Friday, February 22, 2013

Kyrie Irving or Derrick Rose?

Image from NBCchicago.com
            It may seem unfair, to make this comparison between Kyrie Irving and Derrick Rose. Unfair to who though? Kyrie, because he's only in his second year? or Rose because he's recovering from a devastating ACL injury? Obviously Irving has yet to accomplish anything significant in terms of wins, while Derrick Rose already has an MVP under him (then again Kyrie doesn't have Luol Deng and Noah on his team)
Irving is having a blistering second season sort of like Rose's second season, first time All-Star, three point shootout champion, and already considered one of the premier "clutch" players in the league. Derrick Rose on the other hand, after his amazing MVP season, was derailed all of last year by injuries until the season ending torn ACL in the first game of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals against Philadelphia. Now, Rose when healthy is clearly a top 5 player, but he's a player who depended primarily on his explosive attacks to the rim, its uncertain whether he will have that explosiveness again when he returns, albeit he will no doubt be a phenomenal player but 5 years from now will he be better than Kyrie Irving?
          Rose revolutionized the point guard position in my opinion, he was the first "point guard" to take the lead offensive role on his team (excluding the legendary Allen Iverson of course). Taking the majority of the shots and expected to score over 20 points a game every night, rather than the old school traditional point guards who pass first and shoot second. He was quickly followed by Russell Westbrook, John Wall, and now Kyrie Irving. Point guards are now expected to lead their team through scoring rather than through their passing and its all because of how Derrick Rose took the league by storm. People may disagree with his style of play, but it won him an MVP, so it must be working for him. 
        That being said, Kyrie is younger, just as fast (if not faster), and came into the league with a lethal jumper, something Rose did not, so its scary to see what this kid will be 5 years from now. Its uncertain how Rose's knee will respond, but its certain that Kyrie Irving will soon be a top 3 point guard in this league, and with Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook considered to be the top 2 right now, it leads to a very interesting debate
For his career, Rose is averaging 21 PPG and 6.8 APG on 46% shooting, Kyrie? 20.9 and 5.5 APG also on 46% shooting, the numbers aren't too far apart, and Kyrie is only in his second season. So who would you go with? the 20 year old with the good knee? Or the former MVP who has not played a game in over 300 days?

3 comments:

  1. I'm sorry but I would def take Derrick Rose, Kyrie Irving can't really play defense somewhere Rose doesn't really get much credit but does pretty well. Rose in my opinion is a better passer than Irving, Irving has the advantage with his shooting ability, but only there I believe.

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    1. I agree that Rose at this point is a better defender, but think about the fact that this is only Irving's second season, and as far as passing go, Rose is definitely the better passer at this point but not the better shooter

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  2. I like Rose..Irving is not as explosive and dribbles way to much. The jury is out on if either can lead a team to a championship. Hard for your offense to flow when the PG is taking all the shots.

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