Derrick Rose and the difference between useful and helpful

Wrote about Derrick Rose. An excerpt:

Using a lot of possessions while maintaining below-average efficiency wouldn’t be quite as big an issue if Rose contributed on the defensive side of the floor. (The specific usefulness of his driving skill is so rare elsewhere on the Knicks’ roster that it would be difficult to argue that he doesn’t help their offense despite his own inefficiency.) However, Rose himself is one of the biggest factors in the Knicks’ poor defense.

While the Knicks have myriad problems on the defensive side of the floor, nearly all of them stem from the fact that — for seemingly the 15th straight year — they simply cannot stop ball-handlers at the point of attacking. Opposing guards and wings live in the paint all night, every night. That repetitive penetration draws help from all over the floor, which opens up players either underneath the basket or behind the arc, depending on the area of the floor from which the help comes. Rose is by no means solely faultless in any of these areas, but everything starts with the fact that he and Brandon Jennings have a maddening tendency to die on screens.

Read the full story at The Step Back.