By: Kevin Anderson
It’s hard to believe that it has been only been over a year and a half since the Bulls struck gold in the 2008 NBA draft by selecting home town kid Derrick Rose with the number 1 pick.
I remember listening to people talk about how the Bulls should take the scoring machine; power forward Michael Beasley out of Kansas State. They already have a guard in Kirk Hinrich and their luck with point guards in the last ten years has been dismal (see Jay Williams).
General Manager John Paxson went with his instinct and selected the 19 year old Rose, who went on to become the 2008 – 09’ NBA Rookie Of the Year.
Chicago witnessed Rose lead the Bulls to the playoffs last season and scoring 36 points in his first playoff game against the Boston Celtics.
Last off-season, Rose came under scrutiny for a photo that showed him flashing gang signs with his hands and let’s not forget the SAT controversy, where the NCAA stated that Rose had someone else take the test for him.
This hurt his image at the time.
It didn’t hurt his game.
The first month of the 2009 – 10’ NBA season, Rose was not playing to the level that was expected of him.
He seemed slow, inconsistent and would rather pass the ball before he took a shot.
The media was all over him and head coach Vinny Del Negro.
The fans and media wanted to see Rose do what he does best: explode to the hope and use his quickness to score more points.
Rose and Del Negro must have been listening.
During the months of October and November this season, Rose has a scoring average of 15.6 PPG (points per game). Not bad, but not great.
In December and January, he has a scoring average of 21.1 PPG.
His season average stands at 19.0 PPG, for now.
In the months of October and November, Rose had 2 games in which he scored more than 20 points. He has 13 in December and January.
D. Rose is still learning the NBA game.
Being 21 and being known as one of the best point guards in the league is always a good start to what has the potential to be a hall-of-fame career.
The one thing I have always admired about Rose is the way he makes his team better.
Whether he is scoring 30 points or 10 points, other teams now know the Bulls have a very elite weapon in their line-up and must respect him.
During 15 games in October and November when Rose was “struggling”, the Bulls went 6-9. They went 12-12, when Bulls started playing like the mad man he has been in the last month and a half.
There is a statue outside of the United Center of a certain player who brought Chicago 6 NBA titles (Michael Jordan guys).
You can never compare Rose to M.J., who is Chicago’s Zeus.
But maybe one day, Rose will give that statue company outside of the U.C.
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