The obvious answer to that question is “(insert expletive here) no!”

Derrick Rose went down the other night in Game 1 of the Chicago Bulls’ first-round series against the Philadelphia 76ers. With a torn ACL, the face of Adidas is sidelined for the duration of the season.

The Bulls have had to lace ‘em up many a time this season without their star point guard, who has been sidelined with various injuries, and in many cases, they’ve proven themselves as a force to be reckoned with.

However, Rose is the catalyst of their offense, the hardwood quarterback who not only scores and hits difficult shots, but distributes well and makes his teammates better. Not to mention the fact that when he drives to the basket, it is insanely difficult to keep him from scoring – whether or not there’s contact.

Much like Kobe Bryant, the mere presence of their go-to guy on the floor is a source of great confidence and swagger for this team, and without him, the wind may be knocked out of their sails in the Windy City.

Looks like the pressure will be on CJ Watson to fill some really big shoes. Also, the non-scoring threat Joakim Noah will need to post some more impressive numbers. Carlos Boozer, who pulls more disappearing acts than LeBron James, will also have to show up while plenty of scoring responsibility will be placed on Luol Deng. Can these guys step up and into their new roles, or is their loss too much to overcome?

I predict that they will still find a way to win this series, but it will not go any further than that for this wounded Bulls team. The only silver lining is that once the journalists and pundits see how much was taken away from Chicago without D-Rose, he may unanimously win the MVP award.

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