Recently, a piece of news about the remarks between two players caused a lot of controversy. As the most improved player this season, Morant 's performance is also obvious to all. Under his leadership, the Grizzlies have returned to the playoffs. In addition, he is only in his third year, and his stardom seems bright. In an interview, former MVP Rose also expressed some suggestions of his own when Morant was mentioned.
Ross is very sure of Morant's performance, but he also hopes that he can use his body less to score and use more skills to help the team. After all, once injured, his future career may be as hugely affected as his own.
However, Morant sneered at Rose's suggestion. Not only did he say that his physical fitness was far superior to Rose, but he also thought that Rose was a complete clown. This response caused an uproar. You must know that Rose, who was only in his third grade back then, had already led the Bulls to the Eastern Conference Finals, and won the MVP award that year, defeating superstars such as James and Howard. Such a performance was far from perfect. More than Morant today. So, how amazing was Rose's performance back then? Why can he become the youngest MVP?
Comprehensive upgrade of personal abilities
First of all, let's take a look at the personal performance of Rose, who was in his third year at the time, during that season. Rose played in 81 games that season, averaging 25 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 7.7 assists per game. , his statistics have fully evolved compared to his sophomore year. In addition, he also used this to dominate all point guards that year. A total of 2,026 points and 623 assists throughout the season was also the third player in NBA in the past 30 years, except Michael Jordan and LeBron James. His PER value of 23.5 also exceeded all others. Player, this is enough to illustrate the dominance of Rose at that time.
In addition to statistics, Rose's performance on the court is even more explosive. As Rose said in a recent interview, the 22-year-old at the time didn't care about his opponent's defense at all. His drastic change of direction in advance, coupled with the change of pace without slowing down while moving, made the point guards who were defending Rose at that time very uncomfortable. All the hard work. Rose's impact on the basket is unmatched by today's Morant. His 61.1% shooting rate at the basket was also the highest among all point guards at the time, which further demonstrated Rose's terrifying threat. In addition, he also has considerable experience in organization. His ball distribution efficiency after breakthrough is quite efficient, and his outstanding vision and overall view are important factors for the team's rise that year. Whether it's statistics or performance on the court, Rose is undisputed.
The Bulls' record is dazzling, and the MVP competition has added weight.
In addition, in addition to the amazing personal performance, Bulls also ushered in a qualitative change this year. This summer, they further introduced Carlos Boozer, Kyle Korver, Ronnie Brewer, CJ Watson and other powerful players, plus Rose. , Noah and Luol Deng, the Bulls, who could only linger in eighth place in the Eastern Conference last season, suddenly have the opportunity to hit the first place in the Eastern Conference.
The reality is what they thought. Under the leadership of Rose, the Bulls defeated the powerful players in a row during the regular season. Boozer averaged 17.5 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. Luol Deng averaged 17.4 points per game. In addition, Noah also had an outstanding performance of 11.7 points, 10.4 rebounds, 1 steal and 1.5 blocks this year. In addition, the rest of the role players performed very well. It was under such circumstances that they achieved the league's first record of 62 wins and 20 losses.
And not only in terms of overall record, facing Howard and James, the direct competitors for MVP at the time, Rose also performed as he should. In 4 games against the Magic, Rose led the team to a record of 3 wins and 1 loss. Especially in the first game, he scored 39 points.In the showdown with , Heat, and , Rose led the Bulls to win three of the games, and in the game on January 15th, he scored 34 points, 4 rebounds, 8 assists, and 3 blocks.
It was the overwhelming advantage in record that made Rose the final regular season MVP. 93% of the first-round votes were also convincing enough.
's performance in the playoffs was perfect and disappointing.
Of course, we still have to see how Rose performed in the playoffs that year. In fact, in his sophomore year, although the Bulls were only ranked eighth in the Eastern Conference, Rose showed considerable talent facing the powerful Cavaliers led by James. In 5 games, Rose averaged 26.8 points and 7.2 assists per game. At that time, he had already left a deep impression on many fans. In the MVP season, they entered the playoffs as the first in the Eastern Conference. They defeated the Pacers and Hawks respectively, and finally met the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals.
In the first two games of the first round, Rose scored 39 points and 36 points respectively, almost single-handedly leading the team to defeat the Pacers. Facing the Hawks in the second round, in 6 games, Rose completed 5 double-doubles, 3 games with 30+ points and 1 game with 44 points, which shocked everyone. Even though they lost to the Heat 1:4 in the end, being able to enjoy the treatment of James and Wade also shows Rose's outstanding strength. In 16 playoff games this year, he averaged 27.1 points, 7.7 assists and 1.4 steals per game, fully worthy of MVP status.
Although Rose has become an ordinary NBA player today, he was also brilliant back then. If it were not for the huge impact of injuries, perhaps Rose would still be one of the top stars in the NBA.
