Tuesday, October 12th, 2010 at 8:00 am  |  341 responses

Top 50: Derrick Rose, no. 12

The definitive ranking of the NBA’s best players.

by Quinn Peterson

For whatever reason, three is a funny number. A special number.

While Derrick Rose rocks number “1,” and comes in at No. 12 on the SLAMonline Top 50, this will be his third year in the L. And as the saying goes, “The third time’s the charm.”

When you do something the first time, you’re just feeling things out, getting accustomed to them. By the second time, you’ve begun to make adjustments. But by the third time, yDerrick Roseou develop a sense of comfort, making a few minor tweaks to ensure that a fine-tuned product runs as smoothly as possible.

That’s where DRose is right now.

After an accolade-filled career at Simeon Career Academy in Chicago, and an epic year at Memphis (vacated or not, we all saw what happened), Rose was taken by the Bulls with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2008 Draft, and officially became the Prince of the Chi.

The dilemma of attaining great success is that it breeds even greater expectations. It births a hype that, many times, can never be lived up to. Thus far however, Pooh has met — or exceeded — much, if not all, of that hype. We’ve seen players grow complacent and conceited, and never progress as once predicted.

But unlike some of his peers and predecessors, Rose’s work ethic has him in position to become the best point guard in the League. He may not be there yet, but given the improvements he’s made already, the title really isn’t that far-fetched.

His inaugural season was a successful one to say the least, even winning the Skills Challenge during All-Star weekend. Playing 81 games — and starting 80 — Rose averaged 16.8 points (second among all rookies) and 6.3 assists (first among all rookies), earning All-Rookie First Team and ROY honors.

Come playoff time, on the big time stage against The League OGs (Boston), he took his game to new heights, including that memorable Game 1 in which he went off for 36. He raised his scoring to just over 19 points per game, while dishing out 6.4 assists and pulling down 6.3 boards. Despite losing the series, they pushed the then-defending champs to Game 7, and made a statement that was heard throughout the League.

Last year, with Ben Gordon gone and no real go-to scoring option, he would again have to step his game up. And he did, to the tune of 20.8 points per game. His assists would hold steady at just about six a game. In the Playoffs he again turned his game up another notch, averaging 26 and 7 dimes. Even LeBron James would struggle to keep young Rose in front.

En route, he gave us one of the illest dunks of the season, baptizing Goran Dragic. More importantly, he started to show increasing confidence in his mid-range jumper. That had been the knock on him since he came into the League. He could beat anybody off the dribble, but “he can’t shoot”.

Well last year, starting from day one, he addressed the issue, showing gradual, steady improvement. Knocking it down coming off the pick and roll, pulling up or going one on one. He wasn’t Sam Cassell, but it was coming along.

This year, coming off an impressive run with Team USA, expect more of the same. In Turkey and on tour with the national team, he showed off his jumper and a floater with seemingly unlimited range.

If his jumper continues to improve the way in the way it has, he’ll literally be unguardable. Step up, and he blows by you. Sag, and he drops you off. It’s that simple.

He has as much room for “promotion” as anyone else on this list. Already, confidence has begun to reign supreme. The once soft-spoken PG has begun to come out of his shell.

With (virtually) a new team (certainly the best he’s had since coming to the L), new coach and even a brand new signature shoe, the third time is definitely looking like the charm for Derrick Rose.

SLAMonline TOP 50 PLAYERS OVERALL RANK POSITION RANK
Player Team Position 2010 2009 2010 2009
Ray Allen Celtics SG 50 36 10 9
Gilbert Arenas Wizards SG 49 34 9 8
Lamar Odom Lakers PF 48 33 14 10
John Wall Wizards PG 47 NR 13 NR
OJ Mayo Grizzlies SG 46 46 8 12
Al Horford Hawks C 45 NR 6 NR
Jason Kidd Mavs PG 44 45 12 10
Joakim Noah Bulls C 43 NR 5 NR
LaMarcus Aldridge Blazers PF 42 39 13 12
David West Hornets PF 41 31 12 8
Monta Ellis Warriors SG 40 NR 7 NR
Andrew Bogut Bucks C 39 NR 4 NR
Yao Ming Rockets C 38 NR 3 NR
Brandon Jennings Bucks PG 37 NR 11 NR
Zach Randolph Grizzlies PF 36 NR 11 NR
Stephen Curry Warriors PG 35 NR 10 NR
David Lee Warriors PF 34 NR 10 NR
Brook Lopez Nets C 33 NR 2 NR
Gerald Wallace Bobcats SF 32 NR 7 NR
Manu Ginobili Spurs SG 31 29 6 7
Tony Parker Spurs PG 30 15 9 3
Kevin Garnett Celtics PF 29 13 9 3
Rudy Gay Grizzlies SF 28 44 6 9
Josh Smith Hawks PF 27 40 8 13
Andre Iguodala 76ers SG 26 26 5 6
Al Jefferson Jazz PF 25 23 7 7
Russell Westbrook Thunder PG 24 NR 8 NR
Chauncey Billups Nuggets PG 23 19 7 5
Tyreke Evans Kings PG 22 NR 6 NR
Danny Granger Pacers SF 21 21 5 5
Carlos Boozer Bulls PF 20 32 6 9
Paul Pierce Celtics SF 19 17 4 4
Joe Johnson Hawks SG 18 20 4 4
Rajon Rondo Celtics PG 17 27 5 8
Amar’e Stoudemire Knicks PF 16 16 5 6
Steve Nash Suns PG 15 22 4 6
Tim Duncan Spurs PF 14 6 4 1
Chris Bosh Heat PF 13 13 3 4
Derrick Rose Bulls PG 12 18 3 4

