PK's First Post: White Sox / Twins Series at Threat Level Orange

Hello BBS community. To piggyback off of the earlier statement of the other new addition to the writing staff, Pete, I would like to say that it is a real privilege to have the chance to contribute to this great forum for fans of Chicago sports that have meant so much to them over the years. I will be trying to put together some post as the season winds down on my favorite Chicago squad, the Chicago White Sox, with some Blackhawks thoughts thrown in as a “Johnny Comeback Lately” to our city’s hockey team.



I have always loved baseball, as a kid growing up it was the sport that shaped my childhood more so than any other and the game that I have grown most attached to now that I am nothing more than a washed-up, ex-athlete at the ripe old age of 26. However, each of those 26 years has been spent as an avid Chicago White Sox fan, something that is not always easy to do once you move out of the South Side community that embraces their team. This is a Cubs city, which I am ok with (but I am sure will be the topic of conversation for at least one post along the way here). I take solace in my team and look forward to each spring with “enthusiastic pessimism” that I think a lot of fellow Sox fans share with the start of each season. This season has not disappointed in providing its fair share of both those emotions. To the disappointment of seeing a lack of offensive production early in the season, only to bulldoze through June and July with a 25-5 record going into the all-star game, only to come back down to earth over the last 10 days dropping series to the O’s, Twin’s and Tigers. Which have all combined, brought us to this week’s 3-game set against those same Twin’s (a team that I have nothing but respect for from top to bottom, but a team that has caused me more frustration than an overly jealous girlfriend or when people dress their dogs in designer clothes).

I see this as being a big to moderately huge series for the Sox who currently sit 3 games back going into tonight’s game in MN. Here are a few things that I am interested in keeping an eye on over the next 3 games (both enthusiastically with some pessimism mixed in).

1. The probable starting pitchers do not include the name Freddy Garcia. This is good. Although I have been pleasantly surprised with the production we have gotten out of Sweaty Freddy, it looks like the season has begun to wear on him a bit. Instead, left-hander John Danks (12-8, 3.19 ERA) will pitch in the series opener for the White Sox against Twins right-hander Scott Baker (10-9, 4.76. In Game 2 on Wednesday, White Sox right-hander Gavin Floyd (8-9, 3.70 ERA) will face left-hander Francisco Liriano (11-7, 3.26). And in the series finale Thursday, White Sox left-hander Mark Buehrle (11-9, 4.05) will face right-hander Carl Pavano (15-7, 3.27). I think that having 3 innings-eaters like Danks, Floyd and Buehrle going in the series is huge help, mainly to try to spell our bullpen after a much needed off-day Monday also. With Putz and Thornton logging a lot of time, Pena having been scored on in his last 5 appearances and Bobby Jenks with a nagging back the real bright spots have been the young guys in Santos and Chris Sale who the Sox brought up earlier this month. Helping to save those arms has been something Danks, Floyd and Buehrle have done well as of late. John Danks, who after Freddy Garcia's short outing Tuesday, went 8 quality innings giving up 1 run on six hits while striking out 7 and walking 2 in Wednesday's victory against the Tigers. Gavin Floyd, who had been one of the best in the majors over the last few months, needs to get back to that form and get some revenge agains the Twins who dealt him his worst start since June 2 in his last start (surrendering six earned runs in a 6-1 loss to the Twins, topped off by a 3-run homer to Jason Kubel, who has made a name as one of the biggest Sox killers, in the 7th – a pitch I don’t think he should have even thrown to the Twins left-handed hitter as he had already thrown 120+ pitches at that point and Sale was warm in the Sox bullpen). Buehrle, is 24-17 vs. the Twins which is his highest win-loss total vs. a team, is an innings-eater by trade and needs to avoid the occasional 4 to 5 runs in the first couple innings before settling down.
   
