Tim Legler "Derrick Rose is the best since Magic Johnson"

[Datruthtakesover34]

I was shocked and bewildered by what Legler said about Rose. To me Leger and Skip Bayless are the only ones in the media I respect. Always have intelligent basketball insight, and don't have that undercover homerism for certain teams

But wow. One thing I can't stand is people not reading their history books. Honestly, I just had enough of this Derrick Rose hype. He's not even a real point guard. Rose actually reminds me of a Vinnie Johnson instead of a person on Magic Johnson's level in a player that would come off the bench and explode for 30 or 40 points with all of the crossover moves

Rose is not even 1/2 as good a player these legends were:
-Gary Payton
-John Stockton
-Kevin Johnson
-Jason Kidd
-Allen Iverson
-Tim Hardaway
-Penny Hardaway


Love whatever Tim Legler says, but in the words of Mark Jackson
"You're better than that"

dunno what ur talkin bout but im pretty sure rose is at least 1/2 as good as these guys r, maybe hes not an amazing passer but still averages about 8 assists a game, on top of that he can get to the basket whenever he wants, dunno why ur so offended, have u seen drose play? the guy is nasty: very fast, strong, athletic, young, hes gonna be one of the best, his team is first in the east led by him.

[RJ87]

They said the same thing about Chris Paul a couple years ago.  Lets see some sustained greatness before we do too many of these proclamations.

CP3's season in 2007-2008 was much better than Rose's this year. He really should have won the MVP, Kobe got his as a career achievement.

This. TP.
Cp3 got ROBBED.

[Moranis]

They said the same thing about Chris Paul a couple years ago.  Lets see some sustained greatness before we do too many of these proclamations.

CP3's season in 2007-2008 was much better than Rose's this year. He really should have won the MVP, Kobe got his as a career achievement.

Ohh myy Godd, I was saying the same thing. Chris Paul is head over heels better than Rose. Chris Paul so good that year it was scary. One of the best point guard performances (regular season and playoffs) that I ever seen. Kobe got that award as a  career achievement award for a just a reasonable year for him

Paul's best season was 08-09 and I don't think it is that close really.  I mean he was better in virtually every metric (he had fewer APG, but actually had a better AST%).

[EmilioBonilla]

I was shocked and bewildered by what Legler said about Rose. To me Leger and Skip Bayless are the only ones in the media I respect. Always have intelligent basketball insight, and don't have that undercover homerism for certain teams

But wow. One thing I can't stand is people not reading their history books. Honestly, I just had enough of this Derrick Rose hype. He's not even a real point guard. Rose actually reminds me of a Vinnie Johnson instead of a person on Magic Johnson's level in a player that would come off the bench and explode for 30 or 40 points with all of the crossover moves

Rose is not even 1/2 as good a player these legends were:
-Gary Payton
-John Stockton
-Kevin Johnson
-Jason Kidd
-Allen Iverson
-Tim Hardaway
-Penny Hardaway


Love whatever Tim Legler says, but in the words of Mark Jackson
"You're better than that"

haha oh boy, I'm only 19 and even I know that's horseraddish.  

[Fafnir]

They said the same thing about Chris Paul a couple years ago.  Lets see some sustained greatness before we do too many of these proclamations.

CP3's season in 2007-2008 was much better than Rose's this year. He really should have won the MVP, Kobe got his as a career achievement.

Ohh myy Godd, I was saying the same thing. Chris Paul is head over heels better than Rose. Chris Paul so good that year it was scary. One of the best point guard performances (regular season and playoffs) that I ever seen. Kobe got that award as a  career achievement award for a just a reasonable year for him

Paul's best season was 08-09 and I don't think it is that close really.  I mean he was better in virtually every metric (he had fewer APG, but actually had a better AST%).

Yeah but his team won 7 less games, so I think that 07-08 is the best comparison to Rose's year.

Especially since 56 si rigth around where I'd expect the Bulls to settle for wins. (between 56-58)

[xmuscularghandix]

I think that Derrick Rose is a more aggressive Stephon Marbury. Rose is scoring more points than Marbury ever did, but is taking more shots per game than Star ever did.

I could also see an argument that he's a shorter but just as strong Dwyane Wade.

