REPORT: Derrick Rose sought guidance from Isiah...

12:01 pm - Thu, Feb 9, 2012: 280 notes

REPORT: Derrick Rose sought guidance from Isiah Thomas

The last time an NBA team won a title with a point guard as the main scoring threat was 20 years ago - Isiah Thomas’ Detroit Pistons. If the Bulls are to win a ring this season, they’ll have to pull off the same feat. As I’ve written before, unfortunately, Derrick Rose is being called up to carry the entire offense in Chicago, which is quite the load to bear on his 6’3”, 190-pound frame.

So after losing in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals to the Miami Heat, Derrick Rose went right to the small horse’s mouth, and sought the guidance of the greatest scoring point guard of all-time, Isiah Thomas:

“He was pretty down,” Thomas told ESPNChicago.com by phone on Wednesday. “He asked me ‘How did you do it? How did you win back-to-back championships at this size?’ And my response to him was that once you understand your opponent and know your opponent better than you know yourself, you’ll win.”

Derrick Rose wants the blueprint, and Isiah’s the perfect professor:

“He’s very courageous,” Thomas said of his fellow Chicago native. “You’ve got to be courageous and you’ve got to make sacrifices in terms of your body to have success as a small man in the NBA and to win championships.

“And I emphasize win championships, because you can pile up statistics and great numbers playing a non-aggressive style and have a great career. But if you want to win championships, you have to pay the price and Derrick is definitely paying the price.”

Isaiah famously “paid the price,” most notably during his 25-point third quarter against the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1988 NBA Finals. [In what also may be my first concrete NBA Finals memory - WATCH HERE]

Derrick Rose on Isiah:

He’s somebody where in Chicago, you definitely got to look up to, especially being a guard, winning championships in this league,” Rose said. “[I] try to take things out of his game and put them into mine. But [he’s] a cool dude. I played against his son in AAU. And he’s from Chicago so I got to look up to him.”

You like Derrick Rose because of his game, and his jaw-dropping athleticism. You love Derrick Rose because of the passion.

There is no way Derrick Rose ever leaves the Chicago Bulls. I just hope he wins a title there.

@gotem_coach