Memphis point guard Derrick Rose is headed to the NBA. The first several times I saw Rose play I did not get the hype. Sure, he had good size for a point guard and sure he seemed to be a good athlete (after all, he did go to Memphis). I didn’t see the basketball skill everyone else sees. Then as I watched more and more I’d see more skill. He’s great for Calipari’s offense.
But I hear comparisons to Jason Kidd and I just don’t get it. Despite the fact that he can absolutely take a game over for stretches I don’t see anywhere near the floor vision Kidd has. I also don’t think he makes great decisions on the fast break. I’ve seen him attack when nothing is there and pick up charges and I’ve seen him pull back when something actually was there. I guess my problem isn’t so much with Rose as it is with the comparison to guys like Kidd.
I have also heard people comparing him to Deron Williams and Chris Paul, but I think that’s more just a, “Hey, those guys are good young point guards. Rose is a good young point guard too!” thing. And that’s fine. But I think to expect Rose to have as strong and impressive an early impact as those two guys is unrealistic.
Despite all of that, he clearly has talent and I no longer have a problem with him probably going number 2 in the draft, although talks of number 1 are insane. I no longer look at Rose as an over-hyped point guard that I wouldn’t want my team touching, but based on some of the expectations I’m hearing about him general disappointment would not surprise me.
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