if rose is rose and dh12 is dh12, then they are serious title contenders. however, rose is concerning with the injury and long layoff. dh12 has under achieved for 2 yrs, been injured, been a cancer for two separate organizations, and couldn't get along with another superstar (kobe). why would this be different?
Well, I feel as though I've addressed this already both publicly (in the press conference thread), and privately (in a direct PM to you).
But, I'll say once more: the dynamic between Rose and Howard should be infinitely more cooperative and positive than the one we saw last season in Los Angeles. Why? Several reasons:
1. Kobe has always been the kind of person who points the finger at others when his team has fallen short. [Just google "kobe blames teammates" for some choice cuts.] Rose shoulders the blame and looks for ways to improve.
http://espn.go.com/chicago/nba/story/_/id/7517359/derrick-rose-blames-chicago-bulls-loss-miami-heat"It was definitely tough," Rose said. "All I can say is I guess God [does] everything for a reason. I've been in those situations before, knocked them down, but to miss both [free throws] -- I let my team down. The only thing I can do is learn from it."
...
"Derrick's always been someone who's his [own] biggest critic," Bulls center Joakim Noah said. "He takes losses very hard. And he wouldn't be the competitor that he is if he wasn't like that. He knows that we have his back. We love him. And we know we wouldn't be in the position that we're in today if it wasn't for a guy like that. And he knows that. At the end of the day, we have each other's back. But we all feel down right now, it's not just him. Everybody could have done better."
In short, Howard's going to respect Rose a lot more than he did Kobe.
2. The success of OKC will derive in no small way from the combination of Rose and Dwight in the pick and roll, a cooperative endeavor that will see both mutually benefit. Instead of trying to find a way to get touches in Mike D'Antoni's "iso Kobe" offense, Dwight's going to get plenty of easy looks thanks to a teammate who actually likes to share the ball.
3. Kobe is a world-class tool. Everyone knows this, including another elite big man who was driven out of LA years ago.
I've got no qualms whatsoever about how Dwight Howard and Derrick Rose will get along.
i favor OKC in this series, but i dont think OKC is a 2nd seed.
Don't worry about seeds at this point. It's the playoffs. The only things that matter are how the teams match up, and maybe, who has home court advantage.