Derrick Rose No Calls by the Refs!

I am going to eat a little bit of crow in my assessment of Derrick Rose and his play. As soon as I wrote that article I had many Chicago Bulls and Derrick Rose fans yelling at me on how Rose has elevated his play as of late.

I will admit that Rose is playing a ton better, and while I’m hesitant to say he’s back, his play is extremely welcomed. Along with that better play, there is one HUGE thing that is sticking out about his game… Rose no calls by the refs and Bulls fans are pissed about it.

Derrick Rose called for a tech. He wanted a foul on this drive. pic.twitter.com/1HnT0b1FSr

— ⓂarcusD (@_MarcusD_) February 2, 2016

@_MarcusD_ pic.twitter.com/A2O1XttWhh

— ⓂarcusD (@_MarcusD_) February 2, 2016

Rose is only getting to the line 2.6 times per game this season, down from 3.7 last season and way down from his career high of 6.9 in 2010-11.

So why the drop off? It could be the superstar factor.

There has always been an assumption that NBA refs either just give superstar level players an extra benefit when getting fouled, and lesser players perhaps tend to not get calls that are actually fouls. While former NBA referee Steve Javie told USA Today that this does not happen, you can almost see the transition within Derrick Rose’s career.

FT 2008-09 FT – 3.1
2009-10 – 4.3
2010-11 – 6.9
2011-12 – 6.1
2013-14 – 3.2
2014-15 – 3.7
2015-16 – 2.6

As Rose grew from a rookie to an elite level (and MVP) player, his free throw attempts climbed, and did so significantly. As soon as the first knee injury, and the time out of the game, Rose lost that superstar label and perhaps the respect of the refs.

There are of course other factors at play here. Derrick Rose did not get calls early in his career, but played with a little reckless abandon that created a lot of contact. Refs supposedly played this off as Derrick caused the contact and thus wouldn’t give a call. But as Rose grew, his style didn’t change, he just started getting those calls.

Fast-forward to present day, post-injury Derrick Rose. This Derrick certainly doesn’t get the calls, but this Derrick also doesn’t play the same as he used to.

Young Rose would dribble drive, create his own shot, and bang with the trees under the net to earn his baskets, while older Rose settles for three point shots and long jumpers, and seemingly tries to avoid traffic at all costs. And the numbers back this up… to a point…

3PA 2008-09 – 0.9
2009-10 – 0.8
2010-11 – 4.8
2011-12 – 4.4
2013-14 – 4.7
2014-15 – 5.3

While Derrick increased his outside shooting as a tool to give him more opportunities to drive to the basket in the 2010-11 season, his ability to actually make those shots were higher which caused defenders to respect it. Rose began to settle for a shot he can’t make consistently, and didn’t drive when a defender came up to defend a possible  long range shot.

But something has started to happen this season, and whether you buy into the whole Rose is playing much better because he took the mask off or not, fact of the matter is… Rose is playing much much better.

This was up until January 21st 2016, and Rose has continued to improve upon his play since then. Shooting, passing, driving… Rose has looked a lot like the player we were used to seeing, than the guy everyone seemed to love to hate.

This is how Rose used to play. Maybe he’s a little slower, the fakes aren’t as crisp, but this is Rose and the Rose the Bulls and the NBA need. If we can somehow just find a way for the refs to not swallow the whistle when the ball is in his hands now, that’d be great.

Right Stacy King? #NoHomeTownCall

Jamie Baker

Hi, I’m Jamie and I run this site. I’ve published work on multiple other sites and through that experience I decided to create CHICAGO style SPORTS. We truly aim to speak for the Chicago fan. Additionally, as a member of the IBWAA (Internet Baseball Writers Association of America) you can be assured that all content you read will be written with incredible integrity.

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