New York Knicks: Derrick Rose Left His Ego In Chicago
New York Knicks point guard Derrick Rose isn’t worried about how his statistics are going to look. All he wants to do is win—a common theme in New York.
The New York Knicks are a team flush with hungry competitors who want nothing more than to win games. The veterans on the roster are beyond the stage of their respective careers where compiling stats will influence their legacy; only winning can help now.
Starting point guard Derrick Rose is ready to leave the stat-chasing behind in pursuit of what truly matters: a winning season.
Rose has come under fire for his approach to the game in recent seasons. Having lost some of the explosiveness that helped him become NBA MVP in 2010-11, Rose still played like he had it.
According to Al Iazzonne of Newsday, Rose left his ego in Chicago.
"“I’m not coming in with any ego problem and I’m not coming in chasing no stats or anything like that,” Rose said. “I don’t care about my stats. I don’t look at them after games. My job is as long as we win, I can sleep easy at night. That’s the only thing I worry about.”"
That’s the type of point guard whom any player could excel with.
Saying it and doing it are two different things, but it’s hard to imagine Phil Jackson would’ve brought Roes in if he weren’t confident in his ability to adapt. It’s almost a comparable situation to when the Chicago Bulls acquired Ron Harper in the 1990s.
Rose’s role with the Knicks will be bigger than Harper’s was in Chicago, but the circumstances are similar.
Harper averaged 20.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 1.9 steals in 38.1 minutes per game with the Los Angeles Clippers in 1993-94. In 1994-95, his first season with the Bulls, his minutes were cut down to 19.9 per game.
Despite the decline in playing time, Harper would establish himself as a tall and strong point guard who could defend and shoot from midrange.
Rose, of course, is a big and strong point guard who has the length and strength to defend, and a midrange game that’s drawn praise from his teammates.
Harper won five NBA championships with Jackson.
Even one title would cement Rose’s status as a Knicks legend.
Rose will play closer to 30 minutes per game than 20, but the point remains. Jackson knows all about helping a ball-dominant scorer reinvent their game during a deep stage of their career.
Knicks star Carmelo Anthony already sees the difference in the way Rose approaches the game..
"“You can just see a different Derrick than what you’ve seen over the past couple of years. The look is on his face. You can just see it.”"
That’s an important cosign from the franchise player.
Rose averaged just 4.7 assists per game during the 2016-17 NBA regular season. Despite ranking No. 25 in the Association in usage rate, he was No. 39 in assists per 48 minutes and No. 101 in assist ratio.
A change of scenery has also led to a change of mentality, however, as Rose has turned his focus to helping Anthony.
"“We’re coming in here, we’re battle tested,” Rose said. “Our job is to make [Carmelo Anthony’s] job as easy as possible. That means if it’s sacrificing, we’re sacrificing. Whatever he wants us to do we’re going to do it, bro. We don’t want no problems. We just want to win.”"
At the end of the day, winning is all that matters.
Rose has experienced success in the past. He led the Chicago Bulls to the playoffs as a rookie, took them to 62 wins and the Eastern Conference Finals in 2011, and helped Chicago win 50 games in both 2011-12 and 2014-15.
With a change of scenery and role, Rose is ready to help New York experience similar levels of success.
Must Read: Derrick Rose is here to help Carmelo Anthony win
Having missed the playoffs in three consecutive seasons, the New York Knicks are certainly hungry for a winner.