Derrick Rose has been the best PG in the league this season.

[Pelicans78]

He's done more for his team than any other PG.

[rayjayjohnson]

rose
williams
rondo







mike bibby
chris paul

[ElNono]

rose
williams
rondo







mike bibby
chris paul

can't argue with that...

[hitmanyr2k]

Nah...he's getting there but not yet. I still have Deron Williams on top. I can't wait to see those two face off. I think Rose is the best scoring point guard especially since he's added the 3 point shot to his game but he still has a lot to learn when it comes to controlling the pace of the game and when to let a fast break develop. Too often this season (not tonight) I've seen him play "Tony Parker ball" where he outruns his wings on the fast break instead of letting it develop. He also doesn't find players in the paint and usually shoots when he penetrates. Not having Boozer and Noah for long periods at a time has a lot to do with that though. Their injuries have really slowed down his growth as a point guard.

[Pelicans78]

I put Westbrook higher than Rondo. CP3 is having a better season than Rondo. He can do everything Rondo does and shoot the ball well.

[Pelicans78]

Nah...he's getting there but not yet. I still have Deron Williams on top. I can't wait to see those two face off. I think Rose is the best scoring point guard especially since he's added the 3 point shot to his game but he still has a lot to learn when it comes to controlling the pace of the game and when to let a fast break develop. Too often this season (not tonight) I've seen him play "Tony Parker ball" where he outruns his wings on the fast break instead of letting it develop. He also doesn't find players in the paint and usually shoots when he penetrates. Not having Boozer and Noah for long periods at a time has a lot to do with that though. Their injuries have really slowed down his growth as a point guard.

Nah, D-Will is scoring alot because he has to since his team plays no defense and his frontcourt is overrated. Plus, he can't defend very well himself. An 80% CP3 ran circles around him a few of weeks ago when a crappy Hornets team blew them out by 30. D-Will couldn't stay in front of him. Rose can since he's very athletic. He's done more than D-Will has this season.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

Rose has been awesome but he could be turning into the next Kobe Shooter.

He was 9-28 and had 26 total points tonight. That's pretty whack.

[DMC]

I agree with Rose, because of his scoring.

If Rondo had an outside jumper, he would be a terror. (not that he's not already).

[DMC]

Rose has been awesome but he could be turning into the next Kobe Shooter.

He was 9-28 and had 26 total points tonight. That's pretty whack.
Difference is Rose has the ball every trip down court. Kobe gets the pass and never gives it up again with better options in the paint. Rose doesn't have great options right now with two bigs out.

[DJ Mbenga]

the thing is dwill at least has a system and runs it well. in chiacgo the system is like the fresh prince of bell air basketball coach. "just pass it to will" or just pass it to rose.

[BRHornet45]

Paul is 5th at BEST this season.

[GuerillaBlack]

Kyle Lowry (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/gamelog?playerId=3012) is in the top ten.

[TheSpursFNRule]

Agreed!

[21_Blessings]

Rose was the best PG by the end of last season with Deron as a close number 2. The Rondo hype was hilarious, though. Exposed in the finals while being guarded by nobody. :lol

[ALVAREZ6]

however they're ranked this particular season, one thing is certain: there are a ton of great PGs in the league

[Killakobe81]

Rose was the best PG by the end of last season with Deron as a close number 2. The Rondo hype was hilarious, though. Exposed in the finals while being guarded by nobody. :lol

I agree with this. Dwill may run the team a little better ...but Rose right now is having the most positive impact overall and i dont care what PER or win shares says if you "watch" the games Rose right now is the best. Even without a jumpshot I will say Rondo has moved ahead of Paul ...but I would not say he now 5th ...i say 4th but westbrook is charging hard as well.

[DMC]

Westbrook is a ball hawg. He's quick and aggressive, but he plays a bit like George Hill in that he doesn't find open teammates on plays where he should, and instead forces up shots.

[JamStone]

Great season so far for Rose.

Westbrook has been really good as well.

