Fast Break Article 3/26/13 - Derrick Rose and Kevin Johnson
03/26/2013 15:27
Video of Derrick Rose MVP Highlights:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Plt4b2RHT48
Video of Kevin Johnson Highlights:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhkQFkv-c9M
Derrick Rose is an explosive, shoot first point guard. He drives to the basket and score on larger players.
Does this remind you of any player from the past?
To me it reminds me of KJ. Kevin Johnson was an explosive point guard who was a shoot first point guard (That’s debatable however). Kevin has many of the same attributes as Rose.
They’re similar in size (KJ is just a couple inches shorter), great scorers, very good passers, great finishers, and poor defenders.
We all know Rose can score, but can Kevin? Let’s look at his stats. KJ averages 18 points per game for his career. Over his prime (1989-1997), KJ averaged 20 points per game. Many people say Rose is in his prime, and right now he is averaging 21 points per game. That’s just 1 point off of being the exact same.
Who remembers the Christmas day special during 2012? The Bulls were playing the Lakers that night and Derrick Rose went off in the 4th quarter. He led the Bulls back into the game and had a key play with 1:30 left in the game. The Bulls were down 6 and they HAD to score. Derrick Rose comes up, and runs the pick roll to perfection. Rose dives off the screen and hits Boozer for the wide open layup. About 1:15 later in the game, Rose hits the game winner. Without the great pass, there is no great game winner. (Video of game winner by Rose: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIa2g_F08co)
That’s just one example of a great pass by Rose. Rose averages 7 assists per game and assists on about 33% of all the FGM by teammates. KJ has numbers like this. However, KJ passed and assisted a lot more. He averaged 9 assists per game for his career and assists on about 38% of all FGM by teammates.
It’s 1994 in the Western Conference Finals (Game 4). Phoenix is losing to the Rockets and they need a score. Kevin Johnson is just the person to go to. Kevin Johnson grabs the rebound from Dan Majerle and drives baseline. What happens next is one of the greatest dunks of all time. KJ goes up and throws it down on the all-time leader in blocks, Hakeem Olajuwon. This is just one example of all the dunks, layups, and acrobatic finishes by KJ. (Video of KJ dunk on Hakeem:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVcSndz52DE)
Rose can throw it down too. Anybody who has seen him play can say he is one of the top 3 finishers in the league. There’s no real statistic for it, other than just watching them play.
The weaknesses of Rose and KJ are on defense. Both are poor defenders. Neither has ever made an all-NBA defensive team. Rose doesn’t even average a steal a game.
I love both of them and I see all of the similarities. In this case, I can choose which one is better. Derrick Rose is the obvious better one. He has already won an MVP and made it to the conference finals. KJ never won an MVP and it KJ more than 4 years to make conference finals.
Derrick Rose>Kevin Johnson
