He's Baaaaaaaaack!

What did I tell you? The Bulls got right back to their ways Monday afternoon as they beat the Hawks 90-79. Bulls' MVP, Derrick Rose, returned to the starting lineup and seemed to re-energize the entire team as they soared past the Hawks. What a relief it was, Rose seemed to be at 100%, blowing past the Hawks defense on his way to 23 points and 6 assists. Although they may be the deepest team in the league, last game made it clear that the Bulls need their superstar.

Rose's comeback definitely helped me get over their poor showing just two days earlier. It was clear that it also helped the rest of the Bulls' team. Said Joakim Noah, "Having Rose back just opens up everything. He was very aggressive tonight. When he's aggressive like that, it opens up everything for everybody, and it gives us a lot of confidence."

Though we lost two of our five games without Rose, I have no problem with him sitting for as long as he did. There is no need to risk complicating his injuries to pick up meaningless regular season wins. I wholeheartedly agree with Thibodeau's philosophy of sitting banged-up starters until they're close to full health. If we are going to achieve our ultimate goal of an NBA championship, we need to be healthy in the playoffs. Resting our players now is the only surefire way to ensure that will happen.

Bulls vs. Hawks Highlights