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Tuesday, March 8, 2011

TOP 25 UNDER 25 - #4 Derrick Rose

DERRICK ROSE - Point Guard, Chicago Bulls

Chicago fans, and in particular our friend K, can rest easy. We've finally gotten to D-Rose on our countdown. I'd have to imagine that any Chicagoan would be pretty pleased with his spot on our list. D-Rose is revolutionizing the point guard position. Whether it is for the betterment of the game is for others to debate. What isn't up for debate is that Rose is as explosive a point guard as the league has ever seen.

Coming out of Memphis there were many critics when he was selected #1 overall by Chicago in the 2008 NBA draft. I'll admit I was one of them. He didn't strike me as a very good shooter, and many wondered if he would be able to expand that part of his game. There were also some rumblings of a lack of leadership qualities as Memphis choked in the tourney. However, that might have been a bit unfair as he was a freshman. I think it is safe to say that he has answered many of those questions with his play on the court, and he is a leader now on the Bulls.

Rose is for all intents and purposes a polar opposite of the other PG in our top 10, Rajon Rondo. A score-first point guard who is a versatile and electric scorer, has improved the other facets of his game in a big way. For all the attention that his scoring gets - and he deserves it - Rose has become a productive distributor of the basketball as well. As of publishing date, Rose was 10th in the league in APG with 8.1. And in Points/Assists/Rebounds he ranks 7th in the league averaging 37 total per game. That ranks ahead of Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Russell Westbrook and Kobe Bryant to name a few.

Since the time he entered the league the knock on Rose has been that he was a volume shooter and couldn't hit consistently from the outside. He's since proven both of those things to be myths as he has inserted himself into the MVP conversation in 2010-2011. On the season he is shooting about 44%, which is down from his career average, though that is mostly due to a recent cold streak, and for the most part he's been right around 45-47% which is very serviceable. He has improved his three point shooting to 33%, which isn't elite by any means but is certainly better than 27% which is where he was the previous season. His numbers are up across the board in 2010-11 and he ranks among the league leaders in player efficiency, an important stat when considering a player's impact on his team.

To say that Derrick Rose is a one-trick pony, or is not a great point guard because he looks to score first would be remiss. Rather, his skill set demands that he play the game that way and makes him one of the elite talents in the league. He has the leaping ability and explosion of players that are usually much larger and play the 2 or 3 spot, yet still possesses the quickness of a diminutive point guard. To have him play a Rondo style and simply distribute the ball all game long would be to miss out on a lot of what he has to offer. In turn, he has developed a great play-making ability to go with the rest of his offensive game. This was evidenced in their most recent win over Miami where late in the game he penetrated the defense and made a beautiful dish to Deng in the corner for a 3.

The bottom line is that Derrick Rose does things from the point guard position that most of his counterparts can not. He'll never be John Stockton or even Jason Kidd. What he will be, though, is an incredibly athletic handful for opposing defenders to deal with. And he just may be the next leader of a Bulls championship. Chicago fans are certainly hoping so, and at just 22 years of age he has a good shot at being #1 on this list before all is said and done.

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