Last night the Sixers lost their forth game in a row.  After jumping out to a promising 22-10 first quarter lead, the Sixers fell apart in the third frame, losing the quarter by twenty points - 31-11.  While there was plenty to harp on from the loser’s side - AI2’s apparent discomfort playing the two instead of his more natural three, Andre Miller’s obviously declining mobility, Samuel Dalembert’s consistent ineffectiveness would probably be near the top of a far longer list - this game wasn’t about the losers, this game was about the winners.

Derrick Rose is special.

With about two minutes left in the first half Andre Miller thought he had a breakaway layup.  He got position, went up, and Derrick Rose came up from behind to put his shot in the second row of the far sideline.  A minute later Rose put the veteran on his ass with an offensively good crossover before converting the two on a Sammy Dalembert goaltend.  He wasn’t done, he caught an oop that sent brought the ­road­ crowd to it’s feat and drew oos and aaahs from the press section, all on the way to the first point/assist double-double of his young career.  If it is possible to put up a loud 18 and 10 he did it. Last night, Derrick Rose was the story.

Michael Tillery of The Starting Five asked a good question: is Derrick Rose the most athletic PG ever?  Isiah has to be considered, but he never had the rook’s upper body strength. So does Magic, but his size makes it a far tricker question (no one doubts Rose is quicker and faster, but is he vert negated?). Mike brought up Oscar Robertson, and truth be told it wouldn’t have been crazy to include guys like a young Steve Francis when he first came into the league; but still, right now Rose is in the conversation, and that’s sick.

What’s amazing about Derrick Rose’s phenomenal rookie season is that he didn’t bring anyone with him.   When Chris Paul emerged he turned was able to make a headed-for-flop Tyson Chandler into a virtuoso of ferociousness.  When Steve Nash elevated himself into the MVP conversation he shed the snakeskin of Demon Bird Moth Balls (google if you don’t know) and Amare and turn them into forces of nature.  Hell, even Ason (not a typo) had Kenyon.

Rose, on the other hand, is doing it with another guy every night.  Ben Gordon is the only player on the team averaging more points that Pooh, and he’s hardly been on the receiving end of high octane dishes.  Rose will find his his volume shooting guard, but the two have had on-court problems already, and they’re hardly ever out on the break together.  I’m sure he’ll find a running mate before all is said and done, but right now he’s playing one game and is team is playing another. Part of this is Vinny Del Negro’s fault - instead of freeing Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas to get out and run with The Franchise, he’s had plodding Aaron Gray and half-court power forward Drew Gooden to work with.  Pregame, when Rose admitted that he’s not going to be able to turn the franchise by himself, it was as much a plea for help as it was a token praise-deflection.

As a basketball fan there is a part of me that wishes that D’Antoni hadn’t jumped the gun and headed to MSG before seeing what type of roster he’d have to play with in Chicago, and part that wishes that B-Easy had done a little more to impress so that the aesthetically perfect Rose/Wade backcourt could have been a reality, but the rest is just happy to get the chance to see the rook play.  It’s a short list of players who I won’t miss when they come to Philly (which I tried to include here until I realized it needed to be it’s own post).  Derrick Rose has joined that list.

Notes from the game, ATJ

• Sixers responded to the thrashing Boston put on them Friday.  They jump out to be a 22-10 lead behind That Young’s all around play.  This team can be pretty damn good.
  
  
• Royal Ivey got some nice burn tonight.  Maybe Coach Cheeks wanted to get into the head of Bulls’ center Aaron Gray.
  
  
• Here are the +/- numbers of the Sixers’ bench

W. Green        -1

M. Speights    -1

L. Williams     -15

R. Ivey            -14

R. Evans         -12

K. Rush          -11

• Dalembert played just 15 minutes, after the game Cheeks cited foul trouble. Sammy finished with two fouls.
  
  
• According to a ‘win’ is a game a player’s team outscored its opponents while he was on the court.  No Sixer has more ‘wins’ than ‘losses’ this season.
  
  
• EB had 21 and 12, but got torched on the other end by a red-hot Drew Gooden
  
• Once again, the Sixers went 11 deep.  Donyell Marshall was the only active player not to get in.
  
  
• For what I believe to be just the second time all year, the Sixers were out rebounded.
  
  
• The Sixers had no blocks for the game
  
  

Oh yeah:

that happened.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 1st, 2008 at 1:55 pm and is filed under About Last Night, Sixers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.