Why, no, Derrick Rose does not miss playing with the New York Knicks. He’s perfectly happy with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Thanks for asking.
From the New York Post‘s Alex Squadron:
After one roller-coaster season with the dysfunctional, triangle-absorbed Knicks, point guard Derrick Rose is feeling comfortable in a brand new home.
Why exactly?
“[With the Cavaliers], I get to do whatever I want,” Rose said, before his team’s 112-107 loss to the Netson Wednesday night at Barclays Center, though he sat with a sprained left ankle. “In New York, I couldn’t. It was just simple. That’s why I made the transition.”
…
“There wasn’t no freedom [with the Knicks],” Rose told The Post. “Here I got freedom.
The Knicks spent most of last season searching for their offensive identity. If they weren’t in complete and utter disarray, they were adhering to the constructs of the triangle offense, a complex system that doesn’t allow for much one-on-one situations or general freelancing.
Rose was always a weird fit with the Knicks for that reason. System basketball isn’t his game. He needs to have the ultimate green light. And while it didn’t seem like he was exactly on a leash last season, trying to exist within a system that demands he play off the ball strays entirely from the nucleus of the same.
It’s no surprise that he’s more comfortable in Cleveland. The Cavaliers don’t emphasize passing as much. They’re okay letting their top talent create things for themselves, without turning to specific sets and patterns on every possession. Whether Rose still falls under the “top talent” umbrella is another debate unto itself, but Cleveland is nothing if not a better landing spot for him.
