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Posted by Kevin Arnovitz

The Chicago Bulls did a lot of things right on Saturday afternoon in Boston en route to a 105-103 overtime win. They controlled the tempo on the Celtics' home floor, and mauled the league's second-best rebounding team on the glass. But it's impossible to consider any single facet of the game without focusing on Derrick Rose. Chicago's rookie point guard tied Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's record for most points in a playoff debut with 36.

Rose's game displays a seamless combination of spontaneity and purpose. He's perfectly capable of free-forming at any moment -- even off a made bucket -- but he's also a master orchestrator who controls the halfcourt game from the point. Rose shredded the Celtics' defense Saturday and he did it in a variety of ways. 

Working with his Big Men
Rose's season is all the more remarkable when you consider the number of bigs the Bulls have shuttled in and out of the lineup. There's been very little continuity in the Chicago frontcourt, but it hasn't hampered Rose's ability to make good use of his big men.

Rose hooks up with Joakim Noah for bookend alley-oops in the opening and closing minutes of the first quarter [1st Quarter, 11:36; 1st Quarter, 0:33], but my favorite Rose-Noah set comes just before halftime on a high screen and roll [2nd Quarter, 2:02]. Ray Allen is guarding Rose up top when the screen comes from Noah. Rose uses the screen to dribble left along the arc, with both Allen and Kendrick Perkins running at him. Noah dives to the hoop. Rose sees him and almost fires a pass, but realizes it's a little dicey at that instant. Rose hasn't sufficiently shaken Allen off-balance, and Glen Davis -- cheating a bit off Tyrus Thomas along the left side of the baseline -- is too close to the passing lane.

Rose responds with patience. He hesitates for a split second. He maintains his dribble, then teases the defenders with a shoulder fake, then brings his dribble up high as if he might put the ball on the floor. Perkins drops back, and as he does Davis moves away from the lane and returns to Thomas. This movement creates a small opening through which Rose threads the needle, hitting Noah with a pinpoint pass for an easy, uncontested, nobody-anywhere-near-him layup. Perkins is furious. The Celtics' center slaps his hands together in disgust, either at himself or at Davis for yielding the paint.  

Off the Dribble
Rose goes off in the third quarter, draining four field goals over a span of five Chicago possessions. The most spectacular of the bunch comes off a high screen and roll on the right side with Tyrus Thomas [3rd Quarter, 7:43]. Boston typically defends pick and roll action as effectively as anyone, and here Glen Davis and Rondo show and recover with ease.

Doesn't matter. Rose disarms Rajon Rondo in a flash with a subtle shoulder fake, then a deathly crossover to his left. Rondo, a capable on-ball defender, is left in the dust. Once Rose reaches the paint, Perkins arrives from the help side. Rose protects himself with his right hip, muscling to the hoop with his left arm, then kissing the ball off the window.  

Rose beats the ball defender with pure quickness, then overcomes the back line help with strength. It's a superb composite of his game.

After a Make
Derrick Rose isn't your prototypical Mike D'Antoni-type point guard, but he repeatedly gets out in front of the defense after makes.

At a crucial juncture in the fourth quarter [4th Quarter, 7:28; see also 1st Quarter, 1:01] after a Paul Pierce lay-in that gives the Celtics a two-point lead, Rose snatches the inbounds pass from Noah and glides upcourt along the left sideline. What's strange about this sequence is that, at the outset, you don't get the impression that Rose is up to anything unusual. He's taking long strides as he dribbles with his left, but he doesn't appear to be rushing the ball across the time line.

The only Celtic on the court that smells something is Stephon Marbury. As Rose hits halfcourt, Marbury gestures with both arms like a traffic cop, then Rose goes right at him. A quick crossover is all it takes Rose to breeze past Marbury. Perkins isn't low enough at the moment of attack to do much in the way of help. He backpedals through the lane to meet Rose at the rim, but Rose hits the right-handed layup high off the backboard. Perkins never really has an opportunity to contest the shot.

Chicago's fast-paced offense isn't the result of collective quicks so much as it is about Rose's alertness. Rose is more than happy to manufacture good looks in a halfcourt set, but he has the intrinsic ability to find early stuff before the defense can set. This isn't part of the program, it's just plain old opportunism by a gifted point guard. 

The Jumper
Outside shooting has long been the least advanced part of Rose's game, but Rose converted five of seven shots Saturday from mid-range and beyond.

During his third quarter outburst, Rose twice takes advantage of the Celtics' decision to run beneath screens. On the first bucket [3rd Quarter, 8:14], Rose gets some quality help from Joakim Noah. Because Noah's demeanor is so spastic, we tend to forget he's a heady player. In this instance, his goal isn't to set a pick on Rose's man -- Rajon Rondo -- but to screen the area to Rose's left. Noah sets himself a foot or two away from Rondo, then holds still as Rose dribbles to the expanse of open space created by the action. Rose takes his time, sets, squares, then launches a jumper just inside the arc. Long after the ball drops through the net, Rose is still holding the follow-through -- right arm extended in the air, poised on his tippy-toes. 

About a minute later [4th Quarter, 7:01], Rose gets another pick from Noah, this one a hard screen that Rondo can't possibly run under. Rose again has all kinds of space. He jumps to a stop, gets himself aligned, then hits another long-range jumper with an extended follow-through. 

Two-point jumpers account for about 54 percent of Rose's shot attempts and he's hitting them at a respectable 42.8 percent clip -- very close to Dwyane Wade and Brandon Roy territory. At times, Rose's mid-range shot can appear a little flat, but when he has the time and space to set himself off the dribble, he's able to get some lift on the shot.

Unclassifiable and Unconscious
Rose may not project freakish athleticism, but that doesn't mean he can't suspend belief. At [3rd Quarter, 9:30], he gets another solid screen from Noah, this one along the right sideline. It slows Rondo, and Kendrick Perkins has to drop low to stay between Rose and the hoop. As Rose squares up against Perkins, he takes a high dribble with his right, turns baseline, then scoops a right-hand runner over the big man. The ball floats high above the backboard, then drops through the basket as Rose lands out of bounds on the other side of the baseline. 

Getting to the Line
Rose attempted a little over three free-throws per game in his rookie campaign -- not bad, but certainly an area where a guard with his strength can improve. Saturday, Rose gets to the stripe for 12 attempts, hitting every one of them.   

Rose's first pair of free throw attempts follows a Glen Davis miss on the other end [1st Quarter, 4:47]. Once again, Rose gets out in front of the Celtics' defense -- Paul Pierce the exception. It's a foot race to the rim, though Rose has the clear advantage. Rose elev
ates off his left leg from about 10 feet and gets extremely close to the rim before Pierce hacks at his right shoulder. Rose absorbs the contact -- and the landing is a lot more graceful than it could've been. 

By all accounts, it's a smart, obvious foul by Pierce on a breakaway opportunity by Rose. Examine the shot more closely and you see an extra burst from Rose as he elevates. It's Rose's body control and his capacity to create shots against contact that will get him from the three FTAs/game sphere he reside in now, to Chauncey Billups and Deron Williams territory.

The Takeaway
For all of Derrick Rose's tactical exploits on Saturday afternoon, his instincts and unflappability in a hyper-competitive road playoff game were equally impressive. Rose appeared steely and calm. He never flashed a smile and never complained about a call. His confidence was brimming, but his style was workmanlike -- to the extent 36 points and 11 assists can be characterized as such.