Hardwood Paroxysm had a fascinating post last week which examined the hype surrounding Derrick Rose and his actual achievements: The argument is certainly reasonable. ESPN wants to anoint it's kings for a variety of reasons. But I was left with the feeling, after reading the article, that it somewhat failed to give due credit to Rose's contributions to winning, outside of the usual statistical measures. What makes Rose so valuable is how he provides what the Bulls need to win. When the team is missing is shots, he scores. When the Bulls are hitting, he passes. It sounds simple, but I don't really remember watching a player in our franchise, at least, who alters his game so much by situation. I went looking for numbers that would support what I see on the court. It's no secret that Taj Gibson, Keith Bogans and the majority of the bench have struggled to score effectively on the road. So you would expect Rose to score more on the road and have more assists at home. Check this out: Derrick Rose At home: 23.8 PPG (FG 469%); APG 10.2; RPG 3.5. On road: 28.6 PPG (FG 467%); APG 6.8; RPG 5.4. Other star guards also show these trends, but not to the same extent. This could be either because they are less flexible or because their supporting cast is more consistent regardless of venue: Rajon Rondo: At home: 10.2 PPG (500%); 14.4 APG; 5.1 RPG. On road: 11.2 PPG (483%); 14 APG; 4.3 RPG. Deron Williams: At home: 23.1 PPG (481%); 9.3 APG; 4.6 RPG. On road: 20.7 PPG (444%); 10.6 APG; 3.8 RPG. Chris Paul: At home: PPG 15.2 (489%); 11.4 APG; 3.9 RPG. On road: PPG 17.7 (491%); 9.3 APG; 5.4 RPG. And for history's sake: Scottie Pippen '96-'97: At home: 19.6 PPG (469%); APG 6.2; RPG 6.5. On road: 20.8 PPG (480%); APG 5.2; RPG 6.5.
Our bench seemed better on the road than at home to me. Watson puts up 33 points in a starting role when Rose goes down. Brewer clearly has picked up his game (he probably had more rebounds on this road trip than the entire rest of the season). Similar for Korver, too - we seemed to win the games he played well on the road. Bogans became less than zero. Taj had to sit a lot with foul trouble and nagging injury. Taj's PER is now 16.8 - it was over 20 for a bit. Deng's PER dropped below 15 on the trip. I think he was a complete non-factor for the first half of the Kings game and the Kings had a big lead because of it. Rose needs help.
