[JNixonParticipant]

I am a guy that loves his game and think he might be one of the 5 most gifted players in the NBA right now. He is the most physically gifted backcourt player, hands down to me. But I dont think he will be the best PG over Chris Paul or even Deron Williams until he proves that he can make plays for others more consistently and effectively. He’s a monster in the dribble drive game and this allows him to be super-effective in the drive and dish if he chose to dish to his shooters. He is going to score alot because he’s unstoppable in the dribble drive and he has a decent mid-range game, and Ben Gordon is gone which will help his production, but he has to prove to me he can be more than a drive and dish player to eventually be the best PG. I mean, when has he ever made a pass in the half-court that just made you go “Wow” ? And on top of that he has to improve in his defense. He is effective pressuring other PG’s in full-court style plays at times, but you dont run those every play. And he gets beat off the dribble too much for a player with his tools, wayyyy too much. So unless his playmaking skills for others improves to the level of a guy like the guys I mentioned, he wont be the best PG in the NBA.

[R-Dot-13Participant]

Ok, i will get hate for this..
but I STILL like Westbrook over him..
I know a lot of people disagree and i understand, but I like Westbrook to be the better player.

[Lemons4LifeParticipant]

Rose is sometimes out of control too much and has no leadership. I still like:

1. Williams
2. Paul
3. Westbrook

[R-Dot-13Participant]

thank you M.3

[R-Dot-13Participant]

i like paul over D-Will, but it can go either way.

[MagikKnickParticipant]

LOL..im kind of riding the Russell Westbrook bandwagon myself….
I think there games are very similar but I think defense is the seperator, and while Derrick Rose is not horrible on defense, he can definetly have a better effort….as apposed to Westbrook who can be a defensive terror at times

Plus, another thing with Westbrook is that he wants to get better, and he wants to be great….him and Joe Alexanders were the only 2nd year players that played in the summer league (drafted top 10)….Westbrook didnt have to do that..plus he played in both summer leagues, Orlando and the regular one

I think they both need to work on court vision, but for now, Westbrook seems to be the favorite

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

“Rose is sometimes out of control too much and has no leadership.” – M.3

Wow… It sounds like you have Rose confused with Westbrook. I think Westbrook is the one who’s out of control (high turnovers) and has no leadership. I’ve rarely seen Rose out of control and he was a leader for his team, a playoff team, from the moment he stepped foot on the Bulls’ practice court.

I agree with Iggy 100% though, especially about his defense. I’m expecting Rose to improve significantly this upcoming season. He’ll have a chance to be more of a playmaker now that Ben Gordon is gone. Last season, he’d just pass the ball to the wing and either Gordon or Salmons would isolate.

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

Eric Gordon played in the summer league too (#7 pick).

[MagikKnickParticipant]

“Tru Dat”

yeah, forgot about him..my badddd

[JNixonParticipant]

Westbrook has all the same problems Rose has, except he’s a better defender. He doesnt have the mid-range game and he is much more out of control than Rose (he lead the NBA in turnovers last year) and he has less PG skills. I dont like Westbrook as the better player honestly..he’s a better defender and that’s it in my opinion.

[Bryant24Participant]

I like rose better but westbrook didnt lead the league in turnovers it was stephen jackson,dwayne wade,deron williams,steve nash then westbrook he was number 5.

[RickyRubio9Participant]

I am on Westbrook’s side as well, but not taking anything away from Rose, an outstanding young talent. Mine is like this,
1. D-Will
2. CP3
3. TP
4. Westbrook
5. Rose

[MagikKnickParticipant]

I think these two will always be talked about in the same sentence, similar to the way we compare CP3 and D-Will right now…

IMO, At this very moment…Rose is better, but slowly but surely, I believe Westbrook will pass him…it’d be interesting to see a “Kevin Durant” type player working alongside Derrick Rose though…might be a different story

[RickyRubio9Participant]

You mean Deng isn’t considered a Durant type Player?!? Wow… haha JOKING

[JNixonParticipant]

Wait and see if Wade goes to Chi-Town (I think he will). Rose will have the opportunity that Westbrook has to work alongside a star player…

[McWinningParticipant]

i think Westbrook wont be as good of a scorer i still like him alot but he also has a lot of question marks on offense and i think Rose is much better offensively. but yeah its close Westbrook is a much better defender but i would take Rose he can be one of the greatest scorers in the nba and i dont know if Westbrook will ever score near as much as him.

