Derrick Rose' Career-Changing Game Shows He's Ready to Be the NBA's Best Player

Right now Derrick Rose is the league's reigning MVP, but he is not the NBA's best payer. He spent the offseason doing what he needed to do to step into that conversation. While he spent a lot of time improving his three, working on his post game and other basketball skills, those aren't the reasons why. It was the time spent watching film and learning to understand the game better. 

Last night Derrick Rose may or may not have played the best game of his career. The numbers were certainly impressive, as he scored 29 points, had 16 assists and eight boards. This coming against first team All-Defensive point guard Chris Paul makes those numbers all the more impressive. 

Whether it was the best game of his career is really not important. It was the smartest game of his career, and that is why this year he could make the conversation more about whether he's the league's best player as opposed to just being the most valuable.

Last year during the postseason, and in particular during the finals, Rose tried to force the game to come to him and force shots. In part that was a result of not having a teammate that could create shots or handle the ball. Don't tell Rose that, though. If you ask Rose, it was all his fault that the team lost.

"We were in the games that we lost, but like I've said, it's on me," Rose said.

Rose isn't just saying the "right" thing. He really believes he is to blame. That's why he spent the offseason doing something about it. 

As the season started, Rose over-swung the pendulum. Rater than forcing shots, he often passed up on them and forced the pass instead, trying to be a "facilitator" rather than a scorer. 

The problem with that is the catalyst of this offense is Rose's ability to drive to the rim and set up scores. Last year, particularly in the finals, Rose would try and force shots in the paint that would get blocked rather than pass out to an open man. 

Other times he would prematurely pull and throw up a shot rather than wait for the play to develop. Or else he would try and set up a teammate from the perimeter. 

These are the kinds of bad habits Rose needed to learn to change, but the basic premise of the offense, the essence of it, is that it is set up by his ability to drive to the rim.

What happened in the first two games of the season was that he stopped driving. He tried to stay out at the perimeter and facilitate from there rather than set up his teammates through his driving ability. 

They eked out a win in Los Angeles against the Lakers, in large part because Rose stepped up and started to score in the fourth quarter, including the game-winning shot. Against the Golden State Warriors, they were atrocious. 

Head coach Tom Thibodeau sat down with his superstar point guard and explained to him why he still needed to remain aggressive. Against the Sacramento Kings, Rose was more aggressive and, for flashes, showed signs of what could be. Still, the offense was up and down.

While the Bulls won, it was more of a result of their transition game, as they outscored the Kings 33-14 in transition. It still wasn't the Bulls' set offense that was winning the game. When Rose was running the set offense, it was more like last year, where he was either driving to the paint and forcing shots, or hanging out at the perimeter trying to pass.  

Last night, though, was the first time where Rose really demonstrated he's "got it." He orchestrated the offense brilliantly. He set up the offense through his penetration. When they came out to stop him at the top of the paint, he passed it under to one of his bigs. 

When he penetrated and help defense came, he delivered the ball out to the open wing. 

When he penetrated and no help defense came, he drove and made the bucket, often drawing the foul in the process. 

When they sagged off of him, he sank the three, hitting 3-of-4 from deep. 

It is reflected in an incredibly efficient box score: 29 points on just 14 field-goal attempts. The 16 assists were spread about to all his teammates, with all five starters scoring in double figures. Richard Hamilton had 16, Joakim Noah and Luol Deng had 19 each. 

Rose's scoring has become far more efficient this year. His true shooting percentage is .617, up 67 points from last year. His effective field-goal percentage is .552, also up 67 points from last year. 

It's not just his scoring that is more efficient, either. His passing has improved. Rose is averaging 9.3 assists per game this year. His assist percentage is up to 41.1. Rose is becoming a far more efficient scorer and a better facilitator. Last night was emblematic of how good he can be. 

Rose set up each of his starting teammates for at least two field goals each. His first assist was to Hamilton, his second to Deng, his third to Noah and his fourth to Carlos Boozer. With his first four dimes, he had all his teammates on the scoreboard. It was only after hitting Hamilton a second time that Rose finally took—and made—his first field-goal attempt.

If Tom Brady were a point guard, this is what it would look like. Whichever weapon was available, Rose would use. 

This was a game that JA Adande called "a tutorial on how to play the position," but it was Rose giving the lessons, not Chris Paul. It's not often that Paul gets completely outplayed at point guard, but make no mistake about it, last night he was the second best point guard on the court, and that's true whether you are looking at the game itself or the box score.

There was something about this game. It was the amount of circumstances building up to it. The loss last year, the study of the film in the offseason, the struggles to get here so far in preseason and to this point in the regular season. 

If you were watching this game, you got the sense that he gets it. It's as though Rose has had an epiphany. It's all come together and he understands the offense now. He's a humble man, so when he says, “My basketball IQ is getting very high,” you had better believe it's true.

It's obvious to anyone who watched the game last night. It's also a big part of the reason the Bulls' offense, which struggled from time to time last year, and finished just 12th in the NBA in offensive rating, has vaulted to the second best in the NBA.

If this in fact was a transitional game, and not just a "good game," people might be talking about Rose as being in the conversation for the the best player in the league, not "just" the MVP.