[Killakobe81]

Westbrook is a ball hawg. He's quick and aggressive, but he plays a bit like George Hill in that he doesn't find open teammates on plays where he should, and instead forces up shots.

Agree on both but i like their aggressivemess iif they could harness it they would be amazing. Westbrook didnt even play point in college so he needs to learn how to run a team ...not sure what position Hill Played at IUPI

[JamStone]

Westbrook's natural instinct is to attack whenever he feels he can take advantage of a defense. Thing is he's so fast and such a good finisher, he pretty much always has an advantage, especially in the open court. He could definitely get better at knowing when to attack and when to slow things down and get teammates involved. But the kid is still averaging over 8 assists a game. That doesn't happen by accident. Both Westbrook and Rose need to take that next step on learning how to balance scoring and distributing. Neither is a complete point guard just yet. But both have played outstanding this year.l

[Killakobe81]

Westbrook's natural instinct is to attack whenever he feels he can take advantage of a defense. Thing is he's so fast and such a good finisher, he pretty much always has an advantage, especially in the open court. He could definitely get better at knowing when to attack and when to slow things down and get teammates involved. But the kid is still averaging over 8 assists a game. That doesn't happen by accident. Both Westbrook and Rose need to take that next step on learning how to balance scoring and distributing. Neither is a complete point guard just yet. But both have played outstanding this year.l

This. and despite their "issues" both are leading top 3/4 teams in their conference as a young PG. Problem is Rose is the #1 option on his team at least Russ gets to play with a true superstar ...But rose has two solid all-star big men ...

[in2deep]

Parker is a more polished offensive weapon than Rose. But Rose is a much better passing and defending PG. If Rose becomes a consistent offensive threat, he's gonna own the league.

[in2deep]

Great season so far for Rose.

Westbrook has been really good as well.

Westbrook is a ball hog

[ChrisRichards]

^agree westbrook is a ballhog. he's lookin for that max cpntract no doubt. i dont like the fact that he forces the issue to get his numbers.

when i watch rose he seems to attack within the flow of the game. grat decision making skills.

[JamStone]

Westbrook is a ball hog

So you think he hasn't been good this season?

[in2deep]

^agree westbrook is a ballhog. he's lookin for that max cpntract no doubt. i dont like the fact that he forces the issue to get his numbers.

when i watch rose he seems to attack within the flow of the game. grat decision making skills.


agree. He is looking for his success first rather than the team's success

Rose seems to do the opposite

[in2deep]

So you think he hasn't been good this season?

of course he has been great. But the fact that he is a ballhog, in my mind, takes him far away from comparing him to top PGs

[ChrisRichards]

agree. He is looking for his success first rather than the team's success

Rose seems to do the opposite
yup. thats my impression too when i saw the bulls game vs the heat & then the mavs. both nationally televised games, usually in these type of games any young star will try hard to impress. rose wasnt forcing anything. kid gets it.

[ChrisRichards]

Rose was the best PG by the end of last season with Deron as a close number 2. The Rondo hype was hilarious, though. Exposed in the finals while being guarded by nobody. :lol
kobe guarded rondo. i guess kobe's a nobody. well in defense yeah you do make a point afterall.,

[JamStone]

Russell Westbrook 17.5 FGA 8.1 FTA
Derrick Rose 20.3 FGA 6.0 FTA

Is Derrick Rose a ballhog?

[in2deep]

Russell Westbrook 17.5 FGA 8.1 FTA
Derrick Rose 20.3 FGA 6.0 FTA

Is Derrick Rose a ballhog?

Derrick Rose does not have Kevin Durant or a player even close to that in his team. :toast

[ChrisRichards]

Derrick Rose does not have Kevin Durant or a player even close to that in his team. :toast
Checkmate!

derrick rose is the bulls only 1st option and maybe its best second option as well. westbrook plays with a volume scorer.

