And in addition to the rookie wall teams are game planning for him more now than earlier in the season.

It is like he is so crafty the refs miss-interpret being hit with his quick moves.

this type of idea, I can’t even fathom the type of pressure this poor guy’s going through. He’s still 20 years old, still pimply, and thrusted into the Chicago media. Russell Westbrook and OJ Mayo must have it a lot easier coming from the critics and the fans — who was honestly thinking that OKC or Memphis were going to the playoffs?

Rose has to go through being the starting point guard over Hinrich, and supposed to go to the playoffs like that. That scares me just thinking about it.

Who are these malcontents you speak of?

Ben, who has incredibly professional in spite of the offseason stuff, who is has been the most consistent guy on the team this season?

Kirk, who came back from injury/surgery a month early, who has by all reports gone out of his way to help Derrick even though the kid is taking his job, who has gone to the bench and seen reduced minutes/useage without apparent complaint, and who is meanwhile having a career shooting year?

Joakim, who is playing his best ball of the season, who hired a personal trainer to improve?

Aaron, who has seen his minutes cut to virtually zero, but who still is the first guy up and cheering his teammates from the bench?

Brad or John, who haven’t even been here a month, who have taken the role available on this team and played well in it?

Tim Thomas, the original “Tim Thomas,” who put aside any feelings he might have had about the org when traded back here and who is decidedly not a “Tim Thomas” candidate this time around?

Tyrus, who, bless his heart, has the most reason of anyone to sulk about the recent trade, but who continues to play aggressively (if not always wisely) even when out with the scrubs in garbage time?

Derrick’s teammates might not prove to be the best fit going forward, or salary cap issues may necessitate certain guys leave. We may not like how Vinny chooses to use or not use certain players. The adjustments this season have undoubtedly been rough. The team can be frustrating with its Jekyll and Hyde home-road thing.

But I don’t see a bunch of malcontents at all. It’s like Picco’s post the other day about being a Bulls fan – is there too much talent or not enough talent? I get that Derrick gets a pass – he’s a rookie, he’s got huge potential, he’s been designated the future of the franchise. But I think it’s time we quit slamming the rest of the team as one big, collective, unworthy unit.

first he talks about how a center (gasol) is more efficient than a guard (mayo). no shit, i’d hope a center would score more efficiently.

then he talks about how lopez’s rebound and block rate are so much higher than rose’s, which again, if you’re 7 feet and next to the basket most of the game, those two things are probably going to be higher.

He was a man amongst boys at Simeon, and was probably the best player on the court 99% of the time.

But I think this is a better list. I went back a few more years to purposely start at ‘87-’88 since I knew Mark Jackson (a point guard) was the rookie of the year that year. I’ve also used and sorted by PER instead of USG%. This list is not necessarily a point guard list, but I used height (<6’4) to get close enough. Dwayne Wade and Eric Gordon are the only ones on this list who probably didn’t enter the league as point guards. Tony Parker and Mike Bibby had a below average (<15) PER in their rookie year, so they’re excluded.

I’m not worried about DRose’s TS% b/c he’s not and may never be a 3pt shooter (and to his credit, he doesn’t take many). His FT% could use a boost and I think he will. His FG% (and FT attempts) will improve once he starts getting calls that we know he aint getting now. His assist number could use improvement, but I see that happening with a better coach. To his credit his turnovers rank near the top of this list, so at least he’s not losing the ball.

Interestingly, a guy near the top of the PER list that I really liked (but wasn’t well like among the pundits) is Rod Strickland. I guess I always had a soft spot for him going back to his Depaul days. I mention “Rod” b/c I understand he was one of the reasons DRose chose to attend Memphis. While DRose is certainly quicker and more athletic, I recall strengths in Rod that I hope DRose adopts. First, Rod was always able to use his size to basically back down (or run over) opposing point guards and end up at the basket. We’ve seen DRose in the post lately, but I don’t think DRose realizes that he doesn’t necessarily need to use speed/quickness to take advantage of a defender. He can use his size to force his way to spots he wants. Second, to me, Rod was the best finisher against “bigs” among point guards on this list. I don’t know how, but he always seemed to be able to convert at the basket with other bigs in the area. We know DRose is getting fouled a lot, but if he’s able to find a way to convert at a higher clip in the paint, its over for the league.

I think it’d be unfair if people implied that Rose has been underachieving or that we should likely worry. And I would say no one expected him to be this good so fast but to me I did expect around 15 pts and 5 assists. I think it was just Paxson and them trying to make sure to take some pressure off D.

I dunno though we seem to run the same play every time that fails at the end of games. Rose is getting some great looks though I don’t know if many guys get looks like that on a regularity. But I have dropped my head plenty of times where hes missed ’em.

But Rose is going to be much different to me I don’t think about him scoring 10 or even more than 5 assists. I think some will come in the flow but one thing that seems different to me about him is that he isn’t a hands on facilitator in a way. And I think that could be great and likely necessary with some of the versatile players on this team. Once he gets the reigns he’ll turn it up I’m sure but if he has a 7pt 9ast 5 reb game that’d likely be the game he was hoping to have.

17 in the 4th @ Toronto, multiple big shots @ GS, big shots to put the team up @ Utah, 16 in the 4th vs. my Rockets, 13 in the fourth vs Det, shouldve had the game winner @ Dallas, GW layup vs NY, 12 if I’m not mistaken at home vs Orlando

Unless there’s some bizarre scenario where Rose plays extremely well, but the Bulls still fall short.

As all things, his shot has tailed, and the FTA are somewhat worrying, but having his shot improve, combined with players that can make shots, combined with a real system, I have little to no reason to believe he won’t be a true offensive superstar. At the very least, I think the Bulls will have someone that contributes similar to Steve Nash. (in a different style, of course)

Now, about that defense… I am worried about that.