Derrick Rose Takes What Is Rightfully His (Rookie of the Year Edition)
In an announcement that should surprise no one, Derrick Rose won the Rookie of the Year award by a landslide. Although a few other rookies had good years, Rose was by far the best. What is so remarkable about Rose’s season is that as a point guard, most experts believed that he would need a year or two at least to grow into a star. Rose hit the ground running, however, playing like more of a veteran than a rookie. Most people felt Beasley or Mayo would win this award because they were more NBA ready. Even though they had very good seasons, they didn’t even touch Rose’s year.
What is not discussed very much is the contributions made to Rose’s game by a strong veteran presence in the Bulls locker room. Lindsey Hunter and Kirk Hinrich both helped Rose with his development:
‘Kirk texted me when he was out, giving me advice,” Rose said. ”He’s done a lot for me.
”Lindsey, he’s just like a father, yelling at you, grabbing you, whatever. It helped me. I’m happy the Bulls organization agreed to bring him over because he really helped me.”
Rose played at an all-star level this season, but at the young age of 20 has shown that he can be a superstar in this league. That was true even before his record-setting Game 1 performance against Boston. Bulls fans should be very excited. And above all he has seemed to stay modest and level-headed about the whole thing. To the point of wondering if he ever shows any emotion about anything.
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Comments
Comment from StevieY19
Time April 23, 2009 at 1:02 pm
Let me also counteract the slurping…
“He played like more of a veteran than a rookie”…and like more of a high school sophomore than a rookie on defense.
I’m sure this wasn’t the extent of it, but how much did Kirk help if he was “texting” Rose advice? Don’t they see each other?
If Rose played at an all-star level, he would have been mentioned in the all-star discussion. He played like an all-star in Game 1 of the playoffs and played well all season. He won ROY running away and deserved it, but he’s not an all-star and he’s not an elite point guard in the league…yet.
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Comment from real stadiums have roofs
Time April 23, 2009 at 9:27 am
Superstar? At 17 and 6, I’d say his rookie season proved nothing more than that he is a serviceable point guard. I would also be concerned about his lack of emotion. There is clearly something wrong with him. He has Vince Young written all over him.