Westbrook isn't close to Rose in PGs skills and instincts. He also can't shoot the jumper and didn't improve it much (if at all) during the season. He is very close athletically and probably better on defense. I can't see Westbrook ever being a "go to" guy like Rose. MJ was a 10-time scoring champion and led his team to 6 championships. Don't forget it took him 7 years to win the first one. MJ most certainly was NOT a complete player in his 2nd season, no more than KD is now. Flashy scorers can lead teams to championships if they are clutch, have a good enough supporting cast, have good coaching and their team plays good defense.
This is just not true, at all. There has NEVER been a player that creates for his teammates as little as KD does and lead a team to a championship. It just doesn't happen, you have to make your teammates better. Everyone seems to hate Melo but his numbers were similar his 3rd year in the league. I see them as having a similar impact over the course of their careers. It needs to be noted that Durant has shown signs of becoming a great SCORER not necessarily a great offensive player.
Rose. Physically superior. Smart. Fun. Can create. Seems very coachable (though maybe a bad thing with vinny). Room for improvement. His shot can get a lot more consistent. His low ceiling to me is a better version of Tony Parker by merits that he is stronger. His high ceiling is a better version of Deron Williams by merits that he is more athletic. (I am not trying to say to much of Willaims vs Parker...I just think Williams is a more completel player than Tony). Durant. OMG that shot. Long as hell. Has the killer instinct. Confidence. Pretty good finisher. Low ceiling = stays where he is goes to 5 or 6 all-star games. High ceiling = TMac in Orlando. He has the same sort of advantages that TMac did. He is longer than almost anyone that will guard him. He doesnt seem to be the finisher that Tmac was around the basket...but I think his shot is better. Over 40% from behind the arc is insane (i didnt look that up i just heard it so it might not be true) Who I take? If I am starting a team, I take Rose. i feel like PGs are so valuable and he seems to be of the mold of those special ones that can fill all roles. He can be the scorer if he needs to be and he seems to be good at running the offense, which will only get better with experience. Rose probably wont ever put up the scoring numbers that Durant will, but i think his overal contribution will be greater. Because of his superior speed and strength, Rose can be highly effective on both sides of the court. Durant is weak. He will be a problem on the defensive side. I also think that teams with players like Durant often get lulled into just letting the star take all the shots. That never works. that is part of what happened to the LA Puddlers last night. Kobe doesnt usually take that many shots...they felt like they had to let him because they were struggling to bad. If they had calmed down and run their offense instead of iso kobe everytime, they could have gotten someone else going and that would have opened things for Kobe. A lot of the time, superstar scorers like Kobe, TMac, durant, etc will get you back into the game by just letting them take over...but other times relying on that wil kill you. In my opinion, you only iso consistently in the last few minutes of a game when you need the big shot and you have an obvious superstar. The Puddlers went to iso offense in the 3rd. And it seemed to be working so they stuck with it....but in the end it killed them. Thats why you pick Rose. No team (unless they were pathetically horrible) would ever try to iso him consistently...but you can at the end of the game. He has good enough handles and speed to keep the ball always. And he is so athletic...if he doesnt get named to NBA All-defense 1st team at least 7 times ===> failure. So yeah...I'd take Rose. now if you throw AB into the mix...its a different story con by my love man love for AB.
Like I said, MJ was NOT a complete player in his 2nd year. He didn't create for his teammates either. It's something he learned along the way. KD is in his 2nd year and is only 20 years-old. Give the guy a chance to grow. From his 1st year to 2nd year, he went from 20 ppg to 25, 3.5 rebs/game to 5.5, his shooting pct went from 43% to 47.6% and his 3-point pct went from 29% to 42%. He has a long way to go. Cut him a little slack. Early on, some people said MJ was too selfish to win title. Talk about not being true.
I forgot about Westbrook. He is pretty athletic. If he can develop into a good PG that OKC team will be scary with Durant and Green. They need a Big man though.
As far as physically gifted Williams and Paul are not more physically gifted than Rose. We are talking about current players to T-mac should not even be on the list. I don't think Joe Johnson is more physically gifted than Rose either.
Umm this isn't even a contest. Rose helped his team to the playoffs the 1st year he signs with the bull as a rookie. Durant? He doesn't done **** yet.
Here is a little tidbit, Rose's season as a rookie is really overall not quite as good as Paul's. Rose had a tad more scoring (16.8 to 16.1) and 2 point shooting %, but Paul was ahead(mostly substantially) in 3%, FT%, RPG, A, A/TO and steals. And consider Paul has continued to get better by strides. I would not take Derrick Rose over Paul, though I would probably take Rose over any other young PG (with a tough call on the better shooting/more polished but less athletically dominant Williams). I like Rose a ton, but I'd take Durant. One thing to remember with Rose is that Chicago had been a mid-level East playoff team before having an injury riddled subpar year and getting mighty lucky in the lottery. He makes them better, but their turn around can hardly be solely credited to him. Put Durant on that Chicago team (Hinrich and Gordon as starters) and they would be better IMO.
I knew someone would come in here and say that. If you replace Durant with Rose do you really think they would make the playoffs?
I wouldn't attribute the Bulls success solely to Rose, but without him they are a complete dog of a team. I also feel their team and Rose's development was/is hindered by having a complete novice of a head coach. With a real coach instead of clueless Vinny, the Bulls & Rose would have done much better this season. Fortunately, I believe Rose is self-motivated and will continue the march to greatness anyway.
