DERRICK ROSE WINS ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

Congrats to Chi town's own, DROSE for winning the NBA Rookie of the Year award! Honestly though, was there even a doubt he would win? Even the haters now have to give this kid props for the way he plays the game on the court. Anyone see his playoff debut? What makes this kid even more likable, is that Rose is also humble on and off the court, and that he is always respectful of his teammates and coaches. What a player! Congrats DROSE!!!

Also Bulls fans, did you know Rose is only the third Chicago Bull to ever win the Rookie of the Year award? The other two winners were MJ and Elton Brand. He is in pretty good company, right?

Rose won the award in a landslide, getting 111 of a possible 120 first place votes. No one was even close. Mayo came in second overall. Rose scored 16.8 pts a game (second to Mayo), and led all rookies with 6.3 assists a game. He also topped all rookies in fg percentage, shooting 47.5 percent, and he avg'd 37 minutes a game. Who said anything about knee problems? (pre season news)

What's remarkable is that DRose started and ended the season at the PG position, going full throttle and never letting up. He played the most difficult position for a rookie to play on the court, and he never hit a rookie wall. Instead of hitting that wall every rookie hits, Rose burst through it leading them to play hard in every single game this year, and helping them make it to the playoffs. This is the same squad we watched last year that struggled to even compete under Skiles and Boylan. Now this Bulls team has a shot at knocking off the defending champion Celtics in the first round. And it is all because of him and how he makes his teammates better around him. Sorry for the jocking, but it's true. Ask any fan who has watched every game this year.

I also find it funny that since people can't find anything bad to say about his game, they attack hs personality. They say he's bland or that he doesn't have a strong personality and so on, but they fail to realize that all this kid does is win. Or the fact that he is only 20 years old! Remember us at 20? Bad news... Oh ya, and about that winner thing, Rose already has two pieces of hardware from the NBA this year, in his rookie season, the Skills Competition Champ, and the ROY. Not bad for his blandself. You can have your personality, I'll just admire his game, his leadership, and take the hardware that he racks up every year instead.

Oh and for the rest of you haters(yes there are a ton), Rose has already gotten props from all of the best players in the League from Kobe Bryant to the best pg's in the game, CP3 and DWill. They all have nothing but great things to say about the kid. And if that isn't enough for you, Rose also is the only rookie that finished in the top 5 of the ROY voting that made the playoffs this year. With such a great rookie class you would've expected there be to more, at least I did.

Anyways, getting back to the Bulls, DRose is actually the main reason the Bulls are even in the playoffs this year. Even before the trade Pax pulled for Salmons and Miller, when the Bulls were struggling, Rose kept our team together and on the right track. It could have easily spun out of control like last year did, but he wouldn't let it. Why? Because he is a winner and because he is that special star that comes along once in a rare while. Who knows where this Bulls squad that is going to beat the CELTS(i hope) would be without him.

Whatever it is, I'm just glad we lucked out in the Draft and got this kid. I thank my lucky stars about that every night and still remember when I found out we won the lottery(I was at XSport), and when we drafted him (I was at Cactus). All I know is that I look forward to many more years of him balling on cats, racking up a ton of future All Star appearances and other hardware, and hopefully even a few chips to top it off at the end. And when that happens, we will be popping bottles for sure!!! (hopefully even with him some day!)

Anyways, check out his interviews below.

Here is Rose's acceptance speech at the Bulls press conference...



And here are some more of Rose's thoughts on winning the award...



GO DROSE!!! GO BULLS!!!