How Gordon’s Departure Helps and Hurts Derrick Rose
The debate here at NQTC over Ben Gordon has raged on for a while now and his departure has only served to stir it up even more. Clearly I have been a Ben Gordon supporter from day 1, although I will be the first to admit that his game has some severe flaws. Regardless, an interesting question surrounding a backcourt without Gordon has arisen: How will it effect Derrick Rose? TrueHoop took an in-depth look and here are some of the conclusions they made:
On Gordon’s positive effects on Rose
- Ben Gordon: More efficient than you think, given the volume of shots he launched on a nightly basis. As a 41% shooter from beyond the arc in 2008-09, Gordon was a classic floor-spacer for the Bulls. Since smart opponents were loath to leave Gordon on the perimeter to help, this allowed the rookie to attack the defense, which is the most potent feature of Rose’s game. With a less lethal shooting guard on the weak side, Rose might find defensive help and double-teams heading his way early and often next season.
- Rose is a natural penetrator. His drives-and-kick often resulted in a pass-out to Gordon once the defense collapsed, particularly in end-of-shot-clock situations. The luxury of having Gordon on the perimeter — ready and eager to shoot — took a lot of pressure of Rose, who didn’t have to be the guy in every series. On a team with very little help up front offensively, Gordon was indispensable.
On problems Gordon caused for Rose
- Although Gordon was a dynamic one-on-one player for the Bulls, he rarely created opportunities for anyone else on the court. That left virtually all of the playmaking duties to Rose. If ever there’s a young point guard who could handle that burden, it’s Rose, but Gordon’s tunnel vision made life more difficult than it needed to be for the rookie. Rose has the potential to be a very good off-the-ball player. Unfortunately, Gordon’s tendencies didn’t allow those skills to flourish for Rose. A shooting guard with a greater capacity to facilitate will help Rose develop that part of his game.
- Gordon, to put it kindly, was a below-average defender at the two for Chicago. And Rose, though his defense will almost certain improve with age, was no great shakes on the other side of the ball either. Some of Gordon’s deficiencies can be chalked up to inattentiveness, but he’s also quite small for a shooting guard. Either way, Vinny Del Negro didn’t have the comfort to cross-match his smalls, which meant that Rose spent almost all of his time guarding the ball. A more capable defender at the two would afford Rose a breather on defense.
On what Salmons and Hinrich can do for Rose in the backcourt:
- Salmons is more of a natural small forward, but could very well land as the Bulls’ opening night starter at the shooting guard. He’s not the one-on-one player Gordon was by any stretch, but he shot a respectable 41.7% from 3-point range last season (better than Gordon), and is a far superior defender on the wing. The downside for Rose will be that, regardless of what the number say, defenses will be far more likely to move off Salmons to collapse on Rose.
- Back in January, TrueHoop examined how Rose and Hinrich play together as a backcourt tandem. There’s real value in having two guards on opposite sides of the court who can both handle the ball and initiate the action. In addition, Hinrich is a pesky defender who can spell Rose defensively at the one. It won’t always be a viable option — don’t expect Rose to draw Dwyane Wade or Vince Carter — but Hinrich gives Del Negro a lot more defensive flexibility. On the downside, Hinrich is a below-average offensive player who, at times, has trouble breaking down a defense, and gets to the line about once every election cycle. While his presence allows Rose to work off-the-ball, that doesn’t mean Hinrich can always capitalize on that scheme.
Happy 4th of July everyone!
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