Charles Barkley likes Bulls' title chances

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Charles Barkley said the Chicago Bulls have "a really good chance" of winning the NBA championship, and their lack of playoff heartache won't be a factor in a title run.

The Bulls lost first-round playoff series each of the past two seasons. As the seventh seed, they took the Boston Celtics to seven games in 2009 and were ousted by the Cleveland Cavaliers last season as the eighth seed.

But they have yet to win a playoff series with this core of Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah and Luol Deng. Is an NBA championship this season too big of a leap?

"That's stupid for people to say because they are not the same team," Barkley said Tuesday on "The Waddle & Silvy Show" on ESPN 1000. "No. 1, they got that dude. To be a great team, you have to have that dude and that dude is Derrick Rose. People can say what they want to, he has been the best basketball player in the world this year. Nobody can take that away from him.

"Secondly, Noah has gotten better and also they didn't have [Carlos] Boozer on those other teams. So to compare them to those teams that aren't very good does disservice. And they've got a totally different coach."

With all but four players gone from those teams -- and a new coach in Tom Thibodeau -- the Bulls are the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference and have a shot at the NBA's best record with two games remaining.

Thibodeau replaced Vinny Del Negro before this season and, with two more wins, can tie Paul Westphal for the best record by a rookie coach in NBA history (62-20).

"That man can coach his behind off," Barkley, a Hall of Famer and current television analyst, said of Thibodeau. "I don't want to go overboard because they haven't won a championship but the Bulls got a coach for ... as long as they want him. He's done a hell of a job."

Barkley, who has been a Rose supporter for the MVP award for months, said the young star, averaging 25.1 points and 7.8 assists, should be the overwhelming winner.

"The MVP award is for the guy who is having the best season," Barkley said. "I said it two, three months ago, this thing has been wrapped up. They're trying to bring up other candidates. I understand [Orlando Magic coach] Stan Van Gundy wants to pump up his guy Dwight Howard because I love Dwight Howard, but Derrick Rose should win the MVP in a landslide. I know those clowns in Miami are not going to vote for him, but he should win the MVP hands down."

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