#SWAGG: Chicago’s Derrick Rose reaches full bloom

by Wade Perry

Posted May 13, 2011 11:41 pm

, , ,

Artwork courtesy of 008 Design/www.008design.com

FinestPreps.com is enjoying a week of firsts in a variety of areas!

Tonight we unleash our first article about the NBA–thanks to one of our recent additions!

It goes without saying that Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose is on top of his game.

He’s the toast of the NBA–his Chicago Bulls are currently in the Eastern Conference finals and he’s led them to one of their best records since a basketball god by the name of Michael Jordan left town.

Mike Pendleton recently crafted a magnificent piece on Rose.

What does he have to say about Chicago’s native son?

Check out his in-depth article below

As things grow throughout their lifetime, whether they be a human, plant or any form of life, they must all be raised with care, protection and have the potential to grow out to be the best thing they can become. For Derrick Rose, he was raised correctly; he was protected by his brothers as he grew up and has still not reached his full basketball potential. He’s certainly not a plant, but if you ask Rose himself, he would tell you he’s just “a regular human being.”

Well, for being such a regular human being, Rose has done incredible things ever since he was young. It’s not easy for many kids, nonetheless athletes, to make it out of Chicago’s south-side neighborhood of Englewood, which is where Rose was born and raised.

Since he’s been a young high school player, Rose has always defied odds and accepted a challenge, all while fighting through adversity. Attending Chicago’s Simeon Career Academy, Rose came in at 5’11″ which had his high school coaches hungry to put their young star on display. The first challenge Rose came to face was during his freshman season, when his talents and play had been good enough to land him on varsity but due to a long-standing tradition at Simeon in which freshman never played on varsity, Rose wasn’t put on at first.

Shortly after, Rose was actually invited on to the varsity squad, but declined in order to give the older players their credit and due time. In his sophomore season, Rose had a new head coach and led his team to a 30-5 record, and was honored with the Parade Third-team All-American honors. His junior year was even more successful as Rose was honored with more awards and led Simeon to their first championship season since 1984, in which he put on a show in front of a hometown crowd at the United Center.

His senior season put Rose and the Wolverines on a challenging travel throughout the country. Rose faced up against great young preps such as Kemba Walker and Brandon Jennings. With some of the games televised on ESPN, Rose began his senior season as the fifth best prospect in the country and ended the season at the top. All while gaining the nation’s top prospect spot, Rose and the Simeon Wolverines also defended their city championship, winning back-to-back titles and finished as the top high school basketball program in the nation.

For Rose, he wasn’t just blessed with outstanding basketball talent. Attitude, commitment and peers kept him in line. Raised by his single mother Brenda and three brothers: Dwayne, Reggie and Allan Rose was brought up to be humble and kept straight in line by his brothers who had grew up throughout the mean streets of Englewood.

With his mother there for support and his brothers there as protectors, they shut down all outside contact with Rose as his phenomenal young career began. That young career continued on to Memphis where Rose had an outstanding season, leading them to the national championship game, only falling short to Kansas thanks to some late-game heroics by Mario Chalmers.

Although Rose only averaged 15 points and 4.5 assists a game at Memphis, he was still projected as a top three lottery pick in the 2008 NBA Draft. While his path to the NBA was growing, so was controversy. After a deep investigation by the NCAA, Rose’s SAT scores were ruled ineligible, making Rose’s and Memphis 2007-’08 season was wiped away. Staying quiet and humble, Rose never really made any comments on the investigation only apologizing for the actions that had happened and reminding everyone that his new focus was on being the best player he could be at the NBA level.

He proved wise to those words as Rose was drafted by the Chicago Bulls who only had a 1.7% of obtaining the #1 overall pick, but defied the odds. A truly special moment as Rose was announced by David Stern and headed back home to play for the Bulls. During All-Star weekend Rose w0n the Skills Challenge, which showcased his speed, passing ability and ability to finish at the rim.

The Bulls won 44 games in Rose’s first season as he won the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award, the first #1 overall pick to do so since LeBron James did it in 2003. The Bulls were matched up with the Boston Celtics in the first round and Rose shined in his first playoff game, scoring 36 points (tied with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and although the Bulls fell in 7 games, both teams put on a memorable playoff series.

The #1 high school player went to Memphis for a season, falling short in the National Championship then was blessed with blind luck and drafted by his hometown team in which he instantly became a star to watch.

