Derrick Rose: Has The Bulls’ Superstar Finally Returned?
By Evan Massey
Has star point guard Derrick Rose finally returned to form for the Chicago Bulls in time to help them make a run at another championship?
The Chicago Bulls are looking more and more like a championship contending team with Derrick Rose getting back to his old self. It has been an up-and-down roller coaster ride all season long for the Bulls with Rose, but he is now looking like the pre-injury version of himself.
Take a look at his numbers through the first 22 games of the season:
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/31/2014.
Now, the question becomes whether or not Rose is actually back for good or if this is just another flash of his former self that will pass?
Chicago is sitting at 22-10 on the season, but have seen Rose miss 10 of those games. They have also seen Pau Gasol, Joakim Noah, and Taj Gibson miss some time with injuries as well.
Rose has put up very solid numbers, but there have some concerns about him as well despite the solid numbers. He has shot 42.3 percent from the floor overall and 26.3 percent from behind the arc. There is no question that he has been aggressive of late, but he hasn’t been able to take over games and be the go-to guy like he used to be.
In fact, Jimmy Butler has become more of the go-to scorer than Rose has been all season long. That isn’t a bad thing, but it does show that he is not the dominant clutch player that he used to be.
Has Rose returned to full health and can he continue playing the type of basketball that he has so far this year? Absolutely. Unfortunately, while he is back to full health he still hasn’t gotten back to the level that won him the MVP award. He likely never will get back to that point after the two season-ending knee injuries that he has suffered.
At this point in his career, Rose is a great point guard to run the team and demand respect from opposing defense. That being said, he isn’t the type of guy that is going to score 25 points per game every single night and power his team to wins. There will be nights where he can do that, but it won’t be every single game like it used to be.
Moving forward, Rose needs to focus on his perimeter shooting and becoming a more consistent all-around scorer. He doesn’t have the reckless style of basketball that made him so great before the injuries began plaguing him, which means that he’ll have to adapt his game to get back to being a more consistent scorer and shooter.
Three-point shooting has been a major issue this season for him, and that is one of the areas that could take him back to being the prolific scorer that he used to be. Since he doesn’t go to the rim like he used to, establishing a perimeter shooting game would make up for those missing points.
His playmaking for teammates has gone down in a big way as well, and he is averaging just 4.9 assists per game. Back in his prime, he was averaging at the very least 6.9 assists per game.
All of that being, he point that can be made is that Rose isn’t back to being his dominant self. The Bulls still have plenty of work to do before they are considered the best team in the East, but Rose staying on the court has been a positive sign. If he can continue to improve and get his confidence back, there is a chance that he can become the superstar that he used to be.
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If the Bulls are going to win a championship this season, they are going to need Rose to take another step forward in the scoring category. They have a lot of players around him, but he is still the center of their franchise.
It is going to be very interesting to watch him throughout the remainder of the season and to see what improvements he continues making. Simply playing consistently each and every game is a big step in the right direction, but he needs to take another big step to solidify the Bulls as championship contenders.
There is no question that he is capable of taking that step, but he has to get his confidence back under him and take the leap.