Bill Simmons on D. Rose

[Jamfan]

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/090423&sportCat=nba

2. The Prodigy
Here's what you want from your much-ballyhooed rookie in the playoffs: You want him to raise his game a level, make his teammates better, play without fear, exhibit the requisite competitiveness and have a few "Good God, did you just see that????" moments. Through two games, Derrick Rose nailed all of these checkmarks unlike anyone we've seen since ... (gulp) ... Magic Johnson. You cannot say enough about him.

Of all the remarkable plays Rose made through two games, one stood out for me: With about eight minutes remaining in Game 2, Rose was backpedaling and hoping to foil a modified fast break. Instead of trying to beat Rose off the dribble, Paul Pierce lobbed a pass to Eddie House in the corner. Even though he was backpedaling, Rose sniffed the pass out, whirled around on the foul line, took TWO giant steps, improbably closed out on House's 3-pointer and tipped the shot. Watching it live, I rewound the play on TiVo even though the game was still going -- just for the record, I never, ever, ever rewind plays until the commercial -- and only because I was thinking, "Wait a second, he didn't just take two steps from the foul line and block a corner 3, did he?" Yup. He did.

One thing separates him from other world-class rookies who preceded him on a big stage: As far as pure point guards go, he might be the best athlete we've ever seen. If you built the ideal point guard, like how you can create a player from scratch on "NBA Live," wouldn't you basically create Derrick Rose? Lord help us if he ever learns how to shoot 3-pointers. Regardless, after Games 1 and 2, the ceiling has been removed for Derrick Rose. I am prepared for anything over the next 12 years. Anything.

 

[PJ Brown]

At the risk of becoming wildly unpopular, I fear we might be, understandably, overreacting to Rose's legendary Game One performance. The assumption that Rose has "arrived" might be premature--not the in sense that he's shown he will become a star, as I'm convinced he will--but rather in the sense that the future is now and his position in the NBA panthenon is secured. As his game two performance showed, we have to expect him to have human nights. More importnatly, I think it's a huge mistake to assume that the officials have welcomed him into the superstar club. I'm not trying to be remotely cynical about Rose--he's the one we've been looking for and it's nowhere but straight up for him from here on out--but I'm afraid we could be let down if either he doesn't repeat Game One or the refs decide to treat him like a rookie while giving the Celts the superstar/defending champ treatment. Hopefully, Derrick will show that he is in fact closer to our expectations than I fear, and I'd say there is a chance for that. Mostly, I hope he comes out with the kind of aggressiveness and control he exhibited in Game One, even if he doesn't quite match the numbers. If he does, I think the Bulls win Game 3.

 

[dougthonus]

I agree, in many ways people have projected what Derrick Rose will be on to what Derrick Rose presently is.

There's really not any harm in it as what else have you got to root for as a Bulls fan anyway, but I think Rose's present ability certainly diverges from what people expect of him.

Still, that game 1 performance he delivered at a superstar level. We'll see if he's got another one or two of those in his pocket this series or not.

 

[cool007]

No doubt he has a LOT to learn but how can you deny that he has the potential to be something very very very special. He can be pretty darn good - and throw the numbers outside, he can be a best PG in the league or 2nd best.

He has the tools and he is already this good, yet he still has a lot to learn. Imagine the more he learns about the game and his weaknesses, he is already unguardable and a very close to all-star. Imagine once he does develop??? :woohoo: