Derrick Rose (Photo. Joe Wigdahl)6-5 freshman Jeff Robinson is probably the 10th-best player on the #2-ranked Memphis Tigers. But on most other teams in the nation, Robinson would easily make the cut as one of the best five. Don’t believe it? In just 12 minutes against Siena, Robinson ripped off 20 points and 10 boards. That’s the only time this season that he’s attempted more than five field goals in a game. Yet on this Memphis team, he barely makes the final five. So who’s the best player on John Calipari’s squad?
Here are the nominees:
Chris Douglas-Roberts – 16.9 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 1.0 spg, 54.3% FG, 51.4% 3FG
Derrick Rose – 14.4 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 4.5 apg, 1.1 spg, 48.9% FG, 38% 3FG
Joey Dorsey – 8.1 ppg, 9.8 rpg, 1.2 spg, 2.7 bpg, 71.9% FG, 34.9% FT
Robert Dozier – 11.1 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 1.5 spg, 2.2 bpg, 46.3% FG, 33.3% 3FG
Antonio Anderson – 7.1 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 3.5 apg, 1.4 spg, 36.7% FG, 28% 3FG
OK, let’s scrap Antonio Anderson. He’s a solid all-around player and a strong leader, but can’t throw a grape in the ocean.
At first glance, it might seem that Robert Dozier’s numbers are good enough to put him in this conversation. Dozier is a talented player who had two excellent games against Memphis’ toughest competition: 19 points, 6 rebounds against Georgetown, and 18 points, 5 rebounds against Arizona. And his defensive numbers might be the most impressive. But don’t be fooled. Those metrics are misleading; when you watch Dozier, it feels like a lot of his steals come from balls tipped away by the Tigers’ guards. On the offensive end, he is far too inaccurate a shooter for someone his size (6-9), and generally plays without the tenacity that you expect from a Coach Cal project.
Just as Roy Hibbert is Georgetown’s most valuable player, Joey Dorsey is Memphis’ most important player. He runs the floor like a two-guard even though he is a stone-chiseled 6-9 265 lbs. He shoots just under 72% from the floor because he dunks absolutely everything. Still, that doesn’t make up for his laughable 35% free throw shooting. Do you even think he practices free throws? Dorsey is even more integral to the Tigers on the defensive end, challenging everything. He once told me that he tries to block “every single shot” that he can. Who cares about weakside rebounds anyway?
Derrick Rose torches the field in a footrace. But his scoring has come in bursts, unevenly spread over Memphis’ 14 wins. He had 9 points against USC, 5 points against Pepperdine, 19 against East Carolina and 26 at Cincinnati. His 3.1 turnovers per game are emblematic of his propensity to play slightly out of control. He hasn’t quite learned how to harness his speed.
The nod goes to Chris Douglas-Roberts both as this team’s best player and the man with the skinniest legs in college hoops. He rebounded from three sub-par games with 24 points and 8 boards against Georgetown. Most importantly, he’s improved drastically from three-point land from last year – from 32.8% to 51.4%. Though he doesn’t have Rose’s speed, he is Memphis’ most lethal weapon, especially when he unleashes the short-arm leaner which he used to give UConn’s Stanley Robinson 33 points of terror.
January 11th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Captain America says:
Agreed. Let’s see how Rose blooms towards the end of the season.
January 11th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
doc says:
Not agreed. It’s only one dude they talking about being a top 5 pick.
January 11th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
bron42 aka Global-4A-Reason says:
rose is kinda like dwade was…always goin 100 mph..once he learns how to switch gears he’ll be even more of a beast
January 11th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
JRmessiah says:
Stop fuck’n compareing rose to dwayne they two different players rose is not the beast dwayne was in college Dwayne had a triple double in final four he played wit a weak team rose doesn’t makin anyone better and he is not as fundamental as dwayne is dwayne goes off the glass plays defense and hits mid range shots rose shoots only 3’s and layups he don’t play exceptional D and he not fundamental no young players “YOU PEOPLE” go crazy ova is anyway DOUGLAS-ROBERTS is the best player on the team PEACE100
TRAV RIGGINS 08-11 SOON
January 11th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
bron42 aka Global-4A-Reason says:
o shut up, 90% of the people didn’t even kno who wade was in college until the final 4 so lets not make it like he was kevin durant from day one. Wade made people better in college? name the other starting 4 without lookin it up and i’ll give you credit. Rose is just out of high school and ur comparin him to wade in like his junior year after redshirting as a frosh. if you knew anything you’d notice i didnt say his game was like wade, just the speed at which he plays. even to this day wade goes full speed and forces stuff at times. Roses does the same stuff and needs to learn how to slow down and change speeds better.
January 11th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
kobeef says:
Rose stands a chance to be a bigger contributor than Wade IF he continues to develop as a PG. At this stage of the game Rose is a better playmaker than Wade was in College.
Think of Rose’s potential as a combination of Wade and Chris Paul. Yeah..that’s huge.
January 11th, 2008 at 8:21 pm
MiCKeYMoNDaY says:
Definitely Derrick Rose, Chris Douglas Roberts is close tho but no D-Rose.
January 11th, 2008 at 8:44 pm
Coldchain says:
Travis Diener played with Wade in college, right?
January 12th, 2008 at 1:33 am
Brian says:
Yea the starting 5 for MU was Deiner at the pg, wade at the 2, and they had that nasty 3 point shooter who got drafted 2nd round by the Rockets 1 or 2 years ago. Then two other dudes who I have no idea about.
But I agree with bron42…Rose goes a little to fast which causes turnovers and if he learns to change speeds like the hesitation step, I think he would be much better. Also his scoring isn’t consistent enough to be the best player. You don’t know what your going to get from him on any given night.
Chris Douglas-Roberts is the best player.
January 12th, 2008 at 6:42 pm
Steve says:
Tigers have so many good players it is scary. I read somewhere that they have 5 potential NBA draft picks. This team is going to the final four.
Oh, and will everybody please give Derrick Rose a break? He is a freshman, and freshman players make mistakes.