[McWinningParticipant]

and to m.3 no l;eadership? he led the Bulls to the playoff and led Memphis to the finals that UCLA team had more talent than Memphis Love, Moute Collison, but he led them to almost winning to the title.

[youngmagParticipant]

Honestly he has the potential ppl r forgetting he was only 19 years old with that much speed strength and athleticism anything can happen I think he will end up right there wit CP3 n D-Will but honestly I like Westbrook also but remember Rose did takeover Memphis who had a good recruiting class then he just proved why he was the number 1 pick during the playoffs there isn’t to many point guards to just get at Rondo like he did so as for his turnovers and making dumb choices those will go away quickly.

[JNixonParticipant]

Derrick doesn’t talk alot on the floor and yell and all that, but he’s a winner. To run a team and be a winner, you have to be a leader.

[Ryan.Cook2Participant]

he led all pgs in scoring, rebounding, assists, and steals, what more does he need to do?

[JNixonParticipant]

Hands down the best PG in the game…

[llperez]

my opinion- I can’t argue with anything Iggy said in the original post, but I still believe Rose will become the best pg in the league. He might never average 10 assists per game like DWill or Paul, but his ability to take over games is on par with anybody. He gets into the lane at will, finishes strong, blows by people in the open court, shows great instincts on the fly when in traffic or when he is pressured. He get’s better defensively and improves his jumper, and he will be like a pg version of Lebron.

[Michael.S.Participant]

I was sayin that month’s ago, good to know I didn’t sound dumb by saying that

just throwing this out there—————-Lebron should play the 1 for the Cavs

[JNixonParticipant]

He is like a PG version of Lebron..both are freakishly gifted for their size. But Lebron will be more productive than Rose, and that’s part of the reason Rose wont be better than Paul unless he shows more playmaking ability outside of the drive and dish. He’ll score alot of points, probably about 20-21 ppg next year and in the future probably, but unless he is a better and more productive passer he wont be the best. Physical dominance or not…

[td8118Participant]

I remember reading reports on this site close to the 08 draft, where International Scouts could not understand at all how Derrick Rose was considered the better prospect than Russell Westbrook….Personally I would take Rose.. but its extremely close, I love both their games

[nepaliman_7Participant]

“he was only 19 years old”
actually, you’re wrong. him and chris paul were both 20 before january of their rookie seasons. being 3 inches shorter , he averaged more rebounds and stels than rose when both were rookies. his rookie per was also better. dont believe me?
rose- http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/r/rosede01.html

paul- http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/p/paulch01.html

[Ryan.Cook2Participant]

he is going to get better, but his fg% was .398 which is awful, and he had 5.3 assists to 3.3 turnovers while rose was 6.3 to 2.5.

[Henry25Participant]

its tough to chose between westrbook and rose because they are so similar. Whoever says Westbrook isn’t as good of a leader as Rose though doesnt know what they are talking about. Westbrook is a much better defender and leader imo. I think Westbrook will be like a more athletic Gary Payton. It’s a toss up and these two will be talked about like they talk about CP3 and D-Will

[Pistol Pete. The PelicanParticipant]

rose isn’t out of control, in an essence he reminds me of baron davis, when he plays it looks as if he’s going about it nonchalantly instead of rushing, i think he will be better than rose, and he could be better than williams when he becomes a better playmaker, everything about him can only get better.

[McWinningParticipant]

if he was a leader i think the Thunder would have a much better record. i mean they had Durant, and Green, they had a lot of holes but they still should have won more games and Rose was the leader for Memphis but Love was for UCLA. hes good and has some leadership but i dont think as much as Rose Rose clearly made the Bulls a good team.

[marcusfizer21Participant]

Derrick Rose is unflappable… A type of player that lets his game do the talking… His quickness and handles are sick… I would choose him to lead my team in years to come… He just needs to be more vocal out there… He is the main guy now and at 20 turning 21, that is already a big responsibility. Russell Westbrook is not the main guy for the Thunder. They have Kevin Durant. They are really both good guards but Rose has played the Point Guard position longer than Westbrook. Westbrook has the edge on defense but with D-Rose, he can get better after a couple of seasons… Remember, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant were not known to be great defensive players in their younger years. But look at them now, they are defensive beasts. I think Derrick would jump into that kind of position.

