Derrick Rose: The best point guard in the league - Really? NBA Special Report (Part-1)
After becoming the youngest player ever to clinch the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award last season, Chicago Bulls’ shooting guard Derrick Rose proved that he was the most valuable amongst all valuable players in the league. And the best, the Bulls have seen since the Michael Jordan era.
Ever since Rose was drafted by the Bulls as the first overall pick in the 2008, they have made it into the playoffs. In his rookie season, they were the 7th seed, and then finished as the eighth seed in 2009-10. However, the 2010-11season was the one, when Rose really announced himself on the big stage
In the third season of his professional career, Derrick posted a brilliant performance with an average of 25.0 points and 7.7 assists per game during the regular season. He almost single-handled led the Bulls on the top on the Eastern Conference and the league. The 22-year old sensation then powered the Bulls to the Conference Finals where LeBron James and Miami Heat awaited them.
Heat, were the team that failed to win a single game against the Bulls in the regular season. However, in the playoffs, the Bulls faced a different Miami side and that side proved to be a bit too much for Rose.
Chicago came crashing down against the Miami Heat and this led many people to believe that Rose is quite young at the moment and has still a lot to learn. However, many argue that he is already the best point guard in NBA.
In order to evaluate that whether Rose has already earned the reputation of the best point guard in the league, here is a comparison of the All-Star Derrick with some of the best players at the position.
Derrick Rose vs. Russell Westbrook
Russell Westbrook was drafted by the Oklahoma City Thunder, previously known as the Seattle Supersonics, as the fourth overall pick in the same year Rose was selected by the Chicago Bulls. In the beginning, many people questioned Westbrook’s ability to play as a point guard. However, the 22-year-old Russell proved his critics wrong and three years into his career, he has established his name among the best points guard in the league.
Westbrook’s major strength is on the offensive side of the court. He is one of the most ferocious drivers in the lane and always keep the opposition defence engaged, a trait, which is also the strength of Rose.
Westbrook is the pivotal cog of the young core that the Thunder have established, with Kevin Durant as the centre piece. In the 2010-2011 regular season, Westbrook averaged 21.9 points, 8.3 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game.
Many young players fail to carry the momentum in the play-offs; however Westbrook showed that he is a champion material this post season. He showed even more consistency on the offence and improved his scoring average to 23.8 points.
If we compare Westbrook and Rose, there is only one winner and that is Rose.
Even though Russell is a complete package, however the difference between the both the All Stars is that Westbrook does everything better while the MVP Rose does everything best. Russell had Kevin Durant on his side and as such he didn’t have to worry about scoring and had to just run his plays.
Rose however did not have any such luxury and in fact when he failed Chicago failed – case in point, the Eastern Conference Finals.
There does no doubt the brilliance of Russell however things might have been different for Oklahoma City Thunder if the team didn’t have Durant. On the other hand, Derrick Rose alone propelled the Bulls to the best record in the regular season.
So Rose is clearly a better point guard than Westbrook.
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