[JamStone]

Derrick Rose does not have Kevin Durant or a player even close to that in his team. :toast

And Kevin Durant still puts up 20 shots a game. Beyond Durant, the Thunder don't have other great scorers. Nice role players, but no one else. Who else is going to put up shots after Durant? Thabo Sefolosha? Serge Ibaka? Plus, Durant struggled early on in the year, shooting around 40-42% from the field through much of November.

Can Westbrook be a ballhog? Sure. So can Rose. So can a lot of great players. Westbrook is averaging over 8 assists a game. Durant averages 20 field goal attempts a game. Is Westbrook always a ballhog? Hard to argue that he is.

[in2deep]

Rose tries hard to get his teamates involved. To the point where I say he SHOULD be more selfish.

Westbrook doesn't try at all. To the point where Durant is being wasted offensively.

[Rummpd]

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/statistics/_/position/pg

IMO you could take any of the top 8 and they all bring something to the table.

Under-rated re Parker is his much better defense this year and also his team record is at the top of the league.


My own top 5

Paul - still the best
Williams - not the pub of Rose but everybit as good
Rose - he is surprisingly consistent and backing up his own MVP trash talk at the beginning of the year
Parker - he is so under-rated it is not funny, but he still breaks down defenses as well as anyone in the league and is shooting over 50% again.
Westbrooke - I think he is better than Rondo (who along with Nash would be the next two) as I think there is more and more evidence that Rondo's assists stats are inflated and the team did very well without him for an extended stretch.

Nash is hard to discount statistically but he is such a poor defender and his team has dropped like a comet sans Amare.

Someone else is starting to really bring it is a revived Baron Davis who has lost weight and when healthy can go head to head with anyone above in any series and will show no fear.

[ChrisRichards]

Rose tries hard to get his teamates involved. To the point where I say he SHOULD be more selfish.

Westbrook doesn't try at all. To the point where Durant is being wasted offensively.
I'd also like to add that Rose is forced to take more shots for the simple fact that

A. Carlos Boozer (Who was designated as the second iption) Missed 18 games.

B. Joakim Noah who is their third best scorer missed 19 games and counting.


The Bulls had to rely on Luol Deng, Kyle Korver, Taj Gibson, Ronnie Brewer and Keith Bogans (lol) to fill some of the scoring duties thats why Rose is forced to take 20FGA who is still marginally low for a perimeter player scores that much. Using Rose's FGA is stupid imo, considering the recent plague of injuries the Bulls have.


The Thunder also has more healthy double digit scorers than Chicago. If you think about it, Westbrook should really be scoring less and creating more plays for Ibaka, Harden and Green. Westbrook has been a very good player but he's a ballhog because he's due for another contract soon there's no argument about that either.

[JamStone]

In the games Rose had Carlos Boozer, he still took over 18 shots per game. And his assists actually went slightly down despite Boozer shooting close to 56% from the field. For reference, last year Deron Williams averaged less than 14 FGA per game, and he was shooting a higher percentage from the field than Rose is this year.

If you've really watched Bulls games, Rose does the same thing Westbrook does. He gets in a mode where he's going to attack the basket every time down and will only kick out as a bail out if the defense collapses hard.

Now also keep in mind the other Thunder role players are shit shooters. Rose has guys who can hit jumpers like Deng and Korver and even Kurt Thomas. The Thunder jumpshooters have been pretty bad this season. Hard to have faith in a kickout or swing when Thabo or Jeff Green are building houses with their jumpers.

I haven't argued that Westbrook at times isn't a ballhog. He certainly is. But that's part of the growing process when you're talking about converting a natural scorer to the PG position. And for him to be a score-first type of player, he's still putting up 8 assists a game. He's not taking more shots than Durant. Durant is still the #1 option. His other teammates have not been good this year. I don't see why he's getting the criticism he's getting from some of you. He's not Magic Johnson or John Stockton. He never will be. He's having an outstanding year. And even as a combo scoring guard, I'd say he's put his name in the discussion among the best PGs in the game.

[Trill Clinton]

I agree. Rose should win MVP this year.

