Putting it all on Rose will spell doom for Bulls

CHICAGO -- Nothing makes misery feel worse than witnessing euphoria. And it was against that agonizing backdrop that Phil Jackson and the Lakers strode onto the United Center floor Tuesday night and showed the Bulls what an embarrassingly good basketball team looks like.

Derrick Rose: 'If I was a two guard, it'd be something else.' (Getty Images)

At the morning shootaround -- more like afternoon, as the Zen Master knows how comfy the beds at the Peninsula Hotel are -- Kobe Bryant took dozens of shots from all spots on the floor. He was trying to adapt to what Jackson described as his "prosthetic," a splint on the fractured ring finger on his shooting hand. Apparently, things went well, because Bryant had 20 points in the first 10 minutes of the game, providing a visual lesson to go with the words of advice he was about to offer Bulls star-in-the-making Derrick Rose.

The story du jour in Chicago, where the Bulls have folks more bitter than the wind off Lake Michigan, is that Rose must unleash his scoring talents and save this team from itself. With Ben Gordon gone -- not to mention the memory of a thrilling playoff performance against the Celtics -- the Bulls are cap-wise and win-foolish as they wait for the chance to lavish riches on an elite 2010 free agent. His name, according to folklore confirmed by a person with knowledge of the team's plans, is Chicago native Dwyane Wade. The consolation prize would be Joe Johnson -- the Bulls have specialized in consolation prizes since Jackson's dynasty was broken up.

For now, though, Rose's sublime point-guard gifts are wasted on the likes of John Salmons. Chicago has lost 11 of 13 after dropping a 96-87 decision to Jackson's Bulls, and eight of those losses were noncompetitive blowouts. Afterward, coach Vinny Del Negro spewed the idiom that a coach afraid for his job trots out in times like this -- lamenting injuries, praising effort -- but clearly it has been decided that there's no use in firing him now. Much better to put the pressure on Rose, a 21-year-old trying to find his way.

Bound by similar constraints and immaturity a decade ago, Bryant responded by doing anything and everything for his team. Those who didn't like it knew where to go. Now Rose is asked to do that for the Bulls, even though it isn't in his DNA or his job description as a point guard.

"I can't do that," Rose said at practice Monday, and we use these quotes because Rose offered none after the game. "I have to pass the ball to people and get people open. Taking over as a point guard is getting people open and shooting one here and there. If I was a two guard, it'd be something else."

Kobe, being Kobe, disagreed.

"Just do it," Bryant urged. "Just do the best job that you can, score as hard as you possibly can, just leave it all out there on the floor. ... He has the talent to do it. The challenge is going out there and doing it. It's tough for a younger player to have the confidence in himself to be able to do it. But he has the skills for it."

So this is where the Bulls are, only seven months after pushing the Celtics to seven games in one of the most thrilling playoff series in NBA history. Having passed on keeping Gordon so they could lure someone better next summer, they are relegated to asking their most prized possession to alter his outstanding basketball instincts just to make things interesting.

Forget about sharing the ball, leading the team, and making the smart pass, all of which leads to winning basketball. Go 1-on-5 for a while so we can keep the natives entertained until help arrives.

"That's a big responsibility for anybody, let alone a 21-year-old guy coming into this league," Jackson said. "He's just in his second year. This is still pretty much uncharted territory for him and this is something that he'll adjust to and adapt as he goes along."

With few exceptions -- Chris Paul being one -- bad things happen when you ask your point guard to check his unselfishness at the door and play assassin. Bad things like 21 points on 22 shots, of which Rose missed 13.

"You have to beat five guys in NBA basketball," Jackson said. "It's not just your point guard, it's a number of people out there. So it requires substantial effort to be able to break a whole team down. Chris Paul's been able to do it a lot with steals and assists and being the kind of player who can generate a lot of stuff, but it looks like things are catching up with him, too. So it's not an easy chore for anybody, let alone a point guard."

Rose tried Tuesday night, but Bryant made sure he missed that train. Bryant had seven points when Rose left the game with a left rib injury with 5:50 left in the first. By the time the quarter was over, Bryant had 20. Going shot-for-shot with Bryant, who finished with 42 with only nine useful fingers, wasn't going to be the wise choice for anyone, "let alone a point guard," as Jackson said.

It doesn't get any more painful than the coach who won six championships here riding into town and lecturing his former team on how it's done. Jackson had the best player when he won those titles in Chicago, and he has that and more now. He has arguably the best defensive player (Artest), the best sixth man (Lamar Odom), and two 7-footers that neither humans nor cap space can defend.

"You always feel for a team when it can't compete, when they're not competing at a level with games coming down the stretch -- win or lose in the last minute," Jackson said. "That's always tough to see."

The Bulls beat the mighty Lakers in almost every phase Tuesday night, beat them everywhere -- points in the paint (38-34), rebounds (51-37), second-chance points (21-10), and blocks (14-5) -- but on the scoreboard. But Jackson had the ace again, had Bryant and his 42 points.

The Bulls are still looking for that guy, and trying to make the guy they have into something he's not.