   
   
2. Although it is a small sample-set, I was happy to see Mark Teahen having good at bats with his return to the line-up against the Tigers after is 2 ½ months on the DL with a fractured finger. After not signing Jim Thome (who I will never speak ill of even if he hits 35 homers against the Sox in their remaining 2 series with the Twins because of the respect I have for him), the Sox not picking up a big left-handed bat at the trade deadline or to this point and Mark Kotsay having a rough go of it and not really being a DH the Sox need a little pop from the left side this series against Baker and Pavano. I am not saying that Teahen is the same as Thome, Dunn or Fielder in terms of left-handed pop, but he doesn’t need to be one of those guys with a month and a half left. He needs to get consistent at bats, give some guys some rest with his versatility in the field and maybe breathe some life into a team their own manager said didn’t look like they came to play on Sunday against the Tigers.
   
   
   
3. Lastly, the Sox need a shot in the arm by taking 2 of 3 in this series to start getting on a little bit of a run. Over their last 10 the Sox are 3-7 while the Twins are 8-2, winning 7 of their last 8 games. It would be nice for the Sox to get a little bit of swagger back with upcoming series against the Yankees, 1 more set with the Twins and ending their season with series against Oakland, LAAAAA and Boston (teams the Sox have had their struggles against). Twins finish up against the rest of the AL Central which they have killed this year (31-17) and could probably stand to be cooled down a bit by dropping a series at home against the Sox.
   

I will try to end each post with a different quote from the biggest homer announcer in baseball, Ken “Hawk” Harrelson, starting with an appropriate one for the series that kicks off tonight – “Time to cinch it up and hunker down!"

Mark Buehrle: Defensive Play of the Year on Opening Day

This should pretty much lock up another Gold Glove for Buehrle ...

Click-a-Bull (Offseason Priorities; BG; Playoff Hopes; Flip's Hook) + The Elusive White Sox Link

Phoenix Take Bulls Playoff Hopes Away; It's Probably a Relief Since James Johnson Needs to Go on Atkins

Offseason priority No.1: Get LeBron at any cost; if not, and probably won't, get a second-tier star.

Offseason priority No. 2: Get a new coach. There are no up-and-comers in the coaching world, yet even Vinny DelNegro knows he has to begin searching for a new job this summer.

Offseason priority No. 3: Get healthy. Joakim Noah (plantar fasciitis), Taj Gibson (plantar fasciitis), Luol Deng (calf), Derrick Rose (take your pick, wrist?), Kirk Hinrich (ankle) and James Johnson (plantar and extra cream in his coffee with a Danish on the side) are all battling lingering injuries. They need rest and since they're probably out of the playoff picture with a 111-105 loss Tuesday to the Phoenix Suns, this may be a blessing.

Offseason priority No. 4: Teach Derrick Rose defense. There's no reason why he shouldn't be at least a competent defensive player, if not, a really good one. The Bulls are hinging their future on him and they can't have the defensive display they had on Wednesday when Rose was supposed to collapse on Grant Hill after Steve Nash blew by something called Jannero Pargo. He was late and his instincts on that side of the ball are still lacking. While the skill aspects of the game, like shooting, have improved with Rose, this team suffers still because Rose can't be counted on when on defense. I believe he'll get there, but coaching is crucial in this regard.

Offseason priority No. 5: Create a defensive philosophy - like a real one. Not the one they have now where all the guards get beat by the pick and roll and the defense collapses toward the lane, leaving 3 point shooters wide open. It's not really a philosophy since there is no pressure on the ball nor is there a plan to force the other team into doing what they don't normally do.

Were the Ben Gordon haters right all along?

Reading this blog, you know I'm a Ben Gordon fan. I've thought the Bulls made a huge mistake in not signing him to the 6 year 54 million dollar extension two seasons ago which would have locked him in to a 9 million dollar a year contract. A contract I considered a value. At the same time, I thought it was fine to let him walk when the pricetag was going to go up to 12 million this summer. Not that the Bulls would have seriously considered that due to the luxury tax.


