Excellent finisher. Blinding speed. Powerful leaper. Rare ability to create passing lanes. Clutch player who raises his level of play against good competition and wants the ball in crunch time. Hits his foul shots at a good rate. Very team-oriented with a great attitude. Willing to learn, very coachable and still improving.
Still need any reasons to look past Derrick Rose with the first pick? If the answer is yes, you're either sniffing glue or Chad Ford.
He's a Chicago guy who led Simeon to two state championships, the guy who's nickname - The Great Poohdini - is about as crazy as his fear of needles. Call him whatever he wants to be called but draft him, sign him and make sure he brings his dribbling skills because he's a guy who's going to make everyone on the Bulls roster immediately better just by showing up.
John Paxson should be at Rose's house right now with a whiteboard and an eraseable marker diagramming every possible way he can throw alley oops to Tyrus Thomas all night.
I have no idea what Pax is planning to do with the current cast of players but Rose succeeded at Memphis playing a run-and-gun style of basketball. This is something the Bulls can surely be capable of with Thomas, Luol Deng and Joakim Noah all young and able to run all over the floor.
Drafting Rose would certainly mean the end for a couple players currently on the Bulls roster. Thabo Sephalosha, Larry Hughes, and Kirk Hinrich would almost certainly be either relegated to the end of the bench or traded because I'm assuming Rose would handle the ball 90% of the time.
Even Larry Hughes knows Larry Hughes has to have the ball in his hands if he's going to score points, so take a seat until your contract is up or someone calls about a trade. Thabo had his chances here and definitely showed some flashes of talent, but he's not anywhere near Rose's level when it comes to running an offense and being confident with the ball.
As far as Kirk goes, well where do I start? Could it be that he's past his prime? Did he ever have a prime? Is he a point guard or a shooting guard? Can he stay out of foul trouble? Does he know how to lead a team? Does Nick Collison take up his entire fave five? Is he too white to play basketball? I doubt even Kirk would have the answer to most of those questions, and even if he did, he'd be too busy counting his money to stop and answer them.
Where was I going with this? Oh yea, Derrick Rose. DRAFT HIM. The United Center will be rocking every game with their hometown boy leading the way toward 10 years of glory.
And by the way Pax, maybe you should give John Calipari an interview for that vacant head coaching position. I think he knows a little bit about the kid and how to get the best from him.