[ChrisRichards]

I just feel Westbrook should shoot less considering he's a poor shooter, improved (43%) but nonetheless pretty bad and he has more offensive players that can benefit from more plays and the best offensive player in the league. Rose is in a situation where he could shoot more than 20 FGA and easily average 26-28PPG in the process, but he doesn't despite shooting a whole lot better than Westbrook. I like Rose's attitude and IMO he's not a ballhog and puts his teammates first.


Can't really say the same about Westbrook.

[Killakobe81]

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/statistics/_/position/pg

IMO you could take any of the top 8 and they all bring something to the table.

Under-rated re Parker is his much better defense this year and also his team record is at the top of the league.


My own top 5

Paul - still the best
Williams - not the pub of Rose but everybit as good
Rose - he is surprisingly consistent and backing up his own MVP trash talk at the beginning of the year
Parker - he is so under-rated it is not funny, but he still breaks down defenses as well as anyone in the league and is shooting over 50% again.
Westbrooke - I think he is better than Rondo (who along with Nash would be the next two) as I think there is more and more evidence that Rondo's assists stats are inflated and the team did very well without him for an extended stretch.

Nash is hard to discount statistically but he is such a poor defender and his team has dropped like a comet sans Amare.

Someone else is starting to really bring it is a revived Baron Davis who has lost weight and when healthy can go head to head with anyone above in any series and will show no fear.

Solid post. But disagree about Paul still the best even his own fans dont agree he has lost some of his explosiveness ...but i will say in their game against Memphis I saw some flashes of the "old" Paul ...but no way he is in the top 3 ... I would still take him over rondo and Westbrook though ...

And Westbrook is not a ball hog he does forces things at times but he played shooting guard until the pros ...not every point guard dumps the the ball to timmy and just cut ...both Rose and Westbrook are NEEDED to score ...
Besides durant is leading the league in scoring (again) how many more shots does he need? Plus would you rather Westbrook blowing by Fisher or Kobe in transition OR Durant shooting a congested 3 over artest?

[Pelicans78]

I agree with this. Dwill may run the team a little better ...but Rose right now is having the most positive impact overall and i dont care what PER or win shares says if you "watch" the games Rose right now is the best. Even without a jumpshot I will say Rondo has moved ahead of Paul ...but I would not say he now 5th ...i say 4th but westbrook is charging hard as well.

How do you have Rondo ahead of CP3? Makes no sense it all. CP3 does everything as well as Rondo and shoots better. He's easily better than Rondo. He's the best pure PG in the league and runs a team easily better than any other PG.

[Pelicans78]

Its funny still how CP3 has the Whorenets neck and neck with the Jazz and OKC. Supposedly both Westbrook and D-Will are clearly outplaying CP3 this season yet the Whorenets are close to overtaking both teams in the standings. Last time I saw D-Will try to guard an 80% CP3, he was going in circles trying to keep up.

[The Reckoning]

fuck lowry give brooks more minutes :lol

[Chillen]

Yes, he is a beast!

[hitmanyr2k]

Damn. D-Will and CP3 bit the dust against Rose on this road trip. Hornets' commentators were straight up hating on Rose throughout the game tonight and talking up Chris Paul any chance they got, even called his flop job "brilliance" lol. By the end of the game they were two idiots sitting silently wondering what the fuck happened :lol

[sefant77]

Rose
Williams
Rondo/Westbrook
Paul
Felton/Parker

I take Kidds 38 year old corpse over Felton any day this season.

[lefty]

Rose is the best, no question

[Killakobe81]

New rankings:
1. Rose
2. Dwill
3. Paul
4. Westbrook
5. Rondo (Thurday night was just sad ...)

[lefty]

New rankings:
1. Rose
2. Dwill
3. Paul
4. Westbrook
5. Rondo (Thurday night was just sad ...)
Pretty good rankings

[fevertrees]

Just another no show by Chris Paul in the second half tonight. I'm sure he was more concerned about finding a Martin Lawrence flick though.