While I've defended Gordon for most of the year, and I was still disappointed the Bulls didn't make things work for him, my own words after we declined to pick him up for 6/54 came back to me.

At that point I said, Gordon has just as much chance of becoming an MLE player as he does of earning more than the 6/54 that he originally declined (and then took at the last minute to have the Bulls decline). Fred Pfeiffer and I had debated that point, but this season has proven it. Swap Gordon's 08/09 and 09/10 seasons and he would have made the MLE (of course, then after a great 09/10 season he'd look like an incredible value at the MLE).

In six years in the NBA, Gordon's had a PER below 15 three times and above 15 three times. Overall, his career mark of 16 puts him slightly above average. He's become a volume three point shooting specialist, and this year he struggled to even do that.

More interesting to me is how it all fell apart in Detroit. Was it simply the injuries? If so, we should see a much better season from Gordon next year. However, it also seems like Gordon struggled to fit in with the players Detroit had. His greatest success in the season came while they had other injuries and there were no chemistry issues on the court.

That's partially Detroits fault. They didn't have a real PG, but a pure shooting guard in Hamilton and a SG forced to play PG in Stuckey. They added in another PG-sized SG in Gordon. The fit there is simply terrible. Hamilton and Gordon are performing well under career norms, while Stuckey, for whatever reason, seems to be played as if he's a stud guard when he's a straight chucker (career TS% of 49.2% is simply awful).

Little things add up to big loss for Bulls

A tense finish against Phoenix on Tuesday night at the United Center provided an illustration of the increasingly small margin of error the Bulls face in their quest to make the playoffs.

The ultimate result was a 111-105 loss to the Suns after the score was tied with less than a minute remaining. The defeat left the Bulls 11/2 games behind Toronto in the East with eight left to play.

Here are some of the little things that went wrong for the Bulls:

• Kirk Hinrich didn't play after turning his left ankle with about four minutes left in the second quarter when he stepped on Joakim Noah's foot. Hinrich came out after halftime and ran up and down the court a few times during warmups, then retreated to the locker room.

Having Hinrich available to guard Steve Nash down the stretch might have made a difference. Even Suns coach Alvin Gentry called Hinrich the NBA's best on-ball defender.

Flip Murray’s Insane Half Court Hook Shot

Downloads: Views: 47

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Jake Peavy setting the pace

Jake Peavy has nowhere to go on a rainy morning in Arizona; he is just standing in a doorway and killing time by talking baseball with Steve Stone and a reporter. But trying to keep up with Peavy in conversation is probably like trying to hit against him, because of his intensity.

The man is fired up. He's fired up about the White Sox. He's fired up about the starting rotation. He's fired up about Gavin Floyd and John Danks. He's fired up about pitching in the American League Central. He's fired up about facing the Minnesota Twins while respecting the depth of their lineup.

It's as if Peavy stored up all the energy from the months he spent on the disabled list last summer, after joining the White Sox. "I think we can do some damage," he says, and Stone nods.

The Twins, the AL Central favorites, have a strong lineup and a deep rotation, and the midseason trade resources flowing from a new ballpark. The Tigers have Justin Verlander and Rick Porcello, and a cleaned-up Miguel Cabrera. The Indians are armed with Fausto Carmona, who has looked great this spring, and what appears to be a strong offense.

The White Sox have Peavy, at the head of what should be a strong starting five, if he is close to what he was in three starts for the White Sox at the end of last season, if he's close to what he was in his years with the Padres. With San Diego, Peavy was established as the guy who wanted the ball in the big game, a guy who went 6-1 in his starts in Dodger Stadium, against the Padres' archrival.

