Derrick Rose is your 2008-2009 rookie of the year

[westcoastO]

Not bad for a guy rjb said would be a shooting guard and never start a full season at point guard

Bulls' Rose claims Rookie of the Year honors


Posted Apr 22 2009 5:34PM

NORTHBROOK, Ill. (AP) -- Like most good point guards, Derrick Rose rarely gives anything away. This time, he couldn't resist.

After learning Wednesday he is the NBA's rookie of the year, Rose let a little secret slip: He wanted the award. Badly.

"When I first came into the season, my biggest thing was to get this award," Rose said. "I was telling you all that I didn't care, but I did. You really do want this award. There was a lot of talent out there that I had to go against."

Rose, who led his hometown Bulls to the playoffs and restored hope to a franchise in disarray, was the runaway pick.

"For Derrick to take the ball from Day 1, to lead our basketball team, to play at the level he played at is really, really significant and certainly means that as we go forward here, we've got the guy that we are going to build around," general manager John Paxson said.

Rose became the third Bulls player to win the award Wednesday, joining Michael Jordan and Elton Brand. He received 111 first-place votes and 574 points from a national panel of sports writers and broadcasters; runner-up O.J. Mayo of the Memphis Grizzlies received five first-place votes and 127 points.

Rose's selection was hardly a surprise, after the No. 1 overall draft pick led all rookies with 6.3 assists per game and was second in scoring average at 16.8, and established himself as the franchise's first true cornerstone since Jordan.

"I think there are very few people in the NBA who could do what he did this year," teammate Joakim Noah said. "You tell me another No. 1 pick who got to the playoffs in their hometown, especially in a big city with so many distractions and so many things going on. I mean, he's all about one thing and that's winning basketball games, and that's what I respect about him."

The only other players who received first-place votes were Brook Lopez of the New Jersey Nets and Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Eric Gordon of the Los Angeles Clippers rounded out the top five.

A point guard from Chicago's South Side, Rose used his strength, blinding quickness and uncanny maturity to help turn around a team that went 33-49 last season. Now, he's in elite company, joining past winners such as LeBron James and Kevin Durant -- not to mention the guy whose statue sits outside the United Center.

"You want to be in that category," Rose said.

Rose's approach, as much as his talent, impressed his teammates and coaches. He's constantly taking pointers from veteran guards Kirk Hinrich and Lindsey Hunter, whom Paxson called an "unsung hero" in Rose's development.

"Not many guys can transfer it from here to there that fast," Hunter said, pointing from his head to the court. "But he's able to do that. I think that's what's so unique about him."

Rose was the Eastern Conference rookie of the month in November and December and again in March, helping the Bulls go 41-41 and reach the postseason for the fourth time in five years. In last Saturday's playoff opener against Boston, Rose matched Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's scoring record for a debuting rookie with 36 points and 11 assists in a 105-103 overtime victory.
Official Release
Read the release and see the voting totals for the 2009 T-Mobile Rookie of the Year. Read Full Article

Rose added 10 points, seven assists and six rebounds in a Game 2 loss.

He excelled from the start and never really slowed down, although he was at times benched late in games. That stopped after Paxson chatted with coach Vinny Del Negro, but whether he was playing in the closing moments or not, Rose never complained publicly.

"He plays both ends of the court, which is refreshing to see," Lakers star Kobe Bryant said. "A lot of young players don't play both ends. He works hard at it, defense as well."

Indiana coach Jim O'Brien even compared him to LeBron James.

"They're different positions, but LeBron James has the same thing -- it's hard to knock him off his driving lane," O'Brien said. "And I think he's improved his outside shot. And I think he knows the game."

From the moment he returned to Chicago, Rose has fit with the Bulls. They won the draft lottery despite 1.7 percent odds and could have picked Michael Beasley, the high-scoring forward from Kansas State. Instead, they went with the guard who grew up a few miles from the United Center in the rough Englewood neighborhood.

They saw a dynamic floor leader, a selfless player -- a winner.

Rose led Simeon Career Academy to the state championship and Memphis to 38 wins and the NCAA title game in his lone season. Now, he's helping the Bulls turn things around after what seemed like a solid plan went awry.

Chicago won 49 games and swept Miami before falling to Detroit in the second round of the playoffs two years ago, but any momentum the Bulls had ground to a halt.