[indeedproceed]

They said the same thing about Chris Paul a couple years ago.  Lets see some sustained greatness before we do too many of these proclamations.

CP3's season in 2007-2008 was much better than Rose's this year. He really should have won the MVP, Kobe got his as a career achievement.

Ohh myy Godd, I was saying the same thing. Chris Paul is head over heels better than Rose. Chris Paul so good that year it was scary. One of the best point guard performances (regular season and playoffs) that I ever seen. Kobe got that award as a  career achievement award for a just a reasonable year for him

Paul's best season was 08-09 and I don't think it is that close really.  I mean he was better in virtually every metric (he had fewer APG, but actually had a better AST%).

Having a better or worse assist ration does not indicate whether he is a better or worse passer...it only indicated how often his possessions end in a credited assist, as opposed to scoring or turning the ball over. A guy can score, still get 8 or 9 assists, and have 2 turnovers a game, and still have a middling assist ratio.

Turnover ratio to me is a more valuable statistic.

[Prof. Clutch]

I also saw Legler say today on sportscenter that he expects the Celtics to be in the NBA Finals (though he wouldn't be "shocked" if the Bulls made it there over us.)  Perhaps he used some hyperbole with his Magic/Rose comparison, but in general I think he recognizes the true nature of things.

[OsirusCeltics]

I was shocked and bewildered by what Legler said about Rose. To me Leger and Skip Bayless are the only ones in the media I respect. Always have intelligent basketball insight, and don't have that undercover homerism for certain teams

But wow. One thing I can't stand is people not reading their history books. Honestly, I just had enough of this Derrick Rose hype. He's not even a real point guard. Rose actually reminds me of a Vinnie Johnson instead of a person on Magic Johnson's level in a player that would come off the bench and explode for 30 or 40 points with all of the crossover moves

Rose is not even 1/2 as good a player these legends were:
-Gary Payton
-John Stockton
-Kevin Johnson
-Jason Kidd
-Allen Iverson
-Tim Hardaway
-Penny Hardaway


Love whatever Tim Legler says, but in the words of Mark Jackson
"You're better than that"

dunno what ur talkin bout but im pretty sure rose is at least 1/2 as good as these guys r, maybe hes not an amazing passer but still averages about 8 assists a game, on top of that he can get to the basket whenever he wants, dunno why ur so offended, have u seen drose play? the guy is nasty: very fast, strong, athletic, young, hes gonna be one of the best, his team is first in the east led by him.

Rose is not a point guard at all. I think its the media searching for the next best thing
He is a shooting guard/small forward playing the point guard position, and only plays this position due to his size

Wilt Chamberlain once led the league in assists so that really doesn't mean anything. It's how you get your assists is whats important. I rather watch the games and study it from there instead of going goo goo ga ga over stats

-He has horrible court vision
-Mediocre passing ability
-Mediocre dribbler (can't dribble that well in traffic)
-Horrible perimeter defender
-Usually has a stat line of 25 shots for 30 points (yuck)
-Shoots first, shoots second, passes third

[Finkelskyhook]

I like legler as he seems to be one the few espn guys who isn't pumping up ratings for espn or tooting his own horn.  He generally uses common sense and has good bb knowledge.
That said...well to be fair I didn't get exact quote.  Magic was magic.
As of now I would say derrick rose is a lot like an old friend of ours, tiny archibald when he was with kc.  Tiny led the nba in scoring and assists but was so ball dominating and the rest of team was subpar so its kind of a forgotten season.
If rose can bring his team to a title his rookie year but being arguably the best player on the floor like magic did than that is something.  Oh yeah he already passed his rookie season.
He's great and a top 5 pg, someone I'd rate higher than rondo.  BUT I will take rondo come playoff time, its a team game!

Kareem was the best player on the Lakers though in 1980

I hate kareem so much that my judgement might be clouded.  Without magic on that team running the show I can't see "the big whiner" bringing LA to the finals or title.  

I would say it's vice versa.  Without Kareem they don't win any titles.  The one Finals game vs the Sixers notwithstanding.  They wouldn't have smelled the finals without Kareem.  