But the White Sox acquired him last season at a time when he was on the disabled list with an ankle injury, and for weeks, he was the guy who hung around the clubhouse. Don Cooper, the White Sox pitching coach, worked with Peavy during his rehabilitation period, and he got to know Peavy; others did not. A player on the White Sox mentioned to Cooper that he didn't really know if Peavy was fully invested in what the team was trying to accomplish. Cooper tried to reassure the player, telling him how diligent Peavy was in his rehab, and how much cared; Peavy just was not in position to take a leadership role, because he was hurt.

The Supreme Court: American Needle v. NFL

I realize that this seems to have little to do with the Bulls, but this case will have a significant impact on the NFL, and all other professional sports leagues. As a fan of the NBA, NFL and MLB, you should read about this case and understand the implications. Here are two great reads, each presenting the legal info and ramifications in a very user-friendly way:

Saints' quarterback Drew Brees weighs in on NFL's Supreme Court case

As the starting quarterback for the New Orleans Saints, I am used to competing on the football field, not in a courtroom, and I rarely offer a public opinion on complex legal debates. But in a few days, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in American Needle v. NFL, a case that could have a profound impact not only on my sport but on all of American professional athletics. So even as the playoffs are beginning, I feel compelled to venture beyond the gridiron to share my thoughts on what is at stake.

The case involves a multimillion-dollar deal struck in 2000 between the National Football League and Reebok that grants Reebok the exclusive rights to make hats, sweatshirts and other gear with NFL team logos. What does that deal have to do with the ability of my teammates and me to perform our jobs and entertain football fans around the country? Potentially, quite a bit: The gains we fought for and won as players over the years could be lost, while the competition that runs through all aspects of the sport could be undermined.

American Needle is a small manufacturer of hats located in Buffalo Grove, Ill. As a result of the NFL's deal with Reebok, American Needle was excluded from the NFL-branded hat market, so it sued the league and Reebok. American Needle argued that the licensing deal violated antitrust laws because it restricted competition between businesses. The nation's antitrust laws constitute a fundamental part of our economic system and have protected consumers for more than 100 years, providing us with lower prices and fostering innovation.

The NFL originally won the case because the lower courts decided that, when it comes to marketing hats and gear, the 32 teams in the league act like one big company, a "single entity," and such an entity can't illegally conspire with itself to restrain trade. The NFL-Reebok deal is worth a lot of money, and fans pay for it: If you want to show support for your team by buying an official hat, it now costs $10 more than before the exclusive arrangement.

Why American Needle-NFL is most important case in sports history

On Wednesday, the United States Supreme Court will hear arguably the most important sports law case in U.S. history and one that could dramatically reshape how the NFL and other leagues conduct their business.

The facts of American Needle v. NFL are simple. From the late 1970s to 2000, apparel maker American Needle enjoyed a licensing contract with NFL Properties, a business which controls the NFL's licensing contracts (such as for the use of NFL logos on clothing and in video games). NFL Properties is equally owned by the 32 NFL teams, which share its revenue. Other apparel companies had similar licensing contracts with NFL Properties.

In 2002, NFL Properties signed an exclusive 10-year contract with Reebok for licensed NFL apparel. The contract meant that only Reebok could make NFL-licensed apparel. American Needle argues this contract is illegal under federal antitrust law.

You may be thinking something along the lines of, "Why would this be illegal? So what if NFL Properties decided to go with Reebok and only Reebok? Isn't NFL Properties a private company that can make whatever business decisions it wants to?"

In most cases, private companies enjoy tremendous freedom in their business choices. But NFL Properties -- and the NFL in general -- is not a typical company. It is so unique, in fact, that it often poses problems for courts.

Links

Lil Wayne track "Kobe Bryant"


This mock draft has the BUlls taking Brandon Jennings (skipped college to play in Europe) and Terrence Williams (SG from Louisville). Is that assuming BG is leaving? WHy else would we need 2 guards?



Follow up on the NBA rule that requires players be 1-year removed from college ... Congressman calls it 'vestige of slavery' -

A congressman has written a letter to the National Basketball Association and the players union asking them to repeal the rule governing the minimum age of players.
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Related
Letter from Representative Steve Cohen to N.B.A. Commissioner David Stern (pdf)
N.B.A.

