Carlos Boozer’s defense, dependence on Rose could bite Bulls

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At the end of some games recently, the Bulls have relied too heavily on ­Derrick Rose to bail them out. | David Sherman~Getty Images

Updated: May 2, 2011 12:26AM

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — It’s getting to the point where ‘‘[insert big name here] endorses Derrick Rose for MVP’’ is the NBA equivalent of ‘‘Dog bites man.’’

And ‘‘[insert big name here] questions Derrick Rose for MVP’’ is the NBA equivalent of ‘‘Man bites dog.’’

The former is common. The latter is news.

We’ll continue to report both because Rose deserves the accolades — and the barbs are so shockingly misguided.

The question is, what, if anything, is going to bite the Bulls?

I don’t worry about sports-related topics. I worry about what the roofer’s going to say about that leak we’ve noticed since the snow began to melt. And when I have time, I worry about troubling developments in the United States and around the world.

But if I did have anxiety regarding the Bulls’ chances of making a deep playoff run, I would be more concerned about Carlos Boozer’s defense than his scoring.

I would be more concerned about the way the Bulls finish games, leaning awfully hard on Derrick Rose, than the way they start them.

The Bulls seemed to address a couple of those issues in their quick start Wednesday at Minnesota.

‘‘We went back and watched the tape of the last few games that we played; we’d had bad first quarters,’’ said Boozer, who responded with 24 points and 14 rebounds. ‘‘It’s on the starting team to get our guys going, and I thought we did a better job. We played off D-Rose. We made the secondary passes. We did a better job of spreading the floor. And we did a good job of playing ‘D.’ ’’

Still, there are a lot of potentially challenging defensive matchups for Boozer out there, although it’s reassuring to have Bench Mobsters such as Taj Gibson and Kurt Thomas behind him.

I’d also be more concerned about all the nagging injuries than any more bumps in the road along the lines of Monday’s loss to the 76ers.

Joakim Noah, who missed the Minnesota game with a sprained right ankle, is day-to-day for tonight’s game against the Pistons. Luol Deng (bruised thigh), Gibson (turf toe) and C.J. Watson (plantar fasciitis) also are playing through assorted problems, as is Rose, who often takes an NFL-running-back-like pounding on his drives to the basket.

Rose promises he’ll be up to the task of finishing strong.

‘‘I’ve been handling that throughout my whole life,’’ Rose said. ‘‘In high school, [doubters said] we were too young. College, we made it to the championship. Then last year, [doubters thought] we weren’t going to make the playoffs. My rookie year, [people said] we weren’t going to make it. I’ve been hearing it my whole life.’’

After the doldrums of March, the start of the playoffs ought to energize the Bulls like Red Bull.

And if I were inclined to worry about sports, I would be more concerned about whether an early-round playoff opponent is capable of smacking the Bulls in the mouth, rather than whether the Bulls are going to finish with the top seed in the East.

Barring something way out of character, neither Boston, which has split its last 10 games, nor Miami, which let one get away in Cleveland, is showing the ability to catch the Bulls.

For all the Bulls have accomplished, they need to believe coach Tom Thibodeau when he talks about the unpredictability of the playoffs for teams that take things for granted.

Seeds mean more in the NBA than they do in the NCAA tournament. But underdogs can still bite unsuspecting opponents.