Hollinger Says D-Rose is Not Elite

In John Hollinger's latest story where he throws a bunch of ridiculous stats in to make an even more ridiculous point, he makes the asinine statement that Derrick Rose is not an elite point guard because he doesn't go to the free throw line enough... That's it, that's his only reason.

Let's put this in a more traditional statistical viewpoint, since Hollinger's made up stats would take days to fully explain their meaning: In per game averages for the entire league, Rose is fourth in scoring and ninth in assists. He can beat his defender at will, has one of the best pull-up jumpers in the league, and recently added a strong three point jumper to his arsenal. Lest we forget he jumps higher than anyone in the league, making him virtually impossible to block, and his body control while in the air is a thing of beauty (Hollinger did credit Rose for that attribute).

Adding it all up, Rose would seem to be one of the most dangerous players in the league (he is), but according to Hollinger, he is not elite because guys like this and this get to the line more than he does.

Hollinger also calls him out on his free throw attempts per field goal attempt (a ridiculous stat to measure a players status in the league), and his true shooting percentage (combined field goal percentage and free throw percentage average). Here's what the numbers cruncher had to say:

"As with the TS% above, 32 of the league's point guards outrank him in free throw attempts per field goal attempt. That list includes his backup (C.J. Watson, 0.28); jump-shooting specialists such as Cleveland's Daniel Gibson and Memphis' Mike Conley; and a whole host of players who aren't nearly as good."

Most of the league's best point guards are ranked ahead of him, including Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul, and Deron Williams. Want to know who's first in that category? Devin Harris, a very good player, but one who is nowhere near elite status. If players like Harris and the ones mentioned above are ahead of him, isn't it a fair conclusion that the statistic favors certain types of players? Think about it.

To wrap up my point, advanced statistics can be a load of garbage that favor players who play in up tempo offenses and players who play small roles on good teams, hence the reason why a guy like Shannon Brown puts up better advanced stats in some categories than Rose.

Watch a Bulls game and recognize how Rose leads his team and how he can take over the game at will. That's elite to me.