Steve Cohen, Democrat of Tennessee, wrote that the four-year-old rule, which requires that players be 19 years old and one year removed from their high school graduation, is of “deep concern.”

“It’s a vestige of slavery,” Cohen said Wednesday in a phone interview, noting that most of the players affected by the rule are African-American. “Not like the slavery of 150 years ago, but it’s a restraint on a person’s freedoms and liberties.”

White Sox 2-month report -

The bartender at my favorite local watering hole had one question for me at the end of April: "Who goes first?" he asked. "Kenny Williams or Ozzie Guillen?"

His question didn't come as much of a surprise. The White Sox looked old and washed up throughout the first part of the season. The team lacked energy and couldn't hit or pitch with any consistency. In the past three weeks, though, the White Sox have made the type of turn that you don't usually see from a struggling ballclub: They've gone from sellers to buyers -- by using a trade that never happened as motivation.

Let's take a closer look at some of the other events and people who have shaped the first two months of the White Sox's season:

The turning point: If you're looking for the exact moment in time when the White Sox turned the sinking ship around, consider May 21 as the starting point. In the span of about six hours, the Sox got crushed 20-1 by the Twins and received word that Jake Peavy had nixed a trade to the South Side. Instead of feeling sorry for themselves, the team has gone on to win eight of its past 10 games and climb back to around .500 (25-26, entering Wednesday's game against the A's).

"I've always told this to anybody who will listen," Williams said before Monday night's game against the A's. "Sometimes the best deals that you make are the ones that you don't make."

Bears links and Gordon Beckham

Jay Cutler and Devin Hester -

One play into Wednesday's full-team Bears scrimmage session confirmed the most interesting bit of progress at Halas Hall still three months before the 2009 season-opener.

Jay Cutler glided back into a seven-step drop, set his feet in a pocket protected by left tackle Orlando Pace, and peered downfield where wide receiver Devin Hester had gotten a step on his defender.

For aesthetic purposes, ignore for a moment that cornerback Zack Bowman was limited in how physical he could get with Hester in this non-contact drill.

But that is beside the point.

The point that will be driven home whenever the Bears offense takes the field from now until September came in the way Cutler's arching spiral hit Hester in stride and landed gently in his hands. And the way Hester kept running to the end zone like it was a play he would go home and watch on "SportsCenter."

But is Cutler a trade risk? -

Tony Dungy isn't sure Jay Cutler is the answer for the Chicago Bears -- not yet, at least.

The former Indianapolis Colts coach, now a studio football analyst for NBC, on Wednesday questioned whether Cutler had the leadership and maturity to take the Bears to the next level.

Dungy said the Bears gambled when they dealt starter Kyle Orton to the Denver Broncos for Cutler, who had a very messy, public divorce with the Broncos and new coach Josh McDaniel.

"[The Bears] took a risk [trading for Cutler]. I think they took that risk specifically with beating the Green Bay Packers in mind," Dungy said Wednesday, according to the Chicago Tribune. "I really think Chicago gave up a lot to get a quarterback who they believe is going to be the final piece of the puzzle. But I am not sure he has won enough to merit that yet."

And I don't have ESPN Insider ... Can someone who does let me know what that says about the Bears and Plax??




Sox called up Gordon Beckham -

Gordon Beckham tried to sleep and 20 minutes after he shut off the TV, he knew there was no way it was going to happen. He was still revved up, his emotions running too high after getting the news he waited all his life to hear.


Gordon Beckham's promotion shouldn't be ignored by Fantasy players in need of help at the middle infield positions, Jason Grey writes. Blog

Beckham was going to the major leagues to join the White Sox. He got the word after Wednesday night's game with Triple-A Charlotte and, after a sleepless night, he caught a 7:15 a.m. flight to Chicago before landing in the starting lineup Thursday afternoon against Oakland.

