SLAM player rankings -
The time has come! The guy you all love to hate has finally appeared on the rankings. If you’ve been following our Top 50 list as of late, then you already know that DRose has been meDerrick Rosentioned in the comments section more than the featured player. And for the most part, the comments haven’t been too positive.
Many of you feel Rose is too high. Maybe he is, maybe not.
There is no point for me to sit here and try to convince those who aren’t happy with where is ranked or even those who don’t like his game. An article will not all of the sudden change your perspective on him. Instead I will evaluate his rookie season, what can be expected from him next season, and what could have led to him landing at No. 18.
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We all witnessed history on April 18, when DRose had a historic playoff performance against the defending champions – the Boston Celtics – finishing with 36 points, 11 assists and 4 rebounds, while shooting 63 percent from the floor. His 36 points tied Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for most points ever scored by a rookie in his playoff debut. I should note that Abdul-Jabbar was 22 years old at the time and Rose was only 20. And…. 10 inches of height makes a difference. Rose also became only the second player in NBA history to finish with more than 35 points and 10 assists in his playoff debut (regardless of years in the League).
All over-rated team -
The Detroit Bad Boys blog, part of fanhouse, came out with an all over-rated team. Guess who's on it? Derrick Rose.
G- Derrick Rose
Rose moves up to the first team this year, after a decent rookie campaign has everyone talking superstar. He could make the leap, but it's equally possible he simply turns into an above average combo-guard, and it's not out of the question that he turns into Larry Hughes. Minus the defense, of course.
I actually like most of their list, and I don't even mind including Rose on it. I do think Rose has been overrated when people talk about him as if he's an all-star or super-star caliber player already.
Bulls season preview -
2008-09 Record: 41-41, Lost in First Round
Last Season’s FIC Rank: -0.8, 17th
Key Additions: Jannero Pargo
Key Subtractions: Ben Gordon and Tim Thomas
Key Rookies: James Johnson and Taj Gibson
Probable Starters: Derrick Rose, John Salmons, Luol Deng, Joakim Noah, Brad Miller
Point Guard: The Bulls have great depth at point guard with Derrick Rose and Kirk Hinrich, who will probably be mentioned in trade rumors for the remainder of his time in Chicago. Rose is unquestionably the team’s present and future at the position, and Hinrich saw a significant reduction in both his time and production last season.
Not sure why that projects Noah and Brad Miller to start?! Makes no sense.
Not sure how D-Rose crossing up Andre Miller isn't on this list ...
Just for Kmart: Why Lebron James Isn't Mr. Popular -
Anyway, despite a glitch here or there, LeBron was a public-relations victory in his early NBA years.
But entering what certainly feels like a crucial season on his legacy file, James now is perceived as a little more high maintenance than we expected. Please note we believe it's only a coincidence that two days after a public rebuke from LBJ, the NFL's Cleveland Browns shipped Braylon Edwards to New York. Subsequent reports suggest the incident preceding Edwards' dismissal from Ohio didn't even involve James' friend.
A LeBron James Mafia? Deep down, we don't believe it; The King just remains loyal to his boys. There's a book about James and his high school teammates written by the guy who did "Friday Night Lights" as proof.
Yet the nationwide King James glee club hasn't been making such a robust sound.
Bulls chemistry -
Last week, I said it seems like the players on this year’s Bulls squad really like each other. Well, I must have been onto something, because Mike McGraw of the Daily Heraldjust wrote an article about how much the players really like each other: “Since training camp began, players have been emphasizing how well they’ve gotten along. No doubt, the locker room is louder and livelier than it’s been in the past. Excessive laughter could be heard in the hallways even after a mundane Monday practice at the Berto Center. ‘The practices are fun,’ Joakim Noah said. ‘We’re having a great time together.’”
Added Lindsey Hunter: “It’s like family and that’s how you want it. It’s hard to get that, too, by the way. It’s really hard to get. It takes time to develop that and you have to put the right personalities in place where egos won’t come into play and if anybody has one, you have enough guys to put him in line. I think we really have the makings of having that special type of chemistry.”
KC Johnson mailbag -
It's about that time again, and I am wondering … honestly, given the clear distinction between what I would call the "elite" teams in the East (i.e. Boston, Cleveland, Orlando) and the "not so elite" teams, really what should we, as Bulls fans be most focused on this year, aside from whether or not D-Wade is coming in 2010? Is it the development of Rose, or perhaps will Tyrus stop taking ill-advised 18-foot jumpers? Steve Scaccia, Chicago
Will Luol stay healthy? Can Vinny become a long-term coach? Will the Bulls pull off another trade-deadline deal? That's the great thing about every sports season: You never know what twists and turns are coming.
After years of Kirk and Luol's "leadership by example," I want to see a Bulls captain that can speak up during a huddle. Joakim, for example. Who do you think should be the Bulls captains this season? Jon, Elmhurst
One of Brad Miller or John Salmons needs to be in there. Neither probably wants it because they're just pros who do their thing. But both have added a nice dose of veteran leadership to the locker room in different ways -- Miller with humor and Salmons with class. I really think this team started to grow shortly after both those players arrived via trade last February.
This also needs to be said about NBA captains, though: It's more of a ceremonial thing and doesn't carry as much weight, to me, as in hockey. But your question does speak to a larger point. This Bulls team has lacked strong leaders for some time. I think this team will get along well enough and has enough camaraderie that this won't be as much of an issue this season.
From TMQ -
Right now NASA's budget is $18 billion annually, and the quarter or so spent on science -- planetary probes, telescopes that scan the far universe -- is going very well. The rest of NASA is a mess. The agency has just thrown $100 billion of your money down the drain on the space station, which has no scientific achievement and no known purpose other than keeping checks in the mail to favored contractors and congressional districts. The station is such a white elephant the current plan is to "deorbit" the thing in 2016. "Deorbit" is polite for "make it burn up in the atmosphere." So after spending $100 billion to build a space station, we'll destroy it. Your tax dollars at play!
Since 2004, NASA has said its next goal is a manned outpost on the moon, as a stepping-stone to manned travel to Mars. There's nothing a person could do on the airless, lifeless lunar surface that a tele-robot operated from a Houston office building could not do at a fraction of the price and risk. And the moon has nothing to do with Mars. Any Mars-bound mission will leave directly from low-Earth orbit to the Red Planet: stopping at the moon, then blasting off again, would consume the mission's fuel to accomplish nothing. Though NASA has been studying moon-base and Mars-mission proposals for five years, the agency refuses to give a cost estimate -- a sure sign the plans cannot pass a giggle test. Considering the space station price was $100 billion for a limited facility that was not accelerated to the speed necessary to reach the moon -- speed means fuel which means higher price -- even a Spartan moon base easily could cost several hundred billion dollars. For what? Why, for "economic expansion"! Today, no one is interested in economic expansion at Earth's poles, which are far more amenable to life than the moon, have copious resources, and can be reached at one-ten thousandth the cost of reaching the moon.
Always very long, but worth reading for the "stats of the week" and the part about space.
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