Everyone who follows basketball, even if just casually, knows the absolute horror run Rose has had with injury over the past 2-3 years. I won't go into details about all his injuries but it was just one thing after another. But they caused him to miss the 2011/12 playoffs, the entire 2012/13 season and only played in 10 games during the 2013/14 season...So before this year he had only played in two seasons combined! This season Rose missed 31 out of 82 regular season games due to MORE knee trouble and was in doubt for the playoffs. Rose returned just before the playoffs started and has played in every playoff game so far.
In nine playoff games Rose has averaged....
20.3 PPG on 39/38/89 shooting
5 rebounds
7 assists
1.2 steals
3.7 turnovers
Im sure he would love to cut down the turnovers a bit and nudge that shooting percentage at least into the 40s (38 from 3 is pretty nice though) but over all pretty solid for a guy who has only appeared in (approximately) 25% of his teams games over the last three seasons and had knee surgery during this current season.
So the question is "Is Rose back?" or at least something resembling the MVP Rose before all the injuries hit...I believe he is getting there and will get there, a lot of critics and experts believed even if he returned to full health he won't be the same due to his game being based around his athleticism and explosiveness and getting back to that level after major surgeries on both knees just isn't possible! But I believe he will get there IF he can stay healthy for an extended period...He shows glimpses of his former self but can often appear quite tentative and doesn't always attack the way he used to, which is completely understandable given all that has happened, I think with an extended healthy period and time on the floor he will eventually get over that psychological barrier.
The other day I wrote a bit about the Clippers and how they have gone from a good team who lacked the big game experience to make deep playoff runs to a real contender for the title after their recent defeat of San Antonio and the confidence and belief that you can see in them in the series against Houston...I believe todays game against Cleveland will have a similar affect on Roses game! Despite solid numbers and form in the playoffs he has mainly been a volume scorer who puts up points inefficiently and hasn't been shooting a lot of free throws. Though todays game wasn't great shooting wise (10-26) only three of those 26 were from 3. I don't have a shot chart or anything but he attacked the paint a lot just like the old Rose and though he didn't convert at a great clip the attention he got opened up several offensive rebound opportunities for Pau Gasol, Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson. He also got to the free throw line ten times converting nine. Then we all know what happened at the end! Three seconds left he banks in a three on the buzzer for the win...As I mentioned at the start I don't want to over analyse what one shot could potentially mean, but that shot (and his overall game) will no doubt give him a serious confidence boost and it will also give his team mates a boost knowing the former MVP is getting a little closer to his old self every time he steps on the court.
Injuries are a part of professional sport, but there aren't many people in any sport who have had to deal with as many major injuries and setbacks in such a short period of time as Rose has...Im rooting for him to get back to that MVP level and from a fan perspective there aren't to many players that are as fun to watch as a healthy D-Rose.
Hopefully we will be seeing plays like this again soon...
Thanks for reading...I best head off to Mums before she gets mad at me for ignoring her on mothers day haha
AP
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