Derrick Rose's choking affect his draft stock?

[moocow007]

-= original quote snipped =-



Rose dissapeared in games because he had talent around him. That is what good team players do, they take a backseat and let others around them play the hot hand.

The fact that anyone thinks Rose disappeared tonight in a game where he went for 18,8,6 against the best defensive backcourt in the country tells me that some people are just looking for any reason to bash this kid.

Rose could have easily gone to some crap school and put up numbers just as jaw dropping as what Beasley did. But, instead he went somewhere to win and was willing to conceed his numbers to do so. That is a novel concept.

I agree with most everything you said and I think it's easy to say that Rose should have taken over late in the game (and that might have been the best idea) but CDR has been their no.1 option all season so it's not always easy to buck the trend. I mean we have no idea if Calipari wasn't the one that pushed to have the ball go through CDR. Also it appears that Rose hurt himself with seconds left in regulation and that it was bothering him in overtime. I think teams pretty much already know what they're getting in Rose and Beasley and that 2 less than ideal games for BOTH Beasley and Rose to end their season (and their college careers) isn't really going to change that.

[horaceworthy]

-= original quote snipped =-



I agree for the most part. It was his teammates that let him down. That said, I still think he needed to be more assertive early on. It was not his best game, but not his worst either like some seem to be saying.

I think this is a little unfair. You've been saying that Beasley fizzled down the stretch, yet teams devoted even more attention to stopping him down the stretch than Kansas did Rose (and really all they did was pack in the paint and try to make Memphis beat them from the outside, along with showing hard on screens), and Beasley's teammates came up shorter than Rose's. You should be more consistent with an argument like this, and not just pull it out when it's convenient to the point you're attempting to make.

Anyway, I agree with your closing sentence. It wasn't Rose's best game, but it was far from his worst. During the first half he struggled when matched up against defenders that he couldn't just overpower physically, and his teammates kept Memphis in the game. Rose adjusted in the 2nd half, and for a stretch took the game over and put Memphis ahead. He had a chance to seal the game on the line, which you'd like to see him do, so it was disappointing that he missed. Still, his surge in the 2nd half was the reason that Memphis was even in a position to win the game. He either was hurt or ran out of gas in overtime, take your pick, but I don't think either should be held against him, as he was asked to expend more energy than any player on the floor last night.

Basically, Rose struggled in the first half when he ran into a team that he and his teammates weren't bigger, stronger, and faster than. After halftime he gathered himself and put together a stretch where he dominated the most talented team in college basketball. Towards the end of the game he ran out of gas, missed a free throw that allowed Kansas a chance to tie the game (yes, he wasn't the only one guilty of that, and you can sugarcoat it all you want, but if he makes that free throw, Memphis wins). then was ineffective in the extra session.

Overall, I don't think he did anything to cause a seismic shift in his draft stock, either up or down. I feel the same way about CDR. Yes, if those two had combined to hit just one more freebie, Memphis wins, but without the yeoman's effort the two put forth earlier in the night, they aren't in the position where they have a chance to seal it.