Notes
• Rankings are based solely on projected ’10-11 performance.
• Contributors to this list include: Jeremy Bauman, Maurice Bobb, Erildas Budraitis, Sean Ceglinsky, Ben Collins, Bryan Crawford, Sandy Dover, Adam Figman, Manny Maduakolam, Eddie Maisonet, Ryne Nelson, Doobie Okon, Ben Osborne, Charles Peach, Branden Peters, Quinn Peterson, David Schnur, Todd Spehr, Kyle Stack, Adam Sweeney, Dennis Tarwood, Tracy Weissenberg, Lang Whitaker, Eric Woodyard, and Nima Zarrabi.
• Want more of the SLAMonline Top 50? Check out the archive.

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  • MUBWAR

    hey Diesel…i personally don’t like Rose(there i said it) and i wasn’t talking about who took the team the farthest…all im saying is Rose over Duncan and Bosh is f***ing ridiculous….and everyone Knows Rondo will eat him alive…i think the Soul of the team is on Noah’s shoulders….

  • http://slamonline.com Bryan Crawford

    @Eboy: Which would explain the disparity in rebounding numbers between the two guards. Excellent point, sir.

  • http://slamonline.com Bryan Crawford

    @Mubwar: Rondo would eat Rose alive? Please refer to my 3:22 post, sir. Thanks.

  • Brandon

    Now we have the real truth from Mubwar its a personal issue with Rose. You must be a boston fan but its okay if you feel that way more power to you. I understand the fear factor he must put on your team that you have to respond in that manner. He will prove you wrong in more than one way and it will be funny during the season when people will have to eat crow and say “man I was so wrong.”

  • http://www.slamonline.com Eboy

    Yeah, but I don’t know if that could be considered a “bonus”, B. If anything, that’s probably a critical strategy point for Doc knowing that Rondo, on most nights, won’t leave his scrambling bigs out to dry when they are putting on heavy pressure.

  • http://nicekicks.com meloman2.0

    planting a seed: I know Kevin Durant is high on everones list, and i love the kid, hes great… but i still think Melos better as of right nowww

  • MUBWAR

    Last year stats for Bryan Crawford
    Rose : 20 ppg, 6 apg and 3.8 rpg
    Rondo: 14 ppg, 10 apg, 4.5 rpg and an amazing 2.3 spg (with a ring i might add)
    RAJON RONDO IS THE BETTER POINT GUARD
    CONVERSATION CLOSED

  • http://slamonline.com Bryan Crawford

    Eboy, I was just saying that rebounds from a PG are a bonus. At that position the four things I care about most are points, assists, turnovers, and FT percentage. Anything else, like rebounds and steals (which I’m kind of on the fence about thanks to Steve Nash) are gravy.

  • JTaylor21

    @Meloman is right, Melo is slightly better than Durant and has done it for a longer period of time. Give me Melo over KD any day.

  • http://www.slamonline.com Eboy

    Just to make a quick point before I have to take off: Rondo was dominant in the series against the Bulls 2 seasons ago. He was dominant in two series this past one (against the Heat and the Cavs). To say that Rose is already above him because his scoring average is greater…it’s hard for that argument to hold weight until Derrick begins to establish himself as a lights out playoff performer. Rondo has kind of singlehandedly won three playoff series “on his own”, especially from his position. That’s hard to argue.

  • http://slamonline.com Bryan Crawford

    @Mubwar: Since you put it in all caps, I guess so.

  • Brandon

    Mubwar you are hilarious my friend. You stated he is a better point guard based off last year stats. First off I’m pretty sure if we had the talent that we have this year he would have had comparable stats as well. I’m also sure if he was a better point guard (cased closed) Coack K would not have started D.Rose on the USA team and have Rondo coming up with excuses saying he had to go back home. I do respect rondo but when people say case closed they have to realize basketball is a team sport so the surronding parts allow you to maintain the stats that you put up during the regular season.