Then as Rose prepared for his second season, he once again was faced with adversity. Injuring his ankle in the first game of the pre-season, he ended up missing the entire pre-season but started the season opener against the San Antonio Spurs. Still bothered by the ankle in the early part of the season, as he got healthier it was apparent, Rose got better. In January 2010, Rose was named to his first ever All-Star game, elected as a reserve and was the first Bull to play in the All-Star game since Michael Jordan.

Then came 2010-’11, where Rose challenged himself. In a November press conference Rose was asked about his expectations for himself coming into his third season. Rose quickly responded “It’s high, within myself I ask, why not? Why can’t I be the MVP of the league, why can’t I be the best player? I don’t see why, I think I work hard, I think I dedicate myself to the game and sacrifice a lot of things at a young age.”

As seen before, when challenged or questioned, Rose has proved his worth. Rose and the Bulls reached many milestones this past season, including getting their first vs the Lakers since 2006, Rose achieved his first career triple-double (vs Memphis in January), was named the Eastern Conference, starting point guard for the All-Star game, and through all Rose led the Bulls to the NBA’s best regular season record at 62-20.

As he asked himself, “Why can’t I be MVP of the league?” his actions proved he could. Even when the Bulls made road trips, chants of MVP soared throughout stadiums across the league. That being said, no chat was louder than the hometown United Center in which the Bulls went 36-5 playing at home.

Then the playoffs came and Rose already talked about as the potential MVP, the Bulls faced the 8th seeded, Indiana Pacers in a divisional-playoff showdown. Rose led the Bulls to a series victory in five games, while being the top scorer for the Bulls in four of those five games.

On May 3rd, 2011, Rose was named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player and his question was answered. There was no more “why not?” because Rose was. The Most Valuable Player Award not only speaks volume to how much a player means to his team, but to the league as well. Rose has been noted for his soft-speaking and his humbleness, which has not only made him an NBA star but an icon across the world.

During his MVP speech, Rose thanked everybody who has been involved with his basketball career and his entire life. He became very emotional when speaking of his mother, Brenda, who as a single mother with the help of Rose’s siblings, raised Rose to stay humble, stay committed and strive to be the best.

Rose ended his MVP season as only the third NBA player in history to finish with 2,000 points and 600 assists the other two players being LeBron James and former Chicago Bull, Michael Jordan. That’s certainly great company to be involved with. As Rose became the 2nd Chicago Bull to win the MVP award (Jordan being the first), he also became the youngest MVP in league history at only 22 years old. With all his achievements so far in his young career, Rose has set himself up with whispers of “Hall Of Fame”.

While he certainly won’t speak of it, the potential of Rose to make the Hall is certainly there. The hometown hero has put Chicago back on top of the NBA pedestal and along with Coach of the Year Tom Thibodeau, the Bulls will be a tough team to beat for years to come.

With his mother Brenda, his three brothers: Allan, Dwayne, and Reggie at his side along with agent, B.J. Armstrong, Rose will continue to strive to be the best. For a player who made 16 threes his first two seasons each, Rose got his game under wrap and made 128 threes this season.

Always getting better, always working hard, that is Derrick Rose’s attitude. The way he attacks the basket is filled with power, strength, and speed. His ball security going to the rim is one to watch but his overall leadership is key to the Chicago Bulls.

The hometown Rose will continue to grow and will remain the toast of the town for years to come. The city he grew up in, the city he has defied the odds in and the city that will preach his name just as much as they preached Michael Jordan’s, Chicago, Illinois, birthplace of Derrick Rose, birthplace of a rising star.

As a humble young player, Rose will be for kids to look up to throughout his entire career as long as he keeps his nose clean, which he will. Jordan said it best this year, that while he put the Bulls on a great run in the ’90s, Rose can certainly do it just as well as he did for years to come. So this is the story of a Rose, Derrick Rose, that has blossomed into a young star, an inspiration and a great basketball talent.

Writers Note: I ask everyone to pass this story on as it was very inspiring to write. I will be sending this myself to all the major sports sites and more importantly the Chicago Bulls. I’ve been a fan of Rose since I watched him at Simeon High School and to write this story, all I hope is that Rose, the NBA’s MVP, and an inspiration can read this story. I put my all into it, just like Rose.

Mike Pendleton is a contributing writer for FinestPreps.com. You can check out his website at all4recruits.com.


