May 23, 2013

NBA Talk: Kyrie Irving better than Derrick Rose?

February 9, 2013 by 43 Comments

ESPN’s Chris Palmer sure thinks so.

 

 

Those are some pretty bold statements, considering that Irving is only 90 games into his career and we haven’t seen Derrick Rose, the 2011 MVP, since he tore his knee during last season’s playoffs.

Let’s take a look at Rose and Irving’s head-to-head matchups and see how they stack up to each other….

Oh, that’s right, Rose and Irving have never faced each other. Last year, Irving sat out the late season games against the Bulls due to tanking an illness and Rose hasn’t played at all this season (making Cleveland’s lopsided losses to the Bulls even more cringe worthy).

I look forward to the day when these two Central Division All-Stars will face off. Both Rose and Irving were taken first overall in their respective drafts and both won Rookie of the Year. Rose is the better athlete while Irving is the better shooter, especially from long range (Rose is a career 31% from behind the arc, Irving sits at 41%).

Rose hopes to return to the court some time after next weekends All-Star break, but there’s no set date. If the two 6-3, 190lb guards were to face off this season, their only chance would be later this month when the Cavs visit Chicago, on Tuesday, February 26th.

[Related: Pros and Cons of Greg Oden]

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  • Jimmy Butler

    this is an insult…….REALLY?????!? But keep talking it just fuels Rose

  • SDA

    Insult no. Maybe a stretch? maybe but lets be honest Kyrie is a better shooter and IMO hes a better facilitator

  • http://twitter.com/WayneEmbrysKids WayneEmbrysKids

    Ben Cox’s weekend editing is OFF DA CHAIN!

  • SDA

    Defensively no contest Rose by a mile

  • YUNG_DEMON

    I don’t know…I’ve watched every game d rose has played since memphis and most high school…I’m a fan and a realist too and I think that you aren’t exactly wrong especially with d rose tearing his acl…I think Kyrie is a better scorer, passer and defender but he isn’t that much better than d rose at those things I just mentioned and seeing d rose is stronger, bigger, was (maybe still is) faster I think d rose can get more done and he just have a will to win…Basically I think D rose is the Lebron of point guards and Kyrie is the KD of point guards

  • tdwag

    you are crazy if you think kyrie is a better facilitator,

  • faulknerster

    God, now we gonna have Chicago fans hating on Kyrie before the dude even gets into the playoffs. I will say over the past three weeks no PG has been playing at KI’s level. Maybe Tony Parker but not really.

  • yupyupyup

    notice how they always are compared to rose if rose isnt as good as everyone thought then why are all the good pointguards compared to him lol and he hasnt played in a year kyre in his entire career will never reach the level of rose he cant carry his team to the top record for 2 years in a row can he nope thats what i thought

  • Steve

    Offensively, sure. His defense still leaves way too much to be desired. Which is why we can’t say he’s better than Rose yet. Especially when we haven’t even given Rose a chance.

  • faulknerster

    Taking everything into consideration he’s been the best over the last few weeks. He’ll never be a defensive specialist. And I don’t think there’s any question that current Kyrie is not as good as Rose during his MVP year.

  • SDA

    When Rose is in the offense its the same as it was in Cleveland with Lebron he is everything. Kyrie plays team ball Rose doesn’t.

  • http://twitter.com/onlYinka Yinka Adesuyi

    You don’t compare Kyrie to Rose, you compare him to Chris Paul. Derrick Rose is going to be one of the greatest, he’s only going to be better when he returns, he’s added 15 pounds of muscle and 2 inches to his vertical.

  • typo

    I can recall the draft, when Kyrie was taken, some know it all analyst said that his ceiling was Terrell Brandon.

  • mike

    Lol Irving can’t even feet his team to the playoffs he is better than jalen rose but kyrie has no pressure Cavs suck and let’s not forget kirk hinrich shut kyrie down in the preseason , he’s a good player on a bad team with inflated stats

  • http://www.facebook.com/kelly.scaletta Kelly Scaletta

    Irving is a better passer? Then why is he averaging less than 6 assists per game?

  • YUNG_DEMON

    I have the feeling that Kyrie would average 8 or 9 assists if he played with this current bulls team and D Rose averaged 6 assists in his second year too…

  • YUNG_DEMON

    They’re in a rebuilding mode

  • Gerald

    You’re coming off as a desperate Cavs fan if you’re trying to say Rose isn’t a team player.

  • Gerald

    When Kirk hinrich consistently shuts you down, you probably shouldn’t be mentioned in the same breath as DRose.

  • http://twitter.com/itsProFilms Jay (Pro-Films)

    are you guys serious putting kyrie in the same sentence as D-rose.rose dominates him along deron,pual,parker,rondo,westbrook.only guy i give it to that rose has yet dominated,and thats lebron.rose has a mvp,and i dont think kyrie will ever get one…ever.LOL.chris palmer you got me crying over her with that tweet.bulls vs clipper in the finals 4-2 bulls win

  • King Me

    Westbrook and Rondo dominate Kyrie? Have you seen the Cavs recently?

