Rose on top of Rookie Rankings

November 18, 2008

Rose leads the Bulls in minutes played (38.5) and assists (5.6) and is second on the team in scoring (18.9). He has scored 10 or more points in all 10 games the Bulls have played, the second time that has been accomplished by a Bulls rookie. Who was the first? Yep, it was MJ. It is rare for a player as young as Rose to be considered unguardable. Yet that word is always buzzing from scouts' lips after they watch him play. Usually, the line is, "Once he learns to shoot the ball, he'll be unguardable." Well, he's learning. He has hit four of his past 10 3-point attempts and makes enough midrange jumpers to force defenses to pick their poison: Try to stay close to him and risk being scorched by a dribble drive, or give him space and hope he misses. But remember, this young talent is a passer first, so giving him space also means he has more room and less pressure to deliver a pass. Since Nov. 5, he has made at least six assists each game. His on-court demeanor is still too quiet, but I actually like that -- he's earning respect with his game first. That's the only way to win over a veteran club, and he's doing it every night.

November 26, 2008

At Golden State on Friday night, Rose turned the ball over on a bad pass with 10:36 remaining in the third quarter. At that point he had hit just one field goal and looked out of sorts while playing cautiously.

Twenty-one seconds later, he blew into the lane and made an "and 1" shot, plus the free throw. Suddenly, you could almost see the light come on as he realized that no one on the Warriors could defend him. On the next possession, he hit a 10-foot jumper in transition and dominated the action from there. He carried the Bulls on offense, making seven straight shots on his way to 25 points and a Bulls win.

It's the same for all young players: Sometimes they allow their confidence to come from their current on-court success rather than their cumulative production. Rose will learn from that experience as he continues to find that few players can control him, even if he starts out cold from the field.

Rookie Rank: 1

December 02, 2008

Rose played a big part in the Bulls having a mostly successful circus trip. I'm especially impressed with some of the numbers he put up on the road trip: 25 points and 5 assists in a win at Golden State; 25 and 9 in a big win at Utah; and 18 and 10 in an easy win in Philly.

On top of that, he's already starting to develop that feeling of being able to will his team to a win.

I wonder if all of the attention, pressure, playing time and burden of being all things for his team is wearing down Rose faster than the Bulls expected. He looked tired in the two games I watched -- at Charlotte and home against the Clippers. His numbers are down almost across the board in December. This is partly because teams are now helping off of the other Bulls and on to him, which was not often the case in November.

Still, the young man from Chicago is full of talent and spirit, and he performed beautifully in a recent win over Utah.