Derrick Rose drilled what turned out to be the game-sealing shot in the New York Knicks’ Tuesday night victory over the Portland Trail Blazers. This naturally led to questions about him returning to his old self.
But Derrick Rose has moved beyond those inquiries, per the New York Daily News‘ Stefan Bondy:
“That vintage (Rose) is gone, man. I told you the question should be: Can I hoop? I can hoop,” he said. “It shouldn’t be like he’s playing like his old self. Like, if I can hoop, I can hoop, no matter if I did that when I was younger or now. I can play the game of basketball.”
This is a fair thing of Rose to say. He is years removed from his 2010-11 MVP award. Following many injuries and setbacks, that Rose his gone. A look back at his season and how it failed to compare to Dwight Howard’s or LeBron James’ suggests it never really should have existed.
It makes far more sense to see if he can still play in today’s league, as an above-average talent, and his remaining physical abilities suggest he can. But we also need to say if he’s capable of running point for a team, like the Knicks, that doesn’t necessarily need him to score. Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis are there for that; Rose is supposed to concentrate on collapsing defenses and moving the ball—and he still needs some work there.
Derrick Rose is posting the lowest assist percentage of his career, and he has yet to develop adequate chemistry with Porzingis. The 1-3/4 pick-and-roll between him and Anthony can be money, but Rose needs to do far more as a playmaker to reach his peak value in New York.