[youngmagParticipant]

Westbrook is def a much better defender than Rose hands down Westbrook has Rondo defense Thunder have a better future off the fact that Durant is on his way to be top 5 in the league in a a year or 2. For Rose to really be consider a top 3 pg though he must step his defense up to be that quick strong and athletic and to have little pgs like DJ Augustine score an easy 20 on you is a problem. The thing that Rose has over Westbrook,Rose can easily take over a game and put his team on his back.He did it in high school,he did it at Memphis, and he did it during the playoffs against the Celtics.

[CordellHatleyParticipant]

Are you kidding me! Some people om this website actually think that Russell Westbrook is better than Derrick Rose??? No!!! There may be a valid argument, whereas someone might say that Russell Westbrook is a better defender than Rose but Rose is light years ahead of Westbrook in every other facet of the NBA game! Where was Westbrook in the NCAA title game? At home! Where was he last year when Rose and the Bulls were having arguably one of the greatest first round playoff series that we have see in recent memory? Westbrook was at home! Rose will have every opportunity to shine in Chicago, whereas Westbrook will have to share the ball with Kevin Durant, Jeff Green and even the 3rd overall pick James Harden. I am sorry Derrick Rose is way better than Westbrook. Let’s say that the league did a fantasy draft today. The league places all of the players into a draft. Similar to that on NBA 2K when you do a fantasy draft. Who do you think will be the first players taken? LeBron, Carmelo, CP3, DWade, D-Will, Kevin D… Now this list is getting short on players that a GM starting a team today, would take over Rose. He is the most athletically gifted point guard the league has every seen! Now with Ben Gordon out of the mix Rose will have a lot of more scoring opportunities. Rose just has that IT FACTOR! That’s what the great ones have. I am not knocking Westbrook but recognize what it is Rose is better. I will sum it up in one play matter of a fact two Derrick Rose plays in the same game. Two words Andre Miller! Youtube it whatever but there was a play last season were Rose crossed Miller and made him fall…. Then a couple of plays later on a seemingly easy lay-up for Miller, Rose runs down the court like a cheetah and blocks his shot. Rose will eventually be the best pointguard in the NBA! It just might happen this year…

[Dtay2152Participant]

rose will get better on defense thats for sure.i think he will be unguardable in a year or two, whenever he gets his mid range game automatic how are you gona guard him? try and stop his jumper and he wont think twice about blowing by you and dunking on your center. imagine if wade does end up going to the bulls? most athletic backcourt in the league

[JNixonParticipant]

He had the most total turnovers in the L though…

[Toronto16Participant]

You guys are talking about leadership, when has Westbrook shown leadership qualitys?

[McWinningParticipant]

game winning dunk with UCLA i guess. not sure who they were playing but i guess you could call that leadership.

[quincey hodges]

i like westbrook maybe the same as rose and they have done basically the same thing other then playoffs (rose clearley has the better team now) yet people are ready to proclaim rose the next best thing but never mention westbrook. also take into account that westbrook is still learning the pg position

[lalailaParticipant]

Fistly i remember that i gave no chances Rose to win ROY then I was impressed by his game, after that I saw improving WEstbrook and fall in love with that….now statistically absolutelly similiar, ROse more NBA ready, more PG/WEstbrook better defender, and i see bigger upside…while i like Westbrook more, i still would take Rose, he have proven more(cause upside is very questionable strengh)

[quincey hodges]

i think some people would take westbrook if he was drafted by the bulls and they made the playoffs while rose was in the celler in the west with the thunder.

[JNixonParticipant]

Westbrook has never shown meaningful leadership..he’s never been the main man and he’s never been the kind of player that gets everyone where they need to be. Or taken over meaningful games…Rose is a much better leader than Westbrool

[McWinningParticipant]

at the Lebron comparison. i think hes more like Wade their both athletic beasts and silent leaders.

