Derrick Rose, Chicago Bulls impress on media day

Monday, the Chicago Bulls held the most important event they have been able to put on in quite some time: Media Day in anticipation for the 2014-2015 NBA season. Plenty of reporters and journalists gathered for several reasons, as the Bulls will be one of the favorites in the Eastern Conference heading into the fresh slate of games. A healthy Derrick Rose, a top-tier free agent addition in Pau Gasol, and an exciting rookie in Doug McDermott are only a few of the headlines from this past offseason.

General manager Gar Forman kicked off the fun by letting everyone know the goals he and the front office had going into the offseason. Improving the skill level/shooting, creating more quality depth, and focusing on the health of Rose were the top three priorities and, according to Forman, Chicago accomplished all three of those goals.

“From our standpoint, we feel like we’ve had a level of success in all three of those areas,” Forman stated, according to the official Bulls website. “We feel like we’ve addressed some of the skill in shooting, as far as those things are concerned with the additions of Doug McDermott, who we acquired on draft night, Nikola MIrotic, getting him over here after drafting him three years ago, Pau Gasol, who we are so excited to get into the mix.

“Aaron Brooks, we were excited to bring into the mix. Kirk Hinrich, who had significant offers elsewhere, and we felt very fortunate that he wanted to remain a Chicago Bull.”

Add depth, the Bulls certainly did this offseason. McDermott, Gasol, Mirotic and Brooks should be more than welcomed additions to the rotation and give Chicago a solidified bench with guys who are already there like Hinrich, Tony Snell and Taj Gibson. As far as the third goal, Rose, he wasn’t for lack of confidence.

“I try to take every negative aspect of my life and make it a positive,” Rose started, when asked about the criticism of his poor shooting in the FIBA World Cup. He was then asked about all of the fans who doubt the fact that he can “stay in one piece.”

“I know I’m always going to have to answer this question for the rest of my career. For the Bulls fans, I can sit here and say a million times that I’m going to be fine.

“My confidence in my body is very high. I know all of the work I put in the offseason,” Rose went on. “This is a new journey for me and I’m just trying to take it all in.”

One of the biggest questions I have had, and that was asked of Rose on media day was whether he feels like he can attack more now with the additions that have been made this offseason. Bulls fans should be excited by his answer.

“I’m good enough to get in the lane, no matter who’s guarding me.” – Derrick Rose

“I’m pretty fast. I’m good enough to get in the lane, no matter who’s guarding me. With the threats that we have, I’m trying to make the game as simple as possible. I’m not going to try and over-use myself. Being a student of the game is going to make me a better player; knowing when to score, knowing when to get involved.

“I think the team that we have right now, talent-wise, is a much stronger team than we had last year. It feels like a new team.”

Then came my absolute favorite quote of the day. Rose was asked about his team’s so-called “window” to win a championship.

Just like a few years ago when Rose was asked about the MVP award and if he thinks he can win it, Rose’s confidence remains sky-high. For the record, Rose did indeed go out that season and become the youngest NBA MVP in the history of basketball.

In case you’d like to view the entire Rose press conference, you can view it here:

As for the other guys, well, they’re just as excited and ready to go this year. Noah was asked to size up the Eastern Conference and address the other teams in terms of talent.

“I think the East got better. But it’s not about the other teams right now. It’s about us. I love our team right now. When you look at all the talent we have, it’s going to be interesting and I’m excited to get to work.”

Noah also said he was excited to be working with someone like Gasol, who also thinks the Bulls have a chance to do something special.

“We’ll do what we’re supposed to do and hopefully dominate all the other frontcourts in the league.” he said. As far as choosing the Bulls over staying with the Los Angeles Lakers, Gasol said when he had to tell Kobe Bryant “no,” it was incredibly hard. But, he thought the Bulls “had great potential to achieve something special.”

I think it is safe to say that fans are with him on that one. The Bulls had an excellent media day. Everyone not only said all the right things, but instilled confidence into the city of Chicago by speaking their heart and mind. Looking at the talent the Bulls have, it will be hard for the East to contend with what they have. I believe they have the chance to boast the best front court in all of the NBA, as well as one of the deepest benches.

If Rose can remain healthy, Chicago has all of the pieces to contend for a title. Fans, what do you predict come June?

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