Remember all the talk from last June about bringing Derrick Rose along slowly and not burdening a rookie owning one season of college experience with too many expectations?
Well, forget about all that.
In conversations with several people who have witnessed or participated in Bulls practices, the praise for Rose is glowing and unanimous. Two people — one with ties to the Bulls’ organization, one without — said Rose is having the best training camp of anybody on the team.
And while nothing is official and coach Vinny Del Negro has said to read nothing into his lineup for Thursday’s exhibition opener against Dallas, Rose has worked mostly with Kirk Hinrich in practice. Hinrich has started 376 of 389 career games.
Rose, who turned 20 Saturday, did pair with Thabo Sefolosha for Tuesday’s practice and was matched against Hinrich. Still, most observers now consider Rose a lock to be a starter on opening night against the Bucks on Oct. 28.
So much for bringing Rose along slowly. To which Rose, as is his style, replies with a big aw-shucks.
“Whoever deserves to start will start,” Rose said. “It isn’t like anybody hating on another person. We just want to win.
“It’s up to the coach if I need to learn stuff. Everybody thinks they deserve to play. But if sitting on the bench helps us win, I’ll do it.”
This genuine lack of an agenda is partly why Rose has been so impressive. Well, that and blinding speed, a professional practice approach that has him arriving hours early and his quick grasp of an offense that’s heavy on the screen-and-roll.
“He has been very good, really, really impressive,” Sefolosha said. “He’s quick. He makes good decisions on the court. I’m impressed with the way he prepares himself and how he knows when to pass, when to attack. He’s already playing at a very high level.”
Rose is the type to look at what he’s doing poorly before acknowledging any success. So ask him how his camp is going and he talks about the need to improve an erratic jumper and to become better defensively.
Then ask him if he feels comfortable offensively and watch his eyes light up.
“I’m the type of player if you teach me one thing, I’ll adapt to it very quickly,” Rose said in a quietly self-assured manner. “Coach has put me in plenty of screen-and-roll situations, and I’m learning from them pretty quickly.
“At Memphis, we only ran pick-and-roll to get the alley-oop. Now we run it for me to shoot the jumper, get to the rim, get other people open. It’s always something different. And I love it.”
Rose credits his veteran teammates with challenging him in practice. But his NBA education has extended beyond the Berto Center.
The Bulls this season joined other NBA teams who subscribe to Synergy Sports Technology, a TiVo-like service that allows the coaching staff to show, say, Rose and Tyrus Thomas every screen-and-roll situation Phoenix’s dynamic duo of Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire have executed in their careers.
Or instantly show Rose every screen-and-roll Jason Kidd and Chris Paul have performed from last season and beyond. Rose feels fortunate to have access to the revolutionary scouting tool.
“People think screen-and-roll is an easy set, but you have to read it,” he said. “Sometimes you have to slow down if a defender jumps out. Other times you can get to the rim. There are so many things you can do with it.
“I’m trying to master it. I’m watching the veterans who did master it. That makes it a bit easier. But I still have to experience it against great NBA players night in and night out to get better at it.”
Bulls officials never got caught up in the issue of Rose playing in his hometown. Their desire to diminish expectations came mostly from Rose’s age, the lofty expectations that always follow the first overall pick and the fact all rookies — particularly point guards — face a steep learning curve when the NCAA becomes the NBA.
“Point guard is the toughest position to play,” Del Negro said.
That may be true. And bumps along the way will exist for Rose. But by all accounts, the training wheels are off.
“My knee is fine, I’m learning plays, learning from the veterans, from the staff,” Rose said. “The veterans challenge me every day. They don’t let down. They know I’m not at that level yet. They make sure I’m learning.
“But I feel very comfortable. There’s no pressure. I thought being the first rookie it’d be difficult.”
The implication being it’s not.
Immediate impact?
The No. 1 pick in the NBA draft typically plies his trade for an underachieving team and thus gets major minutes, right? Well, for every LeBron James there is a Kwame Brown. Here’s a statistical look at the previous eight top overall picks.
KEY: G-game; GS-game started; M-minutes; PPG-points per game; RPG-rebounds per game; FG%-field goal percentage; PRE-record season before player drafted; POST-record after rookie year
%% YR TEAM PLAYER G GS M PPG RPG FG% PRE POST
2007 Portland Greg Oden Missed season to injury 32-50 41-41
2006 Toronto Andrea Bargnani 65 2 25.1 11 3.9 42.7 27-55 47-35
2005 Milwaukee Andrew Bogut 82 77 28.6 9.4 7 53.3 30-52 40-42
2004 Orlando Dwight Howard 82 82 32.6 12 10 52 21-61 36-46
2003 Cleveland LeBron James 79 79 39.5 20.9 5.5 41.7 17-65 35-47
2002 Houston Yao Ming 82 72 29 13.5 8.2 49.8 28-54 43-39
2001 Washington Kwame Brown 57 3 14.3 4.5 3.5 38.7 19-63 37-45
2000 New Jersey Kenyon Martin 68 68 33.4 12 7.4 44.5 31-51 26-56 %%
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kcjohnson@tribune.com