[llperez]

I agree that westbrook has never been a real strong leader and he is not bettter then Rose. But iggy is wrong in saying he never took over a meaningful game. He was the only bruin who stepped up in the final 4 loss to memphis. He had 20+ points made all the plays for UCLA, gaurded memphis’s best players and matched Rose and CDR shot 4 shot. It was everyone else who dissapeared.

[JNixonParticipant]

Derrick Rose took over that game, I refuse to say someone took over a game that:

a. They lost miserably in
b. Another player, and on the winning team mind you, had a better and more dominate game (Darren Collison was regarded as the best defending PG in the nation that year, and Rose blew him waayyy out the water).

[llperez]

Westbrook did everything Rose did in that game. He was unstoppable. But Collison shot 1-9 and was garbage on defense. How can you hold that aginst Westbrook? Sure you could say his team didn’t win, but you made it sound like he has never taken over in a big game, and he did. Collison, Love, Moute, Shipp and all of them were watching Westbrook do his thing and make all the plays.

[JNixonParticipant]

If your team gets dominated that bad and another player on the winning team dominates the game and takes over, then the winning player (in this case Rose) and only the winning player, took over the game. Westbrook started playing well if I remember correctly when the game was already in hand. No one on UCLA’s whole team played very well that entire game. And you cant blame Derrick Rose for being better than Collison, that’s his matchup. Im not holding that against Westbrook at all, Rose dominated his matchup to the point that they won the game, in dominating fashion. If you lose by double digits like they did, you cant say he took over a game, he may have been productive and played much better than his teammates, but he didnt take over the entire game. He wouldve had to have been the best player on the floor and he wasnt.

[llperez]

It was one sided, but it was like 10-15 points, not a total domination like you make it sound. Westbrook was playing well throughout. And like I said, if you say a player can’t take over a game unless he is on the winning team, then you are right Personally, I’ve seen guys take over games and make all the plays when their teammates are down and they don’t get the win. That game was always within reach, it’ wasn’t a total 30 point blowout where Russells plays were all meaningless.

[JNixonParticipant]

It was a game that was won by 15 points (78-63) and it wasnt even that close. That’s saying something, for a 15 point game in the Final 4 to be as lopsided as that. Not only did I say if you lost you cant say you took over a game, I also said if the player on the winning team outplays you, than you didnt take over the game. Rose did just that, and CDR even can be said to have outplayed him. Dorsey had a bigger impact on the game, but I wont go there because he didnt score a single point that game. He did alter shots and grab every single rebound though.

[llperez]

well i guess I saw you discredit westbrook for not taking over a big game(not that he’s been in very many big games) as an arguing point as to why Rose is better. But the best game Westbrook maybe ever played in happened to be in the final 4 against Rose. So that seems like a bad argument to bring Westbrokk down for. Maybe he didn’t take over the whole game obviously, but he took over the game for his team and was clearly playing as well as anybody on either team imo. Love didn’t get the ball, and Collison and Shipp were no shows. Westbrook was the only reason the bruins were even relatively in the game. He defintely took over the bruins when on the biggest stage, so I wuldn’t hold his lack of big game performances against him.

[llperez]

never mind iggy, your right. He didn’t take over the game and Rose’s team did win. I just think he stepped up and picked up his game when his teammates were struggling and it was by no means his fault the bruins lost that game.

[JNixonParticipant]

Im not bringing him down..I do think Rose is better though for reasons I’ve mentioned above and he’s played at and consistently excelled in high level situations. And this game is one instance. If someone had a better performance out there then I’ll say it. No being biased or anything. Taking over for a team is different and, in this case since they lost, not nearly as important as taking over a game..I think Westbrook is a good exciting player, but I just think Rose is better.

[JNixonParticipant]

Exactly. I think he showed up and performed much, much better than everybody else on the UCLA team. I wont say he took over the game though. There’s a big difference.

[youngmagParticipant]

Like I just said in the other post I love Westbrook game hes going to be a good pg reminds me of a young Baron Davis but he will not be a top 5 pg in the future. Here the future top 5

Cp3,D-Will,Rose,Jennings n Tyreke easily

[youngmagParticipant]

And I forgot Devin Harris take out Tyreke.

[youngmagParticipant]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9ltSuDzI4M

NUFF SAID!

[Author]

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