New York Knicks: Derrick Rose Wants To Be Great Again
Derrick Rose may not yet understand how to fill his role with the New York Knicks, but he knows that a part of being great is adaptability.
The New York Knicks made the ultimate gamble during the summer of 2016 by trading for point guard Derrick Rose. Rose had spent the past five seasons nursing injuries that many worried would end his career.
Though it’s only been one regular season game, Rose is already seeing how different life in New York truly is.
Rose finished the regular season opener with 17 points in 30 minutes, displaying many of the athletic gifts that made him special in Chicago. His role has changed, however, which isn’t easy for any player to accept.
According to Steve Popper of The Record, Rose isn’t accustomed to playing in a system that doesn’t put the ball directly in his hands.
"“With me, of course, I want pick-and-roll every time down…In the triangle sometimes, our auto sometimes, you get both sides. You’re going to the corner and as the point guard, that’s tough sometimes, going all the way to the corner and kind of waiting to see what they’re going to do on the initial side of the triangle. You have to wait for the ball to come back to you. I’ve got to find a way. There’s no way around it. I got to find a way, and I’m going to find a way. That’s what being great is all about.”"
Some have interpreted that as a complaint, but it sounds like more of an epiphany.
The triangle offense may or may not be the proper system for the Knicks to run in the contemporary era. Regardless of whether or not it is, Rose’s comments are about much more than the system itself.
Rose is essentially stating that it’s difficult for him to play off-ball, while also claiming that he would love to run the same play every time: the pick and roll.
The reality of the modern NBA—and every era before it—is that great players must be able to play without the ball. They must be able to hurt opposing teams without going ISO or running the same play repeatedly.
The pick and roll is certainly an effective play, but if the Knicks were to do the same thing every time Rose got the ball, it’d become predictable.
As it pertains to Rose in specific, he’s a former league MVP who has been the go-to player at every stop of his career. He was a superstar at Memphis, a superstar in Chicago, and even played with a superstar mentality after the injuries took their toll.
In New York, he’s being asked to accept a role as the No. 3 player on the roster behind Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis.
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That’s less about system and more about having to check his ego. Though it may not show up in the X’s and O’s, it’s an indescribably difficult task for a player as decorated as Rose.