Rose, who knew he wanted to play in the NBA at the age of 2, was dunking before the 8th grade.

March 21, 2002

Dividends from the Bulls' trade for Jalen Rose continue to pay off. Through 16 games, Rose has averaged 24.5 ppg, 5.7 apg, 4.7 rpg and 1.31 spg. In a win over the Rockets, Rose scored a career-high 44 points at Houston on March 16 in a double-OT victory. He became the first Chicago Bull to score 40+ points since Elton Brand (44 at Indiana) on April 13, 2000 and only the 17th player in Bulls franchise history to score 40+ points. Rose also surpassed his previous career high of 43 points, set with the Pacers on opening night last fall.

Today, Rose takes a few minutes to answer some of your questions. Check out what he had to say and visit his official website, www.jalenrose5.com, for more on Jalen.

Trez from Taiwan:
We've been following you since the Fab Five Era and I remember once you said you were truly grateful of how Jimmy [King] and Ray [Jackson] helped y'all to the NBA. What do those UM memories mean to you? Do you ever dream of playing together with the other 2 guys again in the league? Does it bring back the memory playing with young guys like Tyson Chandler and Eddy Curry?

Jalen Rose:
"Playing at Michigan, unless I win the NBA Championship, will probably be the pinnacle of my career. Not that I wasn't a part of a number one team in high school that won a national championship or that I wasn't part of an Indiana team that went to the NBA Finals. But the sincerity of playing college basketball and the bond of the Fab Five was unmatched by any other team. It's something I'll always be grateful for.

I would love to play with Juwan [Howard] and Chris [Webber] again if I had the opportunity and Ray and Jimmy as well. But the circumstances a lot of times pull you in different directions where that might not ever be an option. Juwan and Chris were fortunate enough to play together [in Washington from 1994-98] but I don't see us having that opportunity to play together.

It seems like it was just yesterday [we were at Michigan]. The thing that is great about it is that regardless of anything we accomplish as pros, people are always going to remember us as the fun-lovin' 19- and 20-year old kids from the Fab Five that changed the face of college basketball forever.

There are similarities that I see in Tyson and Eddy and I would love to see them grow into the kind of players that I was able to play with in Chris and Juwan. They gave us an inside-out tandem and a high-low tandem and I understand that when you have that, it's almost unmatchable. It's kind of like Tim Duncan and David Robinson. As those guys continue to grow and mature, I feel that they have the potential to make a big-time impact in this league."

Matteo from the Republic of San Marino:
Hi Jalen, how are you? I am a historical fan of the Chicago Bulls and I am very glad and excited that you wear the Bulls jersey. I would like to ask you what you do in your spare time and if you have some "rituals" before games. Thank you and good luck, with you we are a better team and in a couple of years I'm sure that we will win a championship!

Rose:
"In my spare time, I'm really into music. I've got some equipment for deejaying and making CDs. I'm really into art, I'm into shopping and I'm into cars. I'm into books. I love football, I love boxing--I love all sports, I watch every season--baseball, football and basketball, even the WNBA. The only thing I don't like is that celebrity boxing.

Really my only pre-game ritual is that I like to listen to music. It makes me relax. I also like to read. Before I get out onto the court I like to put my mind state so it is relaxed. Then when I go out there I can run up and down the court like a total banshee with my mind settled, free and relaxed. A lot of times when you take the court with things on your mind it inhibits your performance, in my opinion.

My pre-game meal is basically the same as everybody else's. You like to eat some pasta for the carbos, some kind of meat or seafood to go with it; if you don't like shrimp you can always eat chicken. But that meal is kind of universal."

Steven from Floral Park, New York:
How old were you when you first dunked? Can you palm a basketball? When did you first want to become an NBA player?

Rose:
"My first slam dunk came in the summer between my seventh and eighth grade year. Chris Webber was already dunking and everybody else on the team always used to try. I kept trying and was finally able to do it. It was at one of our AAU (13-under) practices when I played with a team called the Super Friends.

Can I palm a basketball? Yes and no. I don't have huge hands. People who watch me know I always dunk with two hands because it's more sure. I know that I don't have big Dr. J or Chris Webber or even Travis Best hands. And I don't want to go up for a slam and miss it.

I knew I wanted to play in the NBA when I was two. The terrible twos--I knew I wanted to be a basketball player and playing basketball has always been my thing, whether watching it on TV or playing it. I had the Nurf basketball going in the house. I was the kind of kid who bent up hangers [to make a hoop], put them at the top of a door, tape newspapers around them like a net and play all day."

Rose listens to music before games. Then he takes the court "like a total banshee with my mind settled, free and relaxed."

Mr. Peterson's class from Winnetka, Illinois:
Hello, Mr. Rose. We are a second grade class in Winnetka with a lot of Bulls' fans. We are very happy to have you on the Bulls. We hope you stay with the Bulls for a very long time. We wanted to know what books you liked as a kid? What subjects were you good at when you were a kid?

Rose:
"In school I was good at reading and math and obviously I had a lot of success in gym. I was an honor roll student in middle school and in high school. I made the Dean's List a couple times in college. School has always been important to me, it was always a big part of my development. My mother wouldn't allow me to play if I didn't get good grades.

I read all the same books the youngsters are reading today--Dr. Seuss and all his books. When you get older you get into books like "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" and so many other classics."

Keith from Elgin, Illinois:
You always seem to have a great fourth quarter--do you pace yourself earlier in the game so you can have a good fourth quarter?

Rose:
"I think it works a couple of ways: I think that I have an endurance that allows me to, when the fourth quarter comes, still have something in my tank. It allows me to take it to the next level. Plus, the intensity of the game picks up and when that happens, it makes me a little more mentally and physically focused to do what I can to help my team win the game on a given night."

- Adam Fluck, Bulls.com