Detroit Pistons 2019-2020 player grade: Derrick Rose
What Rose did well
Name it. If there’s an offensive basketball ability that you can think of, Rose did it at a consistent level this season. He had some faults that we’ll get to momentarily, but at the end of the day, he was outstanding all season.
This isn’t anything new, though. We already crowned him as the Pistons season MVP last week.
With the exception of Blake Griffin, Detroit hasn’t had a player in years that they can confidently rely on to get a basket late in a game. Rose’s ability to effortlessly get to the rim was often unrivaled.
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He put the team on his back on a nightly basis. Earlier in the season against the New Orleans Pelicans he matched up against one of the NBA’s best on ball defenders in Jrue Holiday, isolated, put Holiday on skates, and hit the game winner.
In another game closer to the suspension of the season, Rose finished with 31 points and hit a shot near the basket during the final seconds to give Detroit the win over the Phoenix Suns.
If the Pistons were in a hole, Rose was there to dig them out. Even if it was just temporary and they wound up losing the game, he would provide moments of optimism throughout the course of every game.
He made the team watchable, and he even made them a little fun. Watching Rose and Christian Wood every night wound of being one of the only silver linings to the Pistons season.