Derrick Rose doesn’t want anyone to think the Bulls can make a playoff run.

He wants the league to forget about them. He wants them to forget that Chicago is second in the East.

Sorry, Derrick; you just swept the most publicized team in the history of the NBA.

People have taken notice.

Throughout this entire season, I thought the Bulls were good enough to contend in the Eastern Conference, but I never dreamed they’d be in second in March.

The time to play underdog and fly under the radar has passed. The time to own it has come. Chicago has one thing it needs to do; learn to win on the road. A win in talent-filled South Beach makes it look like they’re heading the right direction.

If there was ever a time to own your status as a favorite and play with the same swagger as the Bulls teams of the ’90s, that time is now.

But Rose is humble. He is not cocky, and he certainly lacks any level of bravado. But his smile after Sunday’s win was knowing; he knew all along this team was this good.

This Bulls team can win an NBA Championship. They can do it right now. They have the chemistry to beat any team in the East in a seven-game series. Boozer and Noah are healthy, the latter of which is playing championship defense.

Deng/Rose is looking like this generation’s Pippen/Jordan, albeit much less talented.

If they reach the Finals, who’ll stop them? The Dallas Dirks? The only legitimate threats are the Lakers and Spurs, the first of which is sick of winning titles by now, and the Spurs’ average roster age is 80. They’re not holding up into June.

There is nothing stopping the Bulls except for the idea that a 22-year old can’t win MVP and lead his team to an NBA title.

That, and the impending failure of the petition to have Stacey King call the finals when the Bulls make it.