http://fjskdlf.com Jukai

    Enigmatic: you do that math in your head?

  • bull22

    @ldub very good point, boozer and noah both need to quit talking about how they got rose’s back and they will go to war with him, and yet they dont bother to show up when it counts against the heat.

  • http://www.slamonline.com house

    I really like Rose’s competitive spirit and his accountability. He took responsibility for the loss, (although I would ask where the hell was Boozer’s accountability) and despite people here ragging on him for his so-called repeated failures he is still going to try harder and harder to succeed. You look at any NBA star, past or present, who has supposedly ‘choked’ one or more times in their career. They always keep striving to improve and to succeed.
    And to all the anti-Rose naysayers who are calling him out for ‘not being clutch’ in this game… you couldn’t do sh!t any better than he could, in fact you would damn sure do it worse. GG couch-critics.

  • http://www.slamonline.com house

    On another note.. Would Kaman be a good fit in the Bulls?

  • Ldub

    someone mentioned that Rose cant close games? Thats a joke. He brought the Bulls back basically by himself in the 4th. Floater after floater, Layups, getting the cup, etc. Lowkey was making me mad, but he is a great player. That is what is expected. Kobe does it, Wade did it, Bron has done it, Melo has done it…to be conceived as great, you have to perform greatly in situations like yesterdays game.
    someone else said that he takes too many unnecessary shots. That too is also a JOKE. Rose is most definitely (this year) a pass first pg. He hasnt been as aggressive as he was last year, and because of that his hesitation has greated a dip in the fg%. If anything he has passed up open shots to get teammates involved, which gets the overall team in trouble because he becomes less of a weapon on the court (mainly when they arent hitting). But Rose’s fg% is definitely not down because of “too many shots”

  • Ldub

    greated=created^^^

  • l2ising Phoenix

    Missing clutch free throws is D roses worst nightmare. Go back to the title game between Memphis and Kansas, he had a chance to ice the game with a freethrow and he missed both I believe , than super Mario came down , hit a 3 and forced OT. With memphis eventually losing. I think it still hurts him when/if he misses crunch time free throws.

  • Jose

    Respect to Rose. . . win or lose

  • bull22

    bottom line is anyone who actually sees the bulls play and not read espn articles or just sees highlights to draw ridiculous assessment of rose knows that he draws the attention of the entire team on the defensive side… once everyone else starts doing their jobs and knocking down wide open shots and making easy layups then the bulls will be hard to defend..

  • bull22

    bottom line is anyone who actually sees the bulls play and not read espn articles or just sees highlights to draw ridiculous assessment of rose knows that he draws the attention of the entire team on the defensive side… once everyone else starts doing their jobs and knocking down wide open shots and making easy layups then the bulls will be hard to defend..

  • LeBryanNash

    hahahaha bring God into this…HE DIDNT MAKE YOU NOT PASS TO A WIDE OPEN RIP HAMILTON!!!
    Quit crying, LeBron> Rose always – GO OSU COWBOYS!!

  • crabbie

    rose and lebron are both chokers

  • Spades

    Why does Derrick Rose get waivers for not sinking the game but LeBron never gets any slack? He missed two critical free throws and the game-winner in a game that might determine playoff seeding if their records are tied.

  • Anthony Jay

    I bet that Dwight Howard trade is sounding really good right about now…

  • Ice

    Why are so meany people hating D.Rose.Everyone misses free throws,Even your heroes.He played his heart during that game,If the rest of teammates were playing half has hard.Perhaps they would have won.Typical that haters are going to hate him for failing,They still bring up his time with Memphis.Rose Is clutch all day,Also James missed to.So don’t try to bash on Rose.Rose well be champion,The more haters hate the more It drives him.Much Respect to amazing player and a great person.

  • http://nyill.wordpress.com Enigmatic

    Jukai – that’s everyone’s listed weights added up minus Rose. used basketball-reference.

  • Dingo Rob

    no need to bash yourself down, it’s not the playoffs – I love Rose he comes across genuine but this reaction seems a little over the top.

  • Cam

    “Go back to the title game between Memphis and Kansas, he had a chance to ice the game with a freethrow and he missed both I believe”- l2ising Phoenix

    Nope. He missed 1 FT late in that game. He also had a great 2nd half which put them in a position to win. Chris Douglas-Roberts was the guy who missed 3 late FT’s.

  • Cam

    “HE DIDNT MAKE YOU NOT PASS TO A WIDE OPEN RIP HAMILTON!!!” – LeBryanNash

    Yes, while being surrounded by 3 Heat players and with 5 seconds on the clock Rose should’ve miraculously gotten the ball to Hamilton in the corner, especially since Hamilton was 4-16 from the floor and playing with a bad groin. That’s a heck of an idea and quite realistic.

  • Yesse

    I think he played well, but you can’t always win.

  • Justin G.

    Wow, are we really going back to his college days to say Rose isn’t a clutch player? That’ sad. And the reason Lebron gets more flack about not performing in the 4th quarters or missing free throws is because it has happened to him a lot more. Granted, he’s been in the NBA a lot longer and has been in these situations a lot more but when you’re the self proclaimed “King”, touted as the next Jordan or at least the potential to unseat him as the GOAT, have ridiculous 1 hour specials and proclaim it’s possible to win 5, 6, 7 championships…then you’re going to get a lot more scrutinized and you’re going to look even worse when you don’t perform like how everyone thinks you should perform. To quote a common phrase from nbk and AllenP…”I just don’t understand how that’s not more obvious to people”

  • blake

    derrick did miss the free throws but he maned up and said it was his fault most people wouldnt say that and he gurranted it wont happen again most people wouldnt say that

  • http://SLAM FLIGHT 9

    Lebron always consistently miss tons of important free throws and never takes blame on himself!!! C’mon Derrick I know you gonna kill them next time..

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