"I couldn't even describe it," Beckham said, recalling his feelings when Charlotte manager Chris Chambliss delivered the message.

"It's one of those things where you think about it a lot, but you don't really understand what it feels like until you get called up, until they sit you down and say, 'You're going to the big leagues.' It was one of those feelings I will never forget, for sure."

Beckham made the majors 364 days after he was drafted No. 8 overall by Chicago last summer. At 22, he is the fastest White Sox first-rounder to reach the majors since pitcher Alex Fernandez made it in 58 days in 1990.

... How long will it take before he has the #1 selling White Sox jersey??

Game 2 Analysis and Links

Big Fil emailed Todd some analysis after Game 2, Todd sent it to me, and I'm sharing it with you. So here it is, Big Fil's analysis:

I have never flip flopped more on a player than Ben Gordon. Ever. He's undersized, cant defend, has a low Basketball IQ and stunts the development of Rose. But, what he did tonight and keep us in the game is something no other Bull can do.(Including Rose) Those last two baskets he made were absurdly tough shots, something only a handful of players on the planet can consistently make.(That list obviously includes Allen) His 42 points will not make any sort of headlines that Rose's 36 made and that makes him a bit underrated, doesn't it? How many guys in the league drop 40 in the playoffs and it doesn't seem remarkable? Even if that 42 points came with one rebound and amazingly zero assists! Really Ben, your a six foot gaurd who had the ball in his hand almost every time down and can't luck into 1 fucking assist? However, his 42 points were amazing and I now feel the Bulls should keep him, but not pay him more than 7 million. I will switch that remark after he goes 6-19 in game three.

The Boston Celtics were once again shown that this Bulls team is a serious threat and they are greatly missing Garnett. As much as I love the Bulls, we had no chance with Garnett in the lineup as evidenced by our 16 and 18 point regular season loss with him playing and our lone win against the coming in overtime without Garnett. So, what does that tell when two teams play 3 times, 2 go to overtime and one goes to a last second three? It says, these teams are very evenly matched and its going to come down to home court advantage and which team wants it more.

And this is why I think the Bulls win this series. Chicago has home court advantage and the Celtics mindset has got to be worse off than the Bulls. Chicago is pumped, they have a chance to take out the defending champs and really nothing to lose.(Like Atlanta last year) Boston on the other hand is all types of fucked up. They found out Garnett, their best player and best defender is out just before their first playoff game. They then get beat and are one last second shot from being essentially done. They have to know they have no chance winning the championship and anything less than that is a dissapointment for them. Do they really want play their asses off knowing they will probably get housed next round and certainly by Cleveland?

If the United Center crowd is not going ape shit on Saturday, then I will officially believe we have shitty fans. We have to win game three and probably both. It will be tough winning a game 7 at Boston, and if we dont win both games three and four is almost certain the series will go seven.

Finally, Vinny what the fuck! You don't think saving a timeout at the end is necessary. You lucked out Pierce missed the free throw in Game 1 which would have put us in the same situation as tonight. With 2 seconds left, what are the chances Gordon makes a three if we got to take the ball out at half court? One out of five, what are the chances Tyrus makes a 70 footer? One out of fifty? Also, please play Tyrus more than 20 minutes, the dude had six blocks and certainly would've limited all those second chance points.(the reason we lost)

Some links ...

Mcdougal designated for assignment.


Bears draft day targets ...


Big Baby sucks -

And then there are the Celtics. The Boston Celtics won 62 games this past season. When we look at Wins Produced we see the team received 48.3 Wins Produced from Rajon Rondo (6th most productive), Paul Pierce (29th most productive), Kevin Garnett (30th most productive), and Ray Allen (35th most productive). But the team also received -4.44 Wins Produced from Glen Davis (9th least productive), Brian Scalabrine (20th least productive), and Stephon Marbury (41st least productive).

