From Jeff McDonald's Twitter: "Derrick Rose is at point where the Spurs will live with guarding him with a 38-year-old man in crunch time"
I came here to point this out. Rose had Ginobli on him in crunch time, and couldn't do anything. He's gotta get better. I still don't understand how the large athletic drop off from last season to this year occurred. My only guess is that it's all in his head. He's trying to transform himself as a player, into one that can last in this league for a long time by playing below the rim. But playing below the rim and playing scared are two different things. In my opinion, Rose looks like a player that is physically perfectly capable of getting up above the rim, but he seems to have a mental block that prevents him from doing this. This disconnect here is frustratingly apparent each game, as Rose has no clue what he wants to do on the floor with his body. He knows that he is physically capable of doing certain things when he has to on the court, but it's exceedingly difficult to play with 50% athleticism all game and then try to dial it up to 100% for the finish. We see this current version of Rose on TV and wonder why is he not trying and giving enough effort, but I think there's more to it than that.
The only silver lining I can find from analyzing Derrick's play over the last year and a half is that there have actually been a few times where he has managed to string together several decent games in a row. The most obvious stretch that comes to mind is the one just before last year's all-star break. During these stretches, though they are brief, Rose has not only produced decent games statistically, but he has looked athletic and has passed the eye test. The unfortunate thing is that each of these stretches tends to end with a small, nagging injury (last year's hamstring strain, ankle sprain, new meniscus tear, wear and tear from the playoff run). As soon as Rose sustains ANY type of injury, he basically turns into an old man on the court, and suddenly loses his athleticism.
We can only hope that Rose will find some sort of consistency this year, once his vision is back to normal and his ankle is fully healed. I think we should even expect that Rose will, in fact, manage to string together several games where both he and the team look great. But at the same time, I think we should also then expect some type of nagging injury to pop up again, because basketball is indeed a contact sport and we all know Rose's medical history. I think that's when we'll see Rose again fall back down to square 1. Are his psychological issues fixable? I don't know, but I don't think they are. Can we maybe get lucky, and catch Rose on one of his good stretches, and ride that into the playoffs? Probably unlikely; with intensity of the playoffs the nagging injuries usually occur pretty regularly. Rather than more athletic trainers, I think what Rose might benefit most from speaking with a sports psychologist. If that doesn't happen, however, he's going to find out that not a lot of teams are going to line up to pay him anything in free agency in a couple of years.
On a more positive note, Noah looked like a BEAST against the Spurs. His situation is similar to Rose, in that I think much of his offensive struggles are psychological. However, I'm much more optimistic that Noah will become more consistent for us in his new role than Rose becoming an all-star again. Though there have been times this season, just like last year, where Noah hasn't played well offensively, he STILL looks like a completely different player now. His improved health with a full summer of cutting edge rehab is easily noticeable, and he looks much more athletic, even in his craptastic games. I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a much more consistent Noah in the near future, once he gets more comfortable with Hoiball. The defensive edge has been there all year as well (1.05 defensive win shares per 36 minutes), so I expect him to continue his excellent play on that end of the court.
My psychoanalysis of Gasol and his play so far this season: He's old.
What do you guys think?