  • tdawd

    he said d-rose dominates them too, not they dominate kyrie….

  • lowend bo

    better tha d. rose? ha! irving is good but the cavs suck. he cant will his team to win. all the greats do…magic, jordan, bird, isiah and the list goes on in on. did da bulls go to the playoffs in roses first year on board? the bulls still be whoopin the cavs ass even wit rose sidelined. post ignorant stuff like this when…irving at least goes to the playoffs. irving is a talent but at the end of the day winning is whats up. carmelo is in that category as well. super talented but what did he do in denver? and so far the pricks…oh excuse me knicks havent dun a thing yet. bottom line its winning and imposing ur will on yur team n teammates that matters most. chris my boy…irving aint got that son! he is better at losing though.

  • MonkeySeeMonkeyDo

    Chris Palmer is just an idiot that is trying to get some attention. He has nothing interesting to say so he resorts to outlandish stuff like this in order to be talked about.

  • Jim

    I don’t think Kyrie is better, yet, but also don’t think the comparison is an “insult.”

    Rose – second year – 20.8. 6, 3.8, PER of 18.6, TS % of 52.

    Irving – second year – 24, 5.5, 3.8, PER of 23, TS % of 57.

    Irving is also a significantly better shooter at the same age. So no, there is nothing insulting about the comparison.

  • deesh

    all these random bulls fans got mad… geez.

  • MyQcholich

    bull main scorer was ben gordon back then and hinrich was still there but once they left 2010-2011 drose became mvp cause he played both gordon and hinrich roles…irvings been the main guy since his rookie year

  • Jim

    And? In addition to the above, Irving scores with more efficiency than Rose did his second year, regardless of the players around him.

  • Jim

    Pre-season? You’re basing an argument on pre-season outcomes?

  • Diamond

    Rose is arguably a top 5 player in the League when he is healthy. Yet, you want to say he isn’t even the best point guard? Yea, it’s kind of easy to talk about what Irving has been doing this year when Rose hasn’t played a single game.

  • bulls

    if kyrie irving will be the youngest mvp in the league, i would change my mind and accept that irving is better than rose.

    Until that this comparison doesn’t make sence at all

  • pposse

    how you know he added 2 inches to his vertical?

  • http://www.facebook.com/fiore.james.1986 Fiore James

    It’s been reported by Chris Broussard

  • http://www.facebook.com/fiore.james.1986 Fiore James

    How can Kyrie be a better facilitator when he only averages like, 5apg? I don’t know the actual stat but Rose averages almost 7apg (for career)

  • iTim

    I say Rose is better also. Chris Palmer isn’t the only one at ESPN saying that though. In one of those 5 on 5 articles I think 3 said Irving was better and 2 said depends on how Rose comes back,

  • http://www.facebook.com/fiore.james.1986 Fiore James

    What does rebuilding have to do with head-to-head matchups? Lol now you’re just reaching

  • itim

    Chris Paul Averaged more assists with the Hornets than the Clippers. The talent around you doesn’t always correlate with your assists… Also Kyrie is a better shooter but in no way is he a better scorer.

  • Vindictive_Pat

    Nice work Ben, you got some random Bulls fans to comment (and with really horrible spelling & grammar I might add).

    If we were only talking about offensive skills, I would put Kyrie above Rose for certain. There’s no question, Kyrie has no weakness in his offensive game. Anyone claiming otherwise truly hasn’t watched him play. However, defensively Rose is far superior to Kyrie, who is probably the worst defensive player among all starting guards in the league (okay, he’s probably better than Steve Nash). I’d have to say overall Rose is the better player because of that.

  • Vindictive_Pat

    To be fair, not many people can feet their team to the playoffs. At some point the athlete’s foot just gets too itchy.

  • seancheng14

    Dude…TP kills KI. Cleveland can’t even BEAT spurs and your saying KI is better than TP? TP is averaging 26.8 PPG and 9.8 APG the past 10 games. TP is the best and most underrated PG in the league

  • seancheng14

    TBH we haven’t even seen Drose back yet. All this time hes been working on his jumper. He’ll still have one hell of a driving game but now hes had 8 months of jumpers so I think hell be around KI’s jumper %

  • Vindictive_Pat

    Not to sound like a jerk but it doesn’t matter how much Rose has worked on his jumper. He can’t get to kyrie Irving’s level in 8 months of rehabbing.

  • Masterdonkil017

    I believe rose is better yes kyrie is vry talented but rose an overall better player kyrie better shotter better ball handler but i think have forgotten hw explosive rose can b kyrie if he really wants to progress inhis career he going to have leave cavs or cavs get better players tht he can depend so he culd pass d ball wth confidence rose started gud have a gudish team yes all teams wrk but rose needs a team tht can stay wth him and perform in the playoffs kyrie gonna do a lebron and leave after 8 yrs of nithing cause his teammates culdnt hlp him