What would the 1990s Bulls have been like without MJ?!


Bears needs and options for the draft -

The Bears will make eight selections in this year's draft: Round 2: No. 49, Round 3: No. 99 (compensatory selection), Round 4: No. 119, Round 5: No. 140 (from Denver), Round 5: No. 154, Round 6: No. 190, Round 7: No. 246 (compensatory selection), Round 7: No. 251 (compensatory selection).

Top needs: Wide receiver: Given what's currently on the roster, this is a no-brainer. Although the Bears hold out hope that Earl Bennett will rekindle his Vanderbilt magic with Cutler, there are no guarantees. Devin Hester is steadily making progress, but Rashied Davis is coming off a disappointing season. Because the team chose not to re-sign Brandon Lloyd and to release Marty Booker, numbers are low at the position. Expect the Bears to take a receiver at either No. 49 or No. 99, and maybe grab an additional one later in the draft. This situation can't be solved in just one draft, but the Bears can take a giant step in the right direction if they target the correct receiver. He's out there. It's up to Angelo to find him.

Possible selections: Mohamed Massaquoi, Georgia; Juaquin Iglesias, Oklahoma; Kevin Ogletree, Virginia; Ramses Barden, Cal Poly; Austin Collie, BYU; Louis Murphy, Florida.

***** UPDATE *****
More links ...
Golden Era of PGs -

In the first game of the series, rookie point guard Derrick Rose was unstoppable, seemingly waltzing past the entire Boston defense at his leisure leading Chicago to the win. Monday night, point guard Rajon Rondo returned the favor for Boston, scoring 19 while adding 16 assists and 12 rebounds to help Boston win 118—115 in dramatic fashion and even the series.

San Antonio evened its series with Dallas because Tony Parker dominated the game, scoring 38 and taking charge whenever the Mavericks tried to make a run. If Utah or Portland are going to even their series they are going to do it because their star point guards — Deron Williams or Brandon Roy — have similar big games. Same goes for New Orleans led by their star Chris Paul, although to do that Paul will have to get past Chauncey Billups, who came in mid-season and turned Denver into contenders.

That is a stunning list of amazing, potential Hall of Fame caliber point guards who are leading their team in the NBA playoffs — never has the league had this depth of great point guards at one time. And those numbers are about to swell — Spain’s Ricky Rubio, who at 19 led Spain to the silver medal and almost helped upset the USA in the gold medal game — will enter the NBA next year. One year him is the sensation John Wall, currently the focus of intense recruiting from college coaches nationwide to have his services for one year.

D-Rose the BEST young PG in the NBA -

The debate over the last few years for the best young point guard has been between Chris Paul and Deron Williams. Mentions of Tony Parker are few and far between and this past year there weren't many mentions of Derrick Rose.

Chris Paul and Deron Williams are consistent. They will give it there all in every ball game they play. They make their teams better than they should be as evident when they have had to miss games.

Chris Paul led his team to a tough seven-game series loss to San Antonio last year in the West Semifinals. Paul, however, did not have a monster game and was all but absent in the fourth quarter when the game was on the line.

Deron Williams has lead his team to three playoff series victories—most notably a Game Seven on the road in Houston—his first time in the playoffs.

Deron made a clutch shot against GS to put Game Two into overtime and eventually win the game and the series in five.

Deron was the only player on his team to show up against the Spurs in 2007 and the Lakers in 2008, he doesn't back down. Williams, however, is not able to carry the load by himself and his leadership skills have been questioned.

Derrick Rose has ice-water in his veins.

Rose tied Kareem Abdul Jabar's rookie record for most points in a first playoff game. Rose was clutch down the stretch, getting the ball to the open man or hitting a big shot, which lead to the overtime victory in Game One at Boston.

How many rookies can lead their team into the defending World Champions house and play the best game of their career to date and actually win the ball game.