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Two of my favorite recent pieces of basketball writing come by way of Basketball Prospectus. The first is Kevin Pelton's examination of the Lakers' pressure defense; the second is Anthony Macri's profile of Derrick Rose. The Bulls and Lakers faced off last night in Los Angeles, which gave us a nice opportunity to look at Rose's tool box against that nasty early-season Lakers' defense. How did Rose respond to the Lakers' stifling pressure? What kind of shots was he able to work for himself and his teammates?
Let's take a look at Rose's weaponry:
The Triple Threat [...]
The Drive and Kick [...]
The Stutter-Step [...]
The Pace Car [1st, 2:58] Ben Gordon strips Lamar Odom. Rose picks up the ball at the Lakers' foul line at 3:01. In three seconds, he weaves his way through the entirety of the Lakers' transition defense, splitting Radmanovic and Fisher at the arc, to reach the rim before Kobe Bryant can contest the shot.
The Rookie [2nd, 9:48] Rose has tremendous strength, speed, and awareness ... but guys like Kobe Bryant still have instinct. Dribbling the ball in the backcourt, Rose telegraphs a pass to Ben Gordon. Bryant needs only the teensiest of signals and Rose has given it to him. Kobe effortlessly steps in front of the pass, get it into the open floor, and converts the break against Rose on the other end.
The Freelancer [2nd, 3:03]: This is the most telling Rose sequence of the half, albeit one that's less visually spectacular than some of his other flourishes. [...]
Very interesting.