  • http://slamonline.com Bryan Crawford

    Eboy, I still say that having 3 HOF teammates makes everything about Rondo seem so much better than he really is. There’s just so many things that he can’t do that are hard for me to overlook. His teammates hide his deficiencies so much. Not saying that he isn’t a good player, but he’s certainly not as good as people think. That’s why he was cut from Team USA.

  • JTaylor21

    BCrawford, I’m going to have to disagree with you when you said that rebounds and steals are just gravy. Those are the reasons why CP is the BEST PG today and why guys like Magic/Big O are widely acknowledged as the best GPGOAT. When are point is able to rebound and cause turnovers it puts them above those that don’t and makes their teams even more dangerous. SNash’s LOW rebounding and steal numbers are the BIGGEST reasons why I’m such a ANTI-nash fan, even a player people compare him to JStockon was a decent rebounder and the greatest thief of all-time, so Nash doesn’t have an excuse for being so bad in those areas.

  • http://slamonline.com Bryan Crawford

    @Brandon: Great minds! Similar posts, same time, to two different people.

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    @Bryan Crawford – I agree with what matters to a PG but instead of points I care more about FG% – I would also add +/-, and on-court/off-court (mainly because its a PG and team efficiency is priority #1 for a PG)

  • http://slamonline.com Bryan Crawford

    @JT21: Steve Nash is actually a better rebounder over his career than Stockton. Look it up…

  • Brandon

    @ B. Crawfored Exactly.

  • http://slamonline.com Bryan Crawford

    @nbk: FG% is key as well, as PG needs to be able to shoot efficiently, but more importantly than that, he needs to be able to make FT’s. Guys will have off nights shooting the ball, but when you put them on the line, you need to be able to count on them. Admittedly, I’m not a huge +/- fan, but I see the value in it to a degree.

  • http://slamonline.com Bryan Crawford

    @JT21: And guys like Big O and Magic are so much bigger than Rose and Rondo. If you’re 6-5+, I don’t care what position you play, you’d better be able to rebound the ball.

  • SpaceJam

    There’s not as much d rose hate as I expected. Rose deserves this spot. His assist will go up b/c he finally has weapons at his disposal while his scoring average should stay about the same. His defense was pretty good @ Fiba so I’m not worried about that. Let’s see how many assist Rondo gets w/o his 4 hof friends

  • JTaylor21

    @BCrawford, alright forget their rebounding numbers what about steals? What is Nash’s excuse for being so porous in that area. For someone that’s guarding the player with the ball in his hand the most to be averaging such putrid steal numbers is shameful. Also CP who’s 6-1 once put up 5.5rpg 2 years ago and avgs. 4.7rpg for his career, so the height excuse doesn’t really fly.

  • All net

    Brandon Roy no 11?

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    +/- wasn’t my thing for a while either. I got real interested in it after I read a story about the benefits of using it for role players. It from what i’ve seen so far is a very good indicator of which players contribute most to their teams success (minimum of about 15MPG) and also is a real good indicator of whether or not the coach is using the right lineups and combinations at the proper time. But i definately understand anyone that’s not much of a fan of its use, it doesn’t show much of anything for good players on bad teams which is where i tend to ignore it or use a median number lower then 0

  • EJ

    I like Derrick Rose cause he can step it up, he plays great in the playoffs and steps up when his team needs him to. And I’ve stolen some of his moves and they are really good. I think he very well might be the 3rd best point in the NBA next year.

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    JTaylor – Steals are more a product of playing the passing lanes and taking risks. Allen Iverson led the league in steals more then once and was a horrid defender. And Chris Paul had the best statistical season of a PG (not named magic or oscar) of all time. He is/was on pace to be a top 5 player ever, and if you haven’t noticed..guys that special tend to conribute a little extra to their teams. (LIke when Wilt led the league in assists, or when Wade averaged over 2BPG) Nash’s defense is real bad granted but it isn’t as putrid as everyone tries to make it out to be. If it was he wouldn’t be the winningest PG this decade. (Not counting Derek Fisher)

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    ^Except John Stockton who was just a theif. Comparing any PG to him and his untouchable stats will always make the player being compared look like garbage. There is literally less then a 1% chance either his steals or assist record will EVER be broken. He was exceptional, and never won a title. SO obviously a ludicrous amount of steals are not THAT important.

