The Look

The look. Rocky Balboa had it when he struggled to his feet at the end of Rocky II to defeat Apollo Creed. Jack Bauer had it whenever he was preparing to torture someone for key information, bloodied and battered yet impossibly, still alive (which happened too often to count). Michael Phelps had it when he stormed through the 2008 Olympics like a dolphin on crack. The entire 96’ Bulls had the look when they won a record 72 games and left the rest of the league for dead.

And now, I think your 2010-2011 Chicago Bulls have the look.

This undoubtedly, has left you with several questions…and first among them must be what exactly is the look?

It’s simple really, and you know it as soon as it happens. Kind of like you just know when it’s time to quit your job or when you have to take a dump. When someone/something has the look it’s pretty obvious. As soon as Kevin Garnett reinvigorated the 07’-08’ Celtics—you know, when he started pounding his chest like a silver-back gorilla, barking out orders like he was a ten-year vet on the Celtics, and treating even a March contest against the New Jersey Nets like game seven of the finals—I knew they were a championship team. They were just, different. When Michael Phelps stormed his way through the 08’ Olympics, leaving his opposition fighting for second place in the pool, every race was his to lose. He was a machine…for all we knew he lived in the Potomac River and had gills.

It’s by no means full-proof, and teams/athletes with the look take their lumps, but more often than not when you look back at the season (especially in the NBA) Champion A had the look of a champion long before they were fitted for their rings. The 2007 Patriots had the look before the heavy burden of expectations came crashing down, and the controversial “Fab Five” had the look before inexplicably losing to a less talented Duke team in the National Championship.

So what is it about these Chicago Bulls?

It all starts with Tom Thibodeau’s singular devotion and passion for the game of basketball. It’s all he does…seriously. No wife, no kids, just basketball. Whereas Vinny del Negro was, well, Vinny del Negro, Tom Thibodeau has molded his Chicago Bulls into a focused, defensive-minded, intelligent basketball team. Let’s call them the anti-Clippers.

Here’s star point guard Derrick Rose to the Chicago Tribune:

“I’ve never played for a coach who was that focused,” Rose said of Tom Thibodeau, admiringly. “There’s nothing else — no kids, no wife, no leisure time to watch TV. I’m dead serious. There’s nothing else going on.”

Do I want to spend a weekend in Vegas with that guy? Probably not. If I was a 6’4 basketball superstar, would I want to go to war with coach Thibs? Hells yeah I would. Unfortunately, no one could say the same for poor Vinny Del Negro (I promise, that’s my last unprovoked shot at Del Negro for at least two paragraphs).

And then we have point guard Derrick Rose. Let’s forget about his athletic ability (other-worldly), his God-given talent (hell of a lot better than mine), and focus on his work ethic. He’s drilled 112 three-pointers this season, more than three times what he accomplished in his previous two seasons combined. In just one summer he developed a three point stroke that has increased his scoring average and has forced the opposition to leave him less breathing room—allowing his first step and speed to take over. Kind of like what we always hoped Rajon Rondo would do.

How often do we see superstar athletes making heaps and heaps of cash not only develop an entirely new skill, but admit they have a weakness in the first place? We’ve been waiting how long for LeBron James to develop a post game, or Dwight Howard to improve his free-throw shooting, or for Shaquille O’Neal to give a damn about the regular season? We hoped upon hope that Rose realized he would become un-guardable if he just acquired a jump shot…and look what happened. Refreshing to say the least.

By all accounts, Derrick Rose is a basketball star straight out of the NBA glory days. Quiet, humble, and devoted to the art of winning, Rose isn’t absorbed with neither his celebrity nor his talents. Whereas LeBron James spends his summers working on becoming a “global icon", Rose spends six days a week working with trainer Rob McClanaghan.

As vital as work ethic and ability are, killer instinct is what can take a player over the top. Michael Jordan had it, Larry Bird had it, Isaiah Thomas had it, and so does Kobe Bryant. Those players, they always had the look. It was constant; they never let up. And now, Derrick Rose has the look. Who knew Brian Scalabrine would provide all the validation I need (thanks to this fantastic feature on Derrick Rose by SI's Lee Jenkins)?

"They are the guys who get you the need baskets," says Bulls reserve forward Brian Scalabrine, referring to the vital hoops that stop runs and close out games. "I have a different word for killers. I call them mother-------. And right now, Derrick Rose is the baddest mother------ in the league by far. He is the reason we win."

So when did it dawn on me that the Chicago Bulls have the look of a champion? Beyond the stats—which are impressive—when did I begin to fear for the rest of the league? The light went off as Derrick Rose eviscerated the Atlanta Hawks Tuesday night. It was beautiful basketball…the Hawks were playing well, but they were so completely outmatched by a Bulls team only four spots ahead in the standings that coach Larry Drew looked like he was witnessing John Madden give Marz Albert a lap dance. What should have been a competitive contest between playoff teams turned into a four quarter laugher. I knew this team simply had it when Rose drilled three deep treys in the final 120 seconds of the first half, and one at the buzzer. It reminded me of the “shrug” game.

Pundits, writers, talking-heads, and fans alike rush to crown a champion long before the deciding game is ever played…it’s what we do. Sometimes we’re right, and often we’re horribly, horribly wrong. But one thing remains constant: we are all inextricably drawn to the team with the look. Why do you think the Spur’s bandwagon is strangely empty despite a league-best record of 57-14? Why did the 10’-11’ Atlanta Falcons never garner much hype even though they stormed through the NFC with a league-high 13-3 record? Forget the wins, the losses, and the stats…the great ones leave us with no room for argument. They don’t limp into the postseason; they smash their way into it like Blake Griffin smashes balls home over the outstretched limbs of lesser human beings.

Four years, four years dominated by three championship teams: the Lakers, Celtics, and Spurs. They secure some championship nods because of pedigree, but really, are they better than your 2011 Chicago Bulls? Who has been as consistently excellent as the Bulls? Who is peaking at the right time? Who else has the look?

Remember this in June if Tom Thibodeau and Derrick Rose are bear-hugging each other at midcourt as confetti rains down from above, and Charles Barkley wonders what happened to the grizzled Celtics or veteran Lakers.

Did they really have the look?