[Pelicans78]

Even though I created this thread, I wasn't that impressed with Rose last night. The Bulls won, but the difference was the interior play of the frontcourt and the FT shooting. Whorenets choked this game away at the FT line. Plus, the Bulls bench dominated the Whorenets bench.

Rose is similar to Westbrook but better. Both are big athletic guards who aren't great shooters, but get to the line alot and finish around the basket. However, both aren't great at running the offense or ball-handling since they're turnover prone.

I disagree with D-Will being the 2nd best PG. His team is collapsing around him and he's not doing much about it. CP3 has his team playing better with similar talent.

[Ghazi]

Stop fooling yourself Hornets78!

Rose > CP3

[DPG21920]

I disagree that Westbrook is a good finisher as well.

[Pelicans78]

Stop fooling yourself Hornets78!

Rose > CP3

:lol

I'm not arguing that CP3 is better. I expected more from Rose last night, but his impact didn't occur till late after the Bulls had already taken the lead. CP3 didn't do much either. Thornton was the one who gave the Whorenets a big lead in the first place.

Rose is still the best PG this season, but he has a lot to work on.

[Pelicans78]

I disagree that Westbrook is a good finisher as well.

True. He just gets a lot of help from refs.

[DPG21920]

Has nothing to do with the refs. Tony Parker is a great finisher. He gets in the lane and converts lay ups at a ridiculous rate. Sure, Westbrook is super athletic, but there is a reason he shoots such a terrible FG% and it's not just missed jump shots.

He drives quite a bit, but really struggles to finish. He misses dunks and a vast array of layups. He hasn't learned to control his body at top speeds like a Parker. He just not that great of a finisher at the rim. He is elite at drawing contact though, so it offsets some of that.

[Pelicans78]

Has nothing to do with the refs. Tony Parker is a great finisher. He gets in the lane and converts lay ups at a ridiculous rate. Sure, Westbrook is super athletic, but there is a reason he shoots such a terrible FG% and it's not just missed jump shots.

He drives quite a bit, but really struggles to finish. He misses dunks and a vast array of layups. He hasn't learned to control his body at top speeds like a Parker. He just not that great of a finisher at the rim. He is elite at drawing contact though, so it offsets some of that.

He gets alot of help from the refs. He goes to the FT line alot.

He's also not good at running a team. He still relies on his athleticism more than anything else.

I don't think Rose's offensive game is good enough to get the Bulls to the ECF even with a healthy Noah and Boozer.

[hitmanyr2k]

:lol

I'm not arguing that CP3 is better. I expected more from Rose last night, but his impact didn't occur till late after the Bulls had already taken the lead. CP3 didn't do much either. Thornton was the one who gave the Whorenets a big lead in the first place.

Rose is still the best PG this season, but he has a lot to work on.

Completely agree with that. I still question his patience and decision making on the fast break. He likes to turn on the jets too much instead of waiting for the wings to develop. Rose is certainly more turnover prone but at the same time he sees a lot more defensive attention than most point guards because he's such a scoring threat. It's rare that he doesn't have at least 2 defenders on him when he crosses half court.

[jjktkk]

Rose is still the best PG this season, but he has a lot to work on.

If Rose is the best pg in the league, how much more work does he actually have to do? Other than consistancy?

[DPG21920]

Rose is also not the best PG in the league. Paul is. Rose is playing great though.

[Pelicans78]

If Rose is the best pg in the league, how much more work does he actually have to do? Other than consistancy?

His shooting, especially mid-range jumpers and his turnovers.

[Pelicans78]

Rose is also not the best PG in the league. Paul is. Rose is playing great though.

Paul does run a team better than anyone else in the league.

Rose may be just a SG who happens to run the point. Same as Westbrook and in an extreme case D-Will. All three can get their own shots, but don't run a team as well as CP3 or Nash and make turnovers.

[Pelicans78]

With all that, I still respect Rose embracing his role as a franchise player.