  • JTaylor21

    NBK, I’m NOT saying that AI or guys that had great steal numbers are/were great defender but they did create turnovers which led to extra possessions for their teams. While Nash on the other hand gets MURDERED on D and doesn’t even get steals. He is constantly guarding PGs so he should at least fall by mistake into at least 1 spg but dude avgs. 0.8 F*CKING steals for his career SHAMWOW!!!.

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    NBK
    Worse defender over the course of their career

    Iverson or Nash?

  • bdub

    Stats dont lie.

  • http://slamonline.com Bryan Crawford

    @JT21: I only mentioned the height because you brought up Big O and Magic. Those dudes are big, they should rebound the ball like that. As for steals, most of that is really anticipation and primarily occurs in the passing lanes. You don’t really see guys rip other guys heads up too often. Some guys are just better at anticipating and then getting in postion to steal the ball than others.

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    Oh nash for sure. Just wanted to point out that SPG doesn’t show much

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    JTaylor these are NBA players not HS kids. They shouldn’t just crap possessions into other peoples hands. Especially every single game of a guys career.

  • JTaylor21

    NBK, WHAT? please break it down in layman’s term for me because I didn’t understand a word you just said. Was that broken english?

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    @JTaylor, Nash also takes more charges then any of those guys that get more steals. which create possessions, so compare those numbers too.. infact a charge can be seen as more beneficial considering it also tacks a foul onto the other player. Stop saying Shamwow btw its not original

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    so your illiterate?

  • robert

    good for d rose number 1 pg before the year is over i think his numbers will be ppg 26 ast 9 reb 6 i say his stats will go up because pure talent and hard work coming together and some new nice teammates don’t forget he is the star of this team so he is supposed to be the best scorer and to develop as one even if it is not a common role for a pg d rose isn’t a common pg tho that said boozer will do well tho but none the less this is d roses team he is the prince of chi town after all enough said. :)

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    I agree NBK.
    Iverson fairly poor early, improved under Larry Brown to about average, regressed after Brown left to very poor. He was always a ball hawk though and forced serious problems in the passing lanes his entire career to the point that if you didn’t account for him, he could create havoc.
    Nash takes charges. He does this pretty well. Honestly, I don’t understand why Nash and Dirk struggle so much on defense. They have the physical tools and have had the tools their entire careers.

  • http://www.myczechrepublic.com SAB

    blah blah blah
    i think slam got it right last year, and i think they got it right this year. he’s gonna prove a lot of people wrong.

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    Truely, its a matter of enjoying defense IMO. Nash and Dirk both love offense and clearly become disinterested on D. Speaking of Coaches making PG’s good at defense (iverson/larry brown comment) Derrick Rose is getting the defensive coach that made that system that has most of the intelligent basketball community believing Rondo is the best defensive PG in the league, so I wonder how much he improves Rose on that end. considering he is atrocious

  • http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100000580635564 Bryan

    Rose is about to explode this ranking suits him. Not every superstar has to be a great defender to be considered as such and yes as a matter of fact stats do lie. Often.

  • JTaylor21

    NBK, no I’m not illiterate but I don’t understand the language of village people. Also players that take charges are the worst scum on the earth, what kind of ish is that? You’re guarding a player but instead of going up to challenge their shot like any grown man would, they sneak up and slide under them. That’s a b*tch move and the league should outlaw charges, they are made for NON defensive suckers like SNash.

  • Michael

    MUBWAR wow, go away.

  • http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100000580635564 Bryan

    JT21 and Shane Battier one of the best defenders in the league? and in college ball history? He took a lot of charges.

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    obviously you don’t or haven’t played legitimate competitive basketball. if you ever had a real coach in your life or some basketball experience you would understand the importance of taking a charge and what it does for your team. that last comment said all i needed to know about you JTaylor, I won’t be wasting time arguing with you anymore.

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    oh and needless insults are only going to force you to post under a new name. nobody cares for it

  • ai come back

    steals dont make u the best defender they mean u got fast hands……….nash is still not as good a defender as ai though period and how did this turn to nash vs ai…..? i thought this was about d rose gettin hate IM FROM CHI TOWN i love my man d rose but its his third year its almost impossible to put him as 13th in the league……..

  • ai come back

    my bad number 12

  • http://Slamonline.com Bryan Crawford

    @JT21: That last comment of yours raises a boatload of questions. So steals are cool, but charges are not even though both lead to turnovers and offensive possessions? SMH…

  • JTaylor21

    Bryan, I know but he at least tries puts a hand up when players shoot and goes up for the block when they drive. But guys like Nash do neither and when 7 footers are taking charges on 6-0 PGs that’s when you know the sh*t has hit the fan. It’s detrimental to the defensive aspect of the game and is the reason why there are so FEW shot-blockers today. Big guys are more worried with practicing/taking charges than working on their shot-blocking skills.

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