Ever since Derrick Rose has came back from his tragic ACL injury in 2013, he’s been an average point guard to say the least. Since coming back from that injury, Rose’s averages in Chicago have been 16.8 PPG – 4.8 APG, all while shooting 41%. In his past 6 games for the Knicks, Rose has been averaging 20 PPG – 3.7 APG on 55% field goal shooting.
To make his positive impact for New York even more relevant, the Knicks have won 5 out of those 6 games. Is this just a great 6 game surge or is Derrick Rose not only making the Knicks contenders in the East, but solidifying his status as an All-Star guard once again in the NBA?
If you’ve payed attention to any of the Knicks last 6 games, the answer is very simple. Despite Rose’s terrific numbers, he’s had very favorable matchups. In this 6 game surge, Rose has had one difficult matchup (Russell Westbrook), and 4 very young or less talented guards. He’s been guarded by the likes of: Ricky Rubio, Goran Dragic, Darren Collison and D’Angelo Russell having his first game back recovering from an injury.
Now let’s not let his easy matchups take away from him helping the Knicks do something they haven’t in years, WIN GAMES. Granted, the Knicks played the 7-17 Miami Heat, 6-18 Minnesota Timberwolves (2x), and the 8-15 Sacramento Kings; the Knicks are still winning. Rose has something he hasn’t had almost anytime in his tenure with the Bulls, shooting threats to space the floor.
It helps when former scoring champion, Carmelo Anthony, 48% 3 point shooter Courtney Lee and 49% field goal shooter Kristaps Porzingis are your scoring threats. The Knicks have meshed well together thus far and should continue to be a slightly above average NBA team as the season goes on. Their record is the best it’s been in nearly 4 years, but they won’t be playing inexperienced and below average teams all season long.
Before New York went on this streak, they were 8-9, going 5-8 against teams with a record of .500 and over. In those games Rose’s averages were 12.1 PPG – 3.9 APG. Although Rose sat out a game in between his terrific 6 games, the Knicks showed their true colors against one of the NBA’s best, the Cleveland Cavaliers, losing 126-94.
New York is on a good looking streak at the moment, as well as Derrick Rose; but it won’t last…
The Knicks are set to play some good teams on their schedule at the beginning of 2017 and Derrick Rose won’t be able to face Ricky Rubio every night. His next 2 games are against Eric Bledsoe and Stephen Curry, so if those 2 guards do what they’ve done all season long, the Rose 6 game hype will die down. The Knicks can look forward to some more matchups against inferior teams (Phoenix Suns 7-17, Denver Nuggets 9-15, Orlando Magic 10-15) before Christmas. So as long as Rose can run this offense efficiently, he won’t need to score in order for the Knicks to keep beating these under .500 win teams and for them to sneak out a couple more wins against contending teams.
To answer the question, “Is All-Star Derrick Rose finally back?” all the numbers are showing that’s false. Not only that, but we still might never see All-Star Derrick Rose ever again. We may have more spurts like this to allow us to remember and reminisce on what Rose once was, but unfortunately, he’s just not the same player and will continue to be just an inconsistent, above average point guard.
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