SAN ANTONIO — When he arrived at Memphis last season, Derrick Rose admits, he tried to run away from all the attention he received as one of the top basketball recruits in the country.
He eventually learned to cope with it. And, really, he had little choice.
No one is ignoring Rose this weekend at the Alamodome.
Chris Douglas-Roberts is the first team All-American. Joey Dorsey is the loquacious rim-rattling dunker known for his brash past. John Calipari is the slick salesman on the sideline who has constructed the Tigers (37-1) into a Final Four team for the first time since 1985.
But Rose is the real difference-maker, the guy who willed Memphis through the South regional last weekend and into a matchup with UCLA (35-3) in tonight’s first semifinal.
“It helps a lot. He’s a guy who can create his own shot as well,” Douglas-Roberts said. “He’s a guy that has that refuse-to-lose attitude as well. You going to add guys like that and it’s going to make you that much better. He elevates us as a team. As you can see, the way he’s playing makes us much better.”
No one could have missed his 27-point performance in a rout of Michigan State in the regional semifinals, nor his 21-point, nine-assist deconstruction of Texas two days later. If there was ever a doubt about Rose’s ability in this tournament, those two games erased it.
Yet it is most alluring to look toward the future, where Rose projects to be a lottery pick and likely NBA star. He probably has the best court vision among the remaining point guards, hardly a hollow designation with UCLA’s Darren Collison and North Carolina’s Ty Lawson lurking about.
The next level, though, is not something Rose is considering at the moment.
“Nooooo, I’m not ready for the NBA,” Rose said. “I know I came here during the summer, and [suspended reserve] Andre [Allen] just killed me. Killed me. I take pride in my defense and he really destroyed me during the summer. People in the NBA, people like [Steve] Nash and Baron Davis and all of them, and I’m like ’Man, I’m glad I didn’t make that jump.’ ”
That could change with another superlative weekend. Rose already was part of a deep freshman class. Kansas State’s Michael Beasley dominated the Big 12 with his inside-outside game, and forward Kevin Love of UCLA — who tried in vain to persuade Rose to join him in Westwood — unleashed his polished game on the Pac-10 to much success.
Indiana’s Eric Gordon arguably enjoyed as much success as any freshman guard other than Rose.
None of those guys, though, were so in control while also handling the ball every possession.
“It’s never a point guard,” teammate Antonio Anderson said. “He’s doing what he’s doing at the same time he’s running the ballclub. It just shows how mature he is.”
And it has prompted an eagerness to make comparisons in nearly all quarters. After all, how many 6-foot-3, 190-pound point guards who intuitively know where everyone is on the court and can also rebound enough to rank third in rebounds on one of the country’s most athletic teams.
“He defends like [Jason] Kidd,” UCLA coach Ben Howland said. “He’s a much better shooter at the same stage. I can’t think of much higher praise. This kid, more than any point guard, reminds me of Jason Kidd.”
Calipari called all of the Tigers into his office before the tournament, preaching that everyone — whether a starter or a reserve — would need to fulfill his own little piece of the equation in order for Memphis to thrive.
No one’s task was bigger than Rose, and he has proven more than capable of fulfilling it the last two weekends.
“Now everybody’s playing their role and he keeps telling me to be aggressive and the more I do, the less he has to talk,” Rose said. “He’s happy about that.”
And so is Rose, even if he’s entrenched in the spotlight.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.