One of the reasons Joakim Noah feels so strongly about the Bulls' chances this season is the development of Derrick Rose. The All-Star point guard told ESPNChicago.com recently that he wanted to be the guy who brings the Bulls back to where they were during the Jordan era, and Noah enjoys seeing that kind of confidence. He has no problem with Rose saying he wants to be the face of the franchise. "I think it's about our team, and that's going to be the strength of our team … what everybody can bring to the table,” said Noah, who doesn’t worry about Rose being the face of the franchise. “To beat those stars in Miami, that kind of star power, it's going to come down to our best players like D. Rose to our last guy off the bench. “You look at those championship teams [like the Lakers], Sasha Vujacic was the one who clinched it at the end of the game. So everybody on a championship team has to be into it. Everybody has to be into it for the right reasons, and I think that's the way we're going to win is to all be on the same page and all have a common goal and that's to win." Noah realizes that the only way the Bulls are going to do that is with Rose leading the way on the floor. "Now, being the face of the franchise, I think that everybody understands that for us to take it to the next level we need Derrick to play at a very high level, and we need everybody to play at a high level," he continued. "But I think that everybody understands that if we want to take it to the next level, of course, Derrick fits that mold. Especially a guy who doesn't talk a lot, it makes me happy when I hear a guy like Derrick talk like that, because it shows how much he's maturing as a player and the confidence level that he has in his game." No matter who leads the way, Noah knows that the Bulls' locker room will be much different without veteran leaders Brad Miller and Kirk Hinrich. Read more: http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/bulls/post/_/id/1486/noah-praises-roses-confidence
