Wed, 12/03 Bulls vs Bucks

Which brings me again to the question that is most difficult to answer: How much should and can Rose do.

Rose seemed to spend much of the game obeying the game plan, finding his teammates. And it paid off in that wonderful Gordon run at the end of the third. Rose does plenty and averaging almost 20 per game as a rookie from that position is historic stuff in the NBA. But should he have started scoring earlier? Would it have made a difference? Or would it have affected him for the end of the game, when he has taken over and won some games for the team. And would it take away too much from the others? That's something Rose never would want to do.

It seems clear he spends the game, amazingly enough, monitoring his team and deciding when he has to be a playmaker or a scorer, rare for any player, especially a rookie.

Could he average 30? I'd say he could. Would it help the team? Who knows. It's the delicate balance of team basketball and the learning process going on for Rose and the Bulls.

Still, even with these two disappointing losses to fall to 8-11, it's a Bulls team playing competitively despite some obvious deficiencies. And just think of what 10 points from Gooden would mean.

On a night when Drew Gooden—1-for-16 the last two games—couldn't get anything going, the Bulls might have re-discovered Deng.

The forward has been quiet all season but established himself early, hitting 4 of 5 first-quarter shots off rare pin-downs called for him to score 10 points. He finished with 21 points as he moved well without the ball.

"I tried to be more aggressive," Deng said. "My shots were falling and, defensively, I was able to help a lot. I'm still making adjustments to try to figure out how to be effective in this offense."

Added Del Negro: "I think he can get better defensively and get more active. When he gets steals and is in passing lanes using his length and getting out running, it's a benefit to him. When he's slashing and cutting, no question he's good at that. I have to do a better job. Luol does too. And we know that."