Team USA vs. Finland: Derrick Rose scores 12 points in blowout victory

Derrick Rose had 12 points, three assists and three steals as Team USA destroyed Erik Murphy and his hapless Finns on the first day of the FIBA Basketball World Cup. Team USA won 114-55, and they outscored Finland 29-2 in the second quarter.

Rose came off the bench once again, and I thought he looked pretty darn good. He was aggressive, made some excellent passes and did this (via @_MarcusD_):

This is mesmerizing and awesome and oh my God please let us see this all the time next season with the Bulls.

Rose got to the line five times, which was a function of how aggressive he was offensively. One of those free throws capped off a slick and-1.

Not everything was perfect, as Rose turned the ball over five times and shot just 3-of-8 from the field. He missed a few more bunnies, which has been a problem this summer and was an issue last season before he got injured. Not finishing well likely has to do with rust, so let's just hope that figures itself out as things go along.

Overall, I was very pleased with Rose's performance. Finland isn't exactly the best competition (good lord Erik Murphy is horrid), but Rose just LOOKED good and was definitely more aggressive than the last game. He was also solid on the defensive end, so that's nice.

PS: Pau Gasol had 33 points and eight rebounds for Spain and I think that's pretty good.