Rose, Bulls plan to pick up the aggression in Game 2

NBA MVP Derrick Rose failed to get to the free-throw line during Game 1 against the Hawks.

Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images

CHICAGO -- Derrick Rose. With the basketball. In the paint.

Anyone searching for a "Clue" as to what the Chicago Bulls plan to do differently in Game 2 Wednesday night to claw back into their Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Atlanta Hawks can start right there. As far as the Bulls are concerned, this mystery ends here.

Besides, a fellow named Rose ought to fit right in among Professor Plum, Colonel Mustard, Mrs. White and the other usual suspects.

In their Game 1 defeat Monday -- only the sixth setback in 45 games this season at United Center -- the Bulls fell behind 9-0. They watched or let Atlanta players pounce on early rebounds and loose balls. Rose seemed unusually passive by his MVP standards, launching four shots from 17-25 feet on his way to an 0-for-7 first quarter (we'll cut him slack on shot selection on the 61-footer with 0.1 seconds left).

Rose, in fact, did not get to the foul line -- a 19-of-21 weapon in Chicago's playoff opener vs. Indiana -- at all against Atlanta. You'd think he would want to do that just for the Bulls fans, to give them chances to belt out that "M-V-P!" chant they love so.

Chicago coach Tom Thibodeau saw it and acknowledged that Rose "settled" at times, despite his paper mismatch with backup Hawks guard Jeff Teague, thrust into starter's responsibilities by Kirk Hinrich's absence (strained hamstring). Now, there have been times when Rose has deliberately paced himself early in games, looking to involve teammates the way Kobe Bryant or LeBron James does. There have been nights, too, when Thibodeau has imposed an agenda, generally to kick-start Carlos Boozer by forcing the ball to the low-post power forward.

But this was neither. This was the second round of the playoffs, the first such opportunity for Rose, Joakim Noah and most of the other players and coaches in these roles, with this team. Flat and edgeless should not have been an option. "You don't need a motivational speech to get up for games like this," forward Luol Deng said.

They won't need one this time, anyway. Or so they have vowed.

"Be aggressive," Rose fired back when asked after his MVP acceptance and photo ops Tuesday to cite his team's single biggest fix for Game 2. "I think if we can be aggressive on both ends, especially defensively, we can get them off their game. So I think you'll see us getting to those loose balls we didn't get to in the first game. And us rebounding the ball and playing aggressive on both sides."

That was part of the failure, too, offering up a defensive performance that seemed to come from lotteryland rather than a No. 1 seed built on stops. Atlanta shot 59.1 percent in the first quarter of Game 1, 51.3 percent overall. Joe Johnson (34 points) and particularly Jamal Crawford (22 off the bench) did not draw the help from extra defenders that Chicago usually sends by instinct at this point.

"Every aspect of our defense has to be better," Thibodeau said. "It starts with the intensity."

Credit Atlanta and coach Larry Drew for taking what the Bulls gave them and then forcing matters later. That early spurt for a lead that lasted past halftime was nice, but the Hawks were most impressive later. After Chicago caught and passed them in the third quarter for a 66-60 lead, Johnson fired back for eight points to get Atlanta up again, 72-71, heading into the fourth.

Then came a 12-4 spurt, with Drew tapping energy guy Zaza Pachulia, to push Chicago down further. Whatever the Bulls had gotten away with in their dilly-dally-beat-them-late approach to the Pacers wasn't going to work against the Hawks.

And now Chicago knows it. It will start with Rose. As far as the Bulls are concerned, the sooner he shoots his first free throw in this series, the better.

"He's so quick, athletic and strong that sometimes when he's getting hit, you think it's marginal contact, and he doesn't get the call," Thibodeau said after practice Monday. "He has to make the officials make the call."

A lead pipe, a wrench or a candlestick might come in handy for that.