Ht: 6-4, Wt: 200
Hometown: Chicago, IL
Strengths
- Great size, strength and build for the pg position
- Outstanding in the open court – Rose is about as fast as you can get end-to-end with the ball in your hands.
- Explosive leaper who can throw down highlight dunks.
- Combine his leaping ability with his uncanny hang time and Rose is exceptional finishing around the rim and in traffic.
- Superb quickness
- Great foot speed, solid on the ball defender… He has all the tools to be a phenomenal defensive player.
- Excellent rebounder for a pg, which enables Rose to turn and start the fast break – He’s always looking to run.
- Very strong handle – comfortable going left and right – with a particularly strong in and out move with the left hand.
- Unselfish – always looks to give up the ball
- Team player – despite receiving all the hype coming into college, Rose really showed that he just wanted to be another member of the team.
Weaknesses
- Doesn’t have the “I want to be the man” mentality – thus shying away down the stretch
- Needs to work on being more effective playing in a half-court game
- Shot needs refinement – slight mechanical adjustments might be needed, but definitely has the ability to develop into a consistent outside threat.
- Despite having all of the tools to be a phenomenal defensive player, Rose needs to exert more energy on the defensive side of the ball – not have lapses where he lets his man penetrate past him.
- Needs polishing off the court
Rose is the complete package. He has an NBA body, speed, quickness, athletic ability and he plays point guard the right way. Like Jason Kidd, the moment Rose gets the ball in his hands, he is looking to create a fast break opportunity even if it doesn’t seem like one is available. He is very unselfish and teammates love playing with him because of his style of play and unselfishness.
Rose prefers to blend in with the guys like another member of the team, rather than being ‘the man,’ which is both a good thing and a bad thing. He needs to develop that killer instinct at the end of games, where he realizes ‘I am the guy and it’s time to take over on certain occasions,’ but it may just not be in him.
To this point in his career, Rose has been able to dominate on his athleticism alone, but as he transitions to the pro-level; Rose will need to further advance his half-court game. He needs to be able to knock down the jumper on a more consistent basis, both spot shooting and pull up jumpers off the bounce. He also has to get more effective at running the pick and roll in a half court set and avoid picking up his dribble and getting trapped away from the basket.
With that being said, Rose has star potential at the next level.
