May 04--CLEVELAND -- In the spring of 2011, Derrick Rose had it all.
A freshly minted MVP, he torched the Hawks in the Bulls' six-game playoff series, averaging a tick under 30 points with five games of 10 assists or more.
But then he ran into the Heat, which meant running into -- and trying to run around -- LeBron James.
"That was his MVP season, and to win we had to do a number on him," James recalled Monday after the Cavaliers' shootaround. "Today his supporting cast is a little better. You added a champion and All-Star in Pau (Gasol). Jimmy (Butler) has emerged into an All-Star. Those guys have continued to get better. They get a little break with Aaron Brooks coming off the bench. I think it's a different time and different situation.
"If I need to guard Rose at times, I can do it. I can guard anybody on their team, 1 through 5. The time and the score of the game will dictate."
Rose shot just 35 percent in that 2011 series against Miami, averaging 23.4 points and 6.6 dimes -- down from 44.5 percent, 25 points and 7.7 assists in the regular season. The Bulls won the first game but dropped the final four.
Now James' Cavs get another chance to take out Rose's Bulls.
James has been especially strong against the Bulls in the playoffs, averaging 27.1 points, 8 rebounds and 7.5 assists while knocking down 48.7 percent from the field -- and 44.1 percent from downtown.
James said he expects Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau to make Butler his primary defender.
"But he will have a lot of eyes and ears behind him and in front of him to help him out," he said. "If you know Thibs, he is always barking out the defensive calls -- throughout the whole game. It still surprises me that he hasn't lost his voice completely. It's automatically raspy from him yelling the whole time. Jimmy will be that guy who will be the head-to-head matchup, but it's never one-on-one."
tgreenstein@tribpub.com