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#SWAGG: Chicago’s Derrick Rose reaches full bloom

by Wade Perry

Posted 11:41 pm

, , ,

Artwork courtesy of 008 Design/www.008design.com

FinestPreps.com is enjoying a week of firsts in a variety of areas!

Tonight we unleash our first article about the NBA–thanks to one of our recent additions!

It goes without saying that Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose is on top of his game.

He’s the toast of the NBA–his Chicago Bulls are currently in the Eastern Conference finals and he’s led them to one of their best records since a basketball god by the name of Michael Jordan left town.

Mike Pendleton recently crafted a magnificent piece on Rose.

What does he have to say about Chicago’s native son?

Check out his in-depth article below

As things grow throughout their lifetime, whether they be a human, plant or any form of life, they must all be raised with care, protection and have the potential to grow out to be the best thing they can become. For Derrick Rose, he was raised correctly; he was protected by his brothers as he grew up and has still not reached his full basketball potential. He’s certainly not a plant, but if you ask Rose himself, he would tell you he’s just “a regular human being.”

Well, for being such a regular human being, Rose has done incredible things ever since he was young. It’s not easy for many kids, nonetheless athletes, to make it out of Chicago’s south-side neighborhood of Englewood, which is where Rose was born and raised.

Since he’s been a young high school player, Rose has always defied odds and accepted a challenge, all while fighting through adversity. Attending Chicago’s Simeon Career Academy, Rose came in at 5’11″ which had his high school coaches hungry to put their young star on display. The first challenge Rose came to face was during his freshman season, when his talents and play had been good enough to land him on varsity but due to a long-standing tradition at Simeon in which freshman never played on varsity, Rose wasn’t put on at first.

Shortly after, Rose was actually invited on to the varsity squad, but declined in order to give the older players their credit and due time. In his sophomore season, Rose had a new head coach and led his team to a 30-5 record, and was honored with the Parade Third-team All-American honors. His junior year was even more successful as Rose was honored with more awards and led Simeon to their first championship season since 1984, in which he put on a show in front of a hometown crowd at the United Center.

His senior season put Rose and the Wolverines on a challenging travel throughout the country. Rose faced up against great young preps such as Kemba Walker and Brandon Jennings. With some of the games televised on ESPN, Rose began his senior season as the fifth best prospect in the country and ended the season at the top. All while gaining the nation’s top prospect spot, Rose and the Simeon Wolverines also defended their city championship, winning back-to-back titles and finished as the top high school basketball program in the nation.

For Rose, he wasn’t just blessed with outstanding basketball talent. Attitude, commitment and peers kept him in line. Raised by his single mother Brenda and three brothers: Dwayne, Reggie and Allan Rose was brought up to be humble and kept straight in line by his brothers who had grew up throughout the mean streets of Englewood.

With his mother there for support and his brothers there as protectors, they shut down all outside contact with Rose as his phenomenal young career began. That young career continued on to Memphis where Rose had an outstanding season, leading them to the national championship game, only falling short to Kansas thanks to some late-game heroics by Mario Chalmers.

Although Rose only averaged 15 points and 4.5 assists a game at Memphis, he was still projected as a top three lottery pick in the 2008 NBA Draft. While his path to the NBA was growing, so was controversy. After a deep investigation by the NCAA, Rose’s SAT scores were ruled ineligible, making Rose’s and Memphis 2007-’08 season was wiped away. Staying quiet and humble, Rose never really made any comments on the investigation only apologizing for the actions that had happened and reminding everyone that his new focus was on being the best player he could be at the NBA level.

He proved wise to those words as Rose was drafted by the Chicago Bulls who only had a 1.7% of obtaining the #1 overall pick, but defied the odds. A truly special moment as Rose was announced by David Stern and headed back home to play for the Bulls. During All-Star weekend Rose w0n the Skills Challenge, which showcased his speed, passing ability and ability to finish at the rim.

The Bulls won 44 games in Rose’s first season as he won the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award, the first #1 overall pick to do so since LeBron James did it in 2003. The Bulls were matched up with the Boston Celtics in the first round and Rose shined in his first playoff game, scoring 36 points (tied with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and although the Bulls fell in 7 games, both teams put on a memorable playoff series.

The #1 high school player went to Memphis for a season, falling short in the National Championship then was blessed with blind luck and drafted by his hometown team in which he instantly became a star to watch.

