"The cover of the most recent issue of Sports Illustrated heralds Derrick Rose, the Chicago Bulls' candidate for NBA MVP, as the leader of the "Small Baller Revolution."

Rose, judging from the first day of the playoffs, appears to be an unlikely candidate to fall under the spell of the magazine's long-alleged cover jinx. Just as the accompanying article makes a compelling case that this will be a post-season ruled by point guards, Rose spent Game 1 of Chicago's first-round best-of-seven against the Indiana Pacers making an argument that he is currently occupying the pinnacle of the league's most important position. Rose's 39 points, not to mention his selfless assist on Kyle Korver's late-game three-pointer, helped the Bulls to a 104-99 victory.

Perhaps there are only two teams — the Miami Heat and the L.A. Lakers — who will go to battle without the now-prototypical offence-fuelling waterbug that has emerged as a near-necessity ever since 2004-05, when the NBA outlawed the obstructive hand checking that once made a bigger, more muscular show-runners a better bet."