Rose is a great player.  But Legler, as usual, is putting the cart way ahead of the horse.

[GreenFaith1819]

I love Tim Legler, and he is one of my favorite commentators/analysts.

But IMO he is reaching here.

Like some have mentioned in this thread - DRose is not as good a passer as Magic. He is certainly a dynamic player, and an MVP candidate.

I think this is where Tim is making the comparison....as far as how dynamic DRose is.

If Derrick Rose is the best since Magic, then I wonder where that places our own Rondo? After all, didn't our Rondo play Derrick Rose to a standstill back in 08-09 playoffs?

Rose couldn't stop him. Rondo stepped up in that series with KG out, and was a key part in us advancing to play ORL. Rondo averaged nearly a triple double that series.

I cannot wait until CHI plays Boston in May. Rondo will be close to top form, and as we started to see in the NY game - Rondo can (and will) step up when the time is needed.

Derrick Rose is certainly a special talent, but weren't a lot of us saying that Lebron was great and such and such last year - right before Boston rolled over him and CLE in the playoffs?

And again - Rondo was key to that eventual upset.

And our All-Star PG will be key once again in a potential playoff matchup with CHI. And no disrespect to DRose, but just like 08-09, I don't expect Rose to be able to slow Rondo down, much.

In the end, we'll all see just how good Derrick Rose is come about May. We'll all see if he warrants such comparisons.

[Finkelskyhook]

Rose is not a point guard at all. I think its the media searching for the next best thing
He is a shooting guard/small forward playing the point guard position, and only plays this position due to his size

Wilt Chamberlain once led the league in assists so that really doesn't mean anything. It's how you get your assists is whats important. I rather watch the games and study it from there instead of going goo goo ga ga over stats

-He has horrible court vision
-Mediocre passing ability
-Mediocre dribbler (can't dribble that well in traffic)
-Horrible perimeter defender
-Usually has a stat line of 25 shots for 30 points (yuck)
-Shoots first, shoots second, passes third
   

Wow.  That looks like a scouting report for Iverson. 

If Rose wasn't playing defense for Thibodeau I doubt that his pedigree would be relevent.  He'd be riding the bench.  They're successful because even mediocre defenders like Boozer are buying into Thib's system. 

[jsingh1699]

rose is more jordan than magic. theres nothing wrong with that. hes a great player and his potential to take over this league. it'll be interesting to see how the league plays out in the next 5 years with so many superstar-potential point guards in the league and entering.

lebron however, is more magic than jordan (or well he needs to be if the heat wanna be successful because dwade needs to be the jordan of that team).

[Fafnir]

Rose is not a point guard at all. I think its the media searching for the next best thing
He is a shooting guard/small forward playing the point guard position, and only plays this position due to his size

Wilt Chamberlain once led the league in assists so that really doesn't mean anything. It's how you get your assists is whats important. I rather watch the games and study it from there instead of going goo goo ga ga over stats

-He has horrible court vision
-Mediocre passing ability
-Mediocre dribbler (can't dribble that well in traffic)
-Horrible perimeter defender
-Usually has a stat line of 25 shots for 30 points (yuck)
-Shoots first, shoots second, passes third
   

Wow.  That looks like a scouting report for Iverson. 

If Rose wasn't playing defense for Thibodeau I doubt that his pedigree would be relevent.  He'd be riding the bench.  They're successful because even mediocre defenders like Boozer are buying into Thib's system. 

Kinda, Boozer so far hasn't really bought in all that much. Thibs has been benching him late in games from time to time to try and get his attention though.

[Greenbean]

The media attention Rose is getting as a candidate for MVP is proof that team success is what leads to individual awards.

Rose is a great scorer off the dribble, but he is not elite at anything else.

Allen Iverson one year was considered the best basketball player in the world and that was the year he went to the finals.

The difference with Rose is that he actually has a really good supporting cast around him. The star of that team is actually the team defense. The fact that Rose is the primary scorer on a great defensive team means he gets all of the credit.

Also, from everything I have seen and heard, he seems like a really humble, and kind hearted person. That goes a long way with the media and annointing superstars.

He is a really really good player and can probably be the best player on a championship team. But he is not historically great. At least not yet. Not even close.