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Prospect Report: Derrick Rose Of Memphis

Authored by Christopher Reina - 5th February, 2008 - 6:14 pm

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Derrick Rose is a point guard in the truest sense of the word with the confidence and swagger to be the leader of a very talented (and still undefeated) veteran Memphis team. The confidence he holds within himself has been extremely visible on his face and in his play from the very onset of the season.

His bursts of speed with the dribble in transition are truly exceptional. He glides quickly down the floor like a rod hockey game player until he shakes and jukes when reaching a defender. The balance and control with the dribble in the open floor is better than any player I’ve seen since Jason Kidd attended Cal.

He creates wide-open shots with his dribble penetration as if there is nobody in the world he couldn't beat off the dribble. His vision and ability to find the open man is highly advanced. Sometimes he almost needs to be careful about making passes to teammates that they may not be skilled enough to catch. If there was a way to assign a higher value to the assists of certain players more than others because of how much the basket was setup by the player, Rose would deserve it.

Making them look almost routine, he attempts and completes circus passes, but he completes simple and effective pass as well if the situation calls for them. He also does the Steve Nash screen. Rose is perfectly suited to run Vance Walberg’s offense for John Calipari.

Rose uses his body to protect the ball from being blocked when finishing. He has fine-tuned his tremendous floater throughout the season. His balance and body control when in the air is extraordinary; despite inviting and drawing contact, he is able to finish.

He has good lift on his jumper, allowing him to shoot over taller defenders. His release on jumpers is quick but fluid. Since November, The confidence in his form on 3-pointers has improved considerably. He really likes the 3-pointer from the free throw line extended and already shows promise to develop one of the finest mid-range games in the NBA.

Looking for his own shot more and more as the season progresses, he no longer defers to veterans like Chris Douglas-Roberts when Memphis needs a basket.

The biggest concern on Rose, more than his developing jumpshot in my opinion, is he appears to be a rhythm player at this state of his development and is ineffective when not in rhythm.

His rebounding instincts are superb and he will certainly be an elite NBA rebounder at his size and position. He has good elevation and attuned timing even putting back some of his own misses.

His anticipation on defense is extraordinary. He does well to get into the passing lanes and aggressively looks to swat shots when helping on players in the post.

Rose seems strong enough already to be a 35 minute a night professional player. His shoulders are broad, and his strength is evident on both ends of the floor.

More than any other player in the freshman class, you know Rose will be a great player. The bust rate on pure point guards of his caliber is tremendously low.

He is an easy decision with the number one pick for any team desperate for a point guard and, excluding the two very good point guards from the 2005 draft who were passed over twice and three times respectively, he is the most highly-regarded prospect at the position since Jay Williams in 2002.

Christopher Reina is the executive editor of RealGM.

Past Prospect Reports

Prospect Report on Michael Beasley of Kansas State

Prospect Report on D.J. Augustin of Texas

Prospect Report on Jordan Hill of Arizona

Prospect Report on Jerryd Bayless of Arizona

Prospect Report on O.J. Mayo of USC

Prospect Report on Davon Jefferson of USC

Prospect Report on Eric Gordon of Indiana

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