Failed contract negotiations involving Luol Deng and Ben Gordon along with Bryant trade rumors set a bad tone last season, and coach Scott Skiles was fired in December. Interim coach Jim Boylan was gone at the end of the season, and the Bulls settled on Del Negro after high-profile courtships with Mike D'Antoni and Doug Collins.

Along the way, they scored arguably their biggest victory in a decade when they won the draft lottery. With Rose running the show, the Bulls believe their cornerstone is in place for the next decade.

"I've got a lot of friends who are coaches," Hunter said. "I'm like, 'Man, you guys don't know how good he is. He doesn't even understand what he is yet.' ... I see him being that point guard that is going to push Deron Williams and Chris Paul to the limit."

[Seanie Mac]

hes so good, i cant believe there was actually a rose/beasley debate at one point. hes going to be better then d wil and just a bit behind paul in a couple years.

i dont like the nba that much, but hes fun to watch. they are set for the next 10 years if they can keep some decent talent around him.

so what do you do with hinrich now, just let him go eventually, i think hed be ok in philly id take him, and then gordan, let him go to? cant pay him 10 mil a year to be a 6th man

where is deng?

[westcoastO]

deng should be on his way out IMO

team has flourished since his "injury". he's not strong enough to be a post guy, he can't shoot well enough to be a 2 guard nor can he handle it well enough

gordon won me back over in february and if he's willing to be a 6th man in 2010 (when we have a lot of money to spend and hopefully land a 2 guard) i'm more than happy to keep him because when he's on, you can't guard him because he can make literally anything

no point in keeping kirk around given the money you're paying him. sucks we got rid of duhon he would be perfect coming off the bench especially since you don't have to pay him nearly as much as hinrich

big free agent class of 2010 will be the defining moment for the bulls/rose era as far as them taking the next step to being a title contender for a few years or being a one and done type team every year. they'll have lots of money and they better ****in spend it. no excuses like in the past when no one wanted to come here because we had no stars. who wouldn't want to play with rose?

[Romanowski]

not better then chris paul

get off the espn hype machine

kid is nice, lot to prove still

[westcoastO]

who said he's better than chris paul?

[Seanie Mac]

ya who said hes better the paul lol, no offense to rose but i dnt think he will ever be better then paul, but 2nd is nothing to sneeze at.

what ya think maybe chris bosh for the bulls? sixers said they will trade you elton brand for hinrich and 2 #1s

bosh seems really soft to me im kinda disappointed in him i thought by now hed be a dominating force

[westcoastO]

hell with bosh he's another guy his team can never lean on. lot of PFs in basketball with great numbers and nothing to show for it, garnett was without a doubt in this category until winning a ring last year

i really don't know who i want i just know that the eastern conference is shaping up to be 2 teams the next few years, cleveland and orlando (depending on what happens to lebron) and miami and chicago right there seemingly just a player or 2 away

and rose has all the makings athletically and just naturally to be one of the best PGs ever, although players like him will always kind of have that * by them because PGs today are a new breed. I would never say he couldn't be better than paul. he's 20 years old, he has the physical makeup to be whatever he wants to be, just depends on how he develops as an NBA player, who knows. sky's the limit though, about time too, bulls and their busted ass lottery picks the 8 of the last 10 years or so, should be building on something by now wtf

[skins-win-supbwl]

from what i have seen, rose is a different type of player than paul. Chris is an excellent ball handler and passer but I think D Rose is a better defender and scorer. Rose is probably going to be one of the top scorer in the league. Rose is more athletic in my opinion.

[westcoastO]

rose is more athletic that's obvious he'll need to work on staying composed sometimes when handling the ball in traffic. once that clears up, ball handling is a wash. paul can pass and shoot better than rose which is also obvious, but to say rose won't be able to catch up in a couple years is crazy lol.

they will be 1a and 1b of NBA point guards barring injuries come the next 6-7 years

[Seanie Mac]

yea rose < paul. and thread ends there. gl

[westcoastO]

??

thread has, or had, nothing to do w/ paul

[Seanie Mac]

thread died when the thought was tossed around rose will someday be passing paul lets not get silly

[Snipes]

First of all, Deron Williams is the best PG in the league. CP3 is the ESPN hype machine. Rose has a lot of time and a lot of work to do before he gets to that level. But boy is he special.

[westcoastO]

lol paul in his 3rd year and already incapable of being passed????????

sky literally the limit for rose, can be as good as he wants with time, work, right players around him etc

he's 20 but already deemed not on level of CP3 wtf?!

[Seanie Mac]

^^^

lmao snipes was just kidding he didnt mean that.