teams are gameplanning him.  For three nights now - at Portland, Golden State and Denver - the singular goal of their defenses was to stop Derrick.  The strategy thus far is simple: double team hard, and as far from the hoop as necessary.  Do what you have to get the ball out of his hands.  And while it's cool that teams have decided, this early in his career, that Rose is a player worth gameplanning (you don't see, for instance, teams worrying in the same way about Mayo or Beasley), it also provides a unique challenge.   He never saw this at Memphis, and in high school the talent divide was such that it didn't matter what defenses did.  This is a new thing he's facing - elite athletes, several, who are bent on getting the ball out of his hands.   He's getting the star treatment, and it's kinda cool.

But now it's time to for VDN to adjust.  That's right - I'm asking him to "coach".    

The reason is simple - it's a risky, bad defense to double that hard and that far from the basket.  One play demonstrates what I'm talking about.   Rose was doubled in no-man's land, Nocioni cuts to the top of the key.  Easy pass to Noc.  Noc, in the middle of the floor, has easy passes to one of three players spaced around the perimeter.  There are only two players remaining to defend.  Simple pass to wide open Hunter; and the three pointer is good. 

Easy passes made easy by one cut.  One.  Every person who played high school basketball on this forum has made that cut, and seen those options open up literally hundreds times.  For most of us, that cut and those passes are muscular memory by now.  It's why teams don't try that b.s. with Nash, Parker, or CP3 - they know that they'll get torched.   

The other option, of course, is this. 

Noah's a superb player to make that cut.  He's a big target, got good hands, good vision, and if the perimeter is well spaced he just has to beat one man for the dunk.  Surrounded by good perimeter shooters like Gordon, Noc, Deng, and even Gooden, teams would have no choice but to go back to a soft-double, or no double at all, in which case Derrick can go back to killing them. 

It's on VDN.  He's at the helm, manning the wheel.  Teams have adjusted to his offense, the famed GDG (go Derrick go), and now it's up to him to adjust in turn. 

It's a simple play, too.  Any experienced coach would know that.