You wouldn’t be wrong if you called the Cavaliers the Cleveland Avengers. After a summer of overcoming the NBA finals defeat and acquiring players that were overcoming the shortcomings of their previous franchises, the roster representing Cleveland is now more determined than ever to win a championship. However, nobody is more ready for that stage than new Point Guard, Derrick Rose.
“I get to play my game. Before I came into the league, I was a facilitator and the NBA made me a scorer…”
Rose is used to taking the good with the bad but hearing nothing but the bad. The 28 year old is coming off an an 18 ppg season, but that has been buried beneath his third career knee injury last year. From MVP to basketball memes, Rose has had to cope with the unrealistic expectations franchises and fans have thrown on him since entering the league. In 2017, in Cleveland, he believes he has a chance to change that.
“…I had to score in my first years with the Bulls. You’ll get to see my passing abilities here, my job is to facilitate and be aggressive at the same time.”
Derrick Rose is a known commodity. Not from an injury-prone standpoint, which he’s grown out of, but from a purely basketball perspective he understands where he’s had to reinvent himself in the past and why he’s in a position to revitalize himself in Cleveland.
Despite being a known commodity, Rose has always been easily misunderstood, as evident by the criticism he’s had for his limited shooting range. Rose addressed the path he’s had beyond the arc, and why the journey is about to change.
“Last year, when you’re only shooting 14-15 shots, and they want 4-5 of those shots to be threes, you know how efficient you have to be out of 8-9 shots. At the end of the day when you get paid they look at numbers, so shooting 3-4 threes a day and I’m not being very efficient with those shots and I’m only getting 8-9 points a game – why shoot them? And we’re losing!”
“I know my strengths in my game and me not shooting them last year was me being stubborn and me knowing who I am and me working on my game. Last year I made the jump for not shooting threes earlier in my career, I shot like 300 of them. It changed. I’m not going to put anymore pressure to shoot them, but if they’re open I’ll take them.”
“It’s a great situation being here. I’m having fun playing basketball.”
Fortunately, Rose’s confidence will make him a much more efficient player without disrupting the range of the Cavaliers. Cleveland will continue to spread the floor with the likes of Kyle Korver, Jr Smith, Jae Crowder, Kevin Love, Channing Frye and eventually Isaiah Thomas. With Rose, the Cavaliers can diversify their offense, throwing defenses off with a change of pace and direction; from the around the perimeter to attacking the rim and finding cutters.
Rose has received all kinds of praise from his new coaches and teammates, but his personal appetite won’t be satisfied until he plays at the level he knows he’s capable of for an entire season. Now as the official starting Point Guard until Thomas’ return, Rose will have ample opportunity for penetrating and creating alongside LeBron James.