Then as Rose prepared for his second season, he once again was faced with adversity. Injuring his ankle in the first game of the pre-season, he ended up missing the entire pre-season but started the season opener against the San Antonio Spurs. Still bothered by the ankle in the early part of the season, as he got healthier it was apparent, Rose got better. In January 2010, Rose was named to his first ever All-Star game, elected as a reserve and was the first Bull to play in the All-Star game since Michael Jordan.

Then came 2010-’11, where Rose challenged himself. In a November press conference Rose was asked about his expectations for himself coming into his third season. Rose quickly responded “It’s high, within myself I ask, why not? Why can’t I be the MVP of the league, why can’t I be the best player? I don’t see why, I think I work hard, I think I dedicate myself to the game and sacrifice a lot of things at a young age.”

As seen before, when challenged or questioned, Rose has proved his worth. Rose and the Bulls reached many milestones this past season, including getting their first vs the Lakers since 2006, Rose achieved his first career triple-double (vs Memphis in January), was named the Eastern Conference, starting point guard for the All-Star game, and through all Rose led the Bulls to the NBA’s best regular season record at 62-20.

As he asked himself, “Why can’t I be MVP of the league?” his actions proved he could. Even when the Bulls made road trips, chants of MVP soared throughout stadiums across the league. That being said, no chat was louder than the hometown United Center in which the Bulls went 36-5 playing at home.

Then the playoffs came and Rose already talked about as the potential MVP, the Bulls faced the 8th seeded, Indiana Pacers in a divisional-playoff showdown. Rose led the Bulls to a series victory in five games, while being the top scorer for the Bulls in four of those five games.

On May 3rd, 2011, Rose was named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player and his question was answered. There was no more “why not?” because Rose was. The Most Valuable Player Award not only speaks volume to how much a player means to his team, but to the league as well. Rose has been noted for his soft-speaking and his humbleness, which has not only made him an NBA star but an icon across the world.

During his MVP speech, Rose thanked everybody who has been involved with his basketball career and his entire life. He became very emotional when speaking of his mother, Brenda, who as a single mother with the help of Rose’s siblings, raised Rose to stay humble, stay committed and strive to be the best.

Rose ended his MVP season as only the third NBA player in history to finish with 2,000 points and 600 assists the other two players being LeBron James and former Chicago Bull, Michael Jordan. That’s certainly great company to be involved with. As Rose became the 2nd Chicago Bull to win the MVP award (Jordan being the first), he also became the youngest MVP in league history at only 22 years old. With all his achievements so far in his young career, Rose has set himself up with whispers of “Hall Of Fame”.

While he certainly won’t speak of it, the potential of Rose to make the Hall is certainly there. The hometown hero has put Chicago back on top of the NBA pedestal and along with Coach of the Year Tom Thibodeau, the Bulls will be a tough team to beat for years to come.

With his mother Brenda, his three brothers: Allan, Dwayne, and Reggie at his side along with agent, B.J. Armstrong, Rose will continue to strive to be the best. For a player who made 16 threes his first two seasons each, Rose got his game under wrap and made 128 threes this season.

Always getting better, always working hard, that is Derrick Rose’s attitude. The way he attacks the basket is filled with power, strength, and speed. His ball security going to the rim is one to watch but his overall leadership is key to the Chicago Bulls.

The hometown Rose will continue to grow and will remain the toast of the town for years to come. The city he grew up in, the city he has defied the odds in and the city that will preach his name just as much as they preached Michael Jordan’s, Chicago, Illinois, birthplace of Derrick Rose, birthplace of a rising star.

As a humble young player, Rose will be for kids to look up to throughout his entire career as long as he keeps his nose clean, which he will. Jordan said it best this year, that while he put the Bulls on a great run in the ’90s, Rose can certainly do it just as well as he did for years to come. So this is the story of a Rose, Derrick Rose, that has blossomed into a young star, an inspiration and a great basketball talent.

Writers Note: I ask everyone to pass this story on as it was very inspiring to write. I will be sending this myself to all the major sports sites and more importantly the Chicago Bulls. I’ve been a fan of Rose since I watched him at Simeon High School and to write this story, all I hope is that Rose, the NBA’s MVP, and an inspiration can read this story. I put my all into it, just like Rose.

Mike Pendleton is a contributing writer for FinestPreps.com. You can check out his website at all4recruits.com.


Read more recruiting articles by Wade Perry


Follow Wade Perry on Twitter:  @

Email Wade Perry:  Wadepeery@yahoo.com


TAGS:

, , ,


GIVE YOUR ANALYSIS: