Chicago's Budding Rose?

Like a bad cavity, Derrick Rose has always been fairly good at penetrating the teeth of the defense. This has elicited numerous comparisons to players like LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. 

But perhaps, the most commonplace parallels, are those comparing Rose to other NBA point guards. In particular, Chris Paul.

Some staunch followers have even suggested that Rose may actually be better than Paul (or at least has the potential to be)?

First, it's imperative to understand just how good Chris Paul really is?

Below are some figures illustrating the average point guard in the NBA, versus what we saw from Chris Paul in his rookie season (excluding adj. field goal percentage and free-throw shooting, everything is defined on a per 48 minute basis).

Adjusted Field Goal Percentage: 47.4% PG, 45.5% Chris Paul

Free Throw Percentage: 78.8% PG, 84.7% Chris Paul

Personal Fouls: 3.6 PG, 3.7 Chris Paul 

Assists/game: 8.6 PG, 10.4 Chris Paul

Blocked Shots: .3 PG, .13 Chris Paul

Points/game: 18.4 PG, 21.5 Chris Paul

Rebounds/game: 4.7 PG, 6.8 Chris Paul

Steals/game: 2.0 PG, 2.93 Chris Paul

Turnovers: 3.4 PG, 3.2 Chris Paul

As you can see (looking at the figures), Chris Paul was well above-average in almost every statistical category (with the noted exception of efficiency scoring and blocked shots).

The average point guard posts a win score mark of 6.3, Paul posted a win score mark of 11.4 (that's nearly double the standard deviation). One can surmise that his production wasn't just better, it was exceedingly better. Yes, even as a rookie, Chris Paul was a phenomenal player.

In contrast, here are figures illustrating what Derrick Rose did last year (the bolded numbers, are where Rose bettered the mark set by typical NBA point guards, again, this is defined on a per 48 minute basis).

Adjusted Field Goal Percentage: 48.3%

Free Throw Percentage: 78.8%

Personal Fouls: 2.0

Assists/game: 8.2

Blocked Shots: .3

Points/game: 21.8

Rebounds/game: 5.1

Steals/game: 1.03

Turnovers: 3.2

From these numbers, we recognize that Rose was indeed above-average, though barely. With the exception of personal fouls and scoring, he was either on par with or only slightly exceeded what is seen of the typical NBA point guard. 

This can be further inferred by Rose's win score mark, which was at 6.6 in 2008-09. This season, Rose's win score has dropped significantly (it is down to 4.6). Again, the average point guard has a win score of 6.3. Rose, has clearly been below-average through his first 27 games.

On the other hand, Chris Paul has posted a win score mark of 16.2, after playing 19 games (in 2009-10). This is nearly quadruple the production that we are seeing out of Rose.

After careful consideration of all the factors, we can conclusively determine that Paul and Rose are like an apple and an orange. Truly Incomparable.    

However, at 24, Paul is in his prime and will most likely begin peaking within the next few years, to which after, there will be an inevitable decline.

Of course, not all players that decline, do so considerably. Some manage to remain productive for years, even into their late 30's. As was the case with John Stockton and is the case now, with Jason Kidd.

Adversely, you have Derrick Rose, who is still very young and has time on his side to develop. Though, it is very unlikely that the latter will ever catch up to the former. And most probable, that he will never be better.

(Credit: photo courtesy of Getty Images)