Sam Smith said it best when he explained why he wouldn’t want to be any of the top rated opposing guards against Derrick Rose. Smith, Bulls long time writer, is a legend for a reason. Smith is highly intuitive when it comes to players’ feeling, and he has a strong feeling about Rose’s comeback.
“Anyway, I spent considerable time talking about Derrick, as you note, and about the way the basketball world is mostly dismissing him. Yes, it’s understandable given the three years of injuries. Sports Illustrated with an NBA rating feature had Rose ranked 60th best player in the league. Another basketball site had him 13th best point guard. If your fantasy league has Rose ranked 60th, pick him and I guarantee you win the league. It’s speculation for all of us, of course. I go by a few things, mainly Rose being able to train without coming off surgery for the first time since 2011 and that inner drive hearing how he’s being so widely dismissed. I’m not yet likening it to Michael Jordan in 1995, but Jordan’s poor shooting when he returned from baseball and being downgraded that summer after Nick Anderson’s infamous No. 45 is not No. 23 comment helped drive Jordan to lead the Bulls to the greatest season in sports history. I’m not suggesting Rose will do that, but I wouldn’t want to be many of those now top rated point guards against Rose this season. I ran into John Calipari at the Hall of Fame enshrinement a few weeks ago, and he was raving about Rose’s attitude and condition in talks with him during the summer. Calipari kept saying regarding Rose, ‘It’s on.’ I think that’s positive. But I do agree, a lot depends on Rose and Noah returning to high level form if not quite MVP candidates. I believe both will; so then we can blame Hoiberg.” – Sam Smith
Derrick Rose was ranked 60th on the Sports Illustrated NBA Top 100 list. In a point guard driven league, Rose is now looked at as middle-of-the-pack point guard; more or less as mediocre. Russell Westbrook went on record to claim Derrick Rose is back to his MVP self after working out with him all summer. John Calipari, Rose’s former coach, also went on record to talk about Rose’s mentality that he’ll go for the heart of the opposing guards.
