Derrick Rose named Rookie of the Year

[Drucci]

The Chicago Tribune and ESPN report :

Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose has been named the NBA's Rookie of the Year, the Chicago Tribune reported Wednesday.

The team is holding a news conference at 3 p.m. ET, at which it's expected the point guard officially will receive the award.

Rose averaged 16.8 points per game, second to the Memphis Grizzlies' O.J. Mayo among rookies. Rose led all rookies in assists with 6.3 per game and in minutes played with 37 per game.

Rose joins Michael Jordan and Elton Brand among Bulls named rookie of the year.

Rose had 36 points and 11 assists in his playoff debut, as the Bulls stunned the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series on Saturday. He followed that up with a 10-point, 7-assist effort in the Bulls' Game 2 loss. Game 3 is Thursday night in Chicago.

He truly deserves this award, he hasn't disappointed the league for his first season and he's brought his team in the playoffs. He is the only guy (along with Ben Gordon) that I like in this Chicago team, so congrats to Derrick!

Still, I hope that he'll have poor games (along with BG too ) for the rest of the series to help the Celtics prevail.

[Roy Hobbs]

I thought Rose would end up being a great player, but frankly, I didn't expect him to be this good this soon.  I thought that Michael Beasley would be the most productive rookie, by far.  That shows what I know; Rose already plays like a veteran, and is knocking on the door of the Chris Paul / Deron Williams tier of elite young guards.

[nickagneta]

I really thought Oden would be the ROY when the season started and that Mayo would be the best player coming out of this class. Shows how much I know. I thought the expectations that Rose had to live up to given the hype were going to be way to much and that playing in a big market town wouldn't help. I was as wrong as I could have been and must say the kid deserves every accolade he gets this year.

I don't know how the voting went but I hope Kevin Love got some love because he was another guy I was wrong about and who I think deserves to be mentioned for a great rookie season. I still think Mayo might be the best and most dynamic player to come out of this group but hats off to a spectacular rookie class. really one of the best in a while.

[wil]

I don't think anyone on this board is going to argue with this choice now. 

[BrickJames]

I was really underwhelmed by Rose in Memphis, and even in the first game we played against Chicago in the regular season.  Since then though, he's definitely impressed with his skills and poise.

Yeah, definitely no arguments here.

[cordobes]

No surprises here. And he still has plenty of room to improve. If anything, I was expecting him to be quicker developing his defensive skills.

[RAcker]

Let's hope he doesn't win most improved player next year or we're all in trouble.   

[xmuscularghandix]

it's official


http://www.nba.com/2009/news/04/22/rose.rookieofyear.ap.ap/