During an interview with NBA.COM’s Lang Whitaker, Derrick Rose gave his prediction on the New York Knicks and how they will do this season. Now it’s ok for Rose to have confidence, because that’s what got him this far, but one specific statement that he made really baffled everyone. Rose said:
“[Expectations are] high. I mean, with these teams right now, they’re saying us and Golden State are the super teams, and they’re trying not to build that many super teams, and Adam Silver came out with the statement and this and that. And the expectations I think of us, we just want to win. … When you’ve got a group like that, it’s like, alright, I know everybody wants to do that, but we’re going to break this down as simple as possible, and try to win every game.”
The question that everyone is asking is “who is calling the Knicks a super team?” It’s one thing for a team to put a ton of talent on one team and show that they are a super team, which is what the Warriors did coming off a 73 win season. But the Knicks on the other hand are coming off a 32-50 season, and they didn’t necessarily add a MVP caliber player like Durant. Rose was once a MVP, but those days are far behind him. Not to mention that his Bulls team didn’t even make the playoffs this past season.
Rose may need to take a step back and wait until the season begin to start making bold statements like that. The Knicks did add some solid pieces around Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis, which included Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah. So the potential is there, but it will be a work in process. But let’s hope this team turns out to be great, because it would be exciting for the NBA, especially if they could challenge the Cavaliers.