Can Someone Please "Take Care Of" Larry Hughes?

Derrick Rose is the best player on the Bulls right now (30 points, 7 assists last night). He's raw, yes, but talent-wise he surpasses anyone on this team. He can score at will when he is clicking. And not just clicking on his jumpshot, he gets to the rim for easy looks and layups. Albeit he was blowing by Dallas second-stringers in the 4th quarter last night, but his first step still looked unstoppable. He hasn't looked comfortable in the flow of the offense getting guys involved, but by breaking down the defense off the dribble guys are finding themselves with wide open jumpers. Although he's a rookie and he will have his ups and downs, he still gives this team the best chance to win.

That all leads me to the point. A point I've made several times before, but it is now magnified (and will be more so when the season starts): Derrick Rose should be starting. Larry Hughes shouldn't be even getting minutes (4-14 last night, this guy is just an offense-suck). Honestly though, I would rather have a Rose/Hughes backcourt than a Hinrich/Hughes backcourt. The point here is not that Hughes shouldn't be starting, its that Rose should. Especially here in the preseason he should be getting those minutes against the first-stringers instead of allowing Hughes and Hinrich to dig a huge hole and then have Rose coming in to bring us back against the opposing team's bench. He needs to get the experience of playing against starters for when it really matters.

Hopefully this is all just a horrible preseason experiment by Coach Vinnie, but only time will tell. Give Rose the rock. Please.

***UPDATE: I'm adding this video highlight of Rose from last night for those of you that missed it: