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Bulls first-round draft pick Derrick Rose, left, smiles along with general manager John Paxson during a press conference in Chicago.
AP PHOTO
CHICAGO — His name and face were all over the arena, and a highlight video showed Derrick Rose’s best college and high school moments.
He hit jumpers. He threw down vicious dunks. He twisted his body like a contortionist while flipping in layups and left a long line of defenders staring helplessly.
The Chicago Bulls hope the trend continues after taking Rose, who grew up on the city’s South Side, with the No. 1 pick in last week’s draft even though they continue to preach patience.
“We can’t sit up here and throw the weight of the world on him,” general manager John Paxson said at Rose’s introductory news conference Monday.
Instead, they threw a No. 1 jersey on him, giving him a uniform number to match his draft spot and his position. They also placed his namesake flower on each chair. Whether the point guard who led Memphis to a record 38 wins and the NCAA championship game can help the Bulls blossom following a dismal 33-49 season remains to be seen.
“This is still a team game,” Paxson said. “We think Derrick’s got tremendous qualities that will serve him well for the next 10 or 15 years.”
Those qualities led the Bulls to take him over Michael Beasley. Instead of the high-scoring forward from Kansas State, they picked a dynamic floor leader who averaged 14.9 points and 4.7 assists in his lone season at Memphis and who also happened to grow up in the rough Englewood neighborhood a few miles from the United Center.
Rose said there were “a lot of distractions, kids wanting to go out a lot.” He chose to ignore those distractions and tag along with his older brothers, spending long days playing at Murray Park until his mom would call him home. That set him on a course that led to stardom at Chicago’s Simeon Career Academy and Memphis, where he had the Tigers in position to win the championship until he missed one of two free throws with 10.8 seconds left in regulation. The Jayhawks’ Mario Chalmers then hit the tying 3-pointer and Kansas won in overtime.
Rose’s new basketball home features six championship banners hanging from the rafters, along with Michael Jordan’s and Scottie Pippen’s retired numbers.