Rose finds shooting eye at 30
MINNEAPOLIS — Timberwolves guard Derrick Rose’s success in remaking himself as a shooter off the bench has been one of the stories of the first quarter of the NBA season, with Rose averaging 19.3 points per game and making 49.4 percent of his 3-pointers.
Stunning as that might be from a 30 percent career 3-point shooter, he might have shown signs of that prowess in a firstround playoff series against the Rockets in April when he averaged 14.4 points while making 70 percent of his 3s. He averaged 8.4 points on 23.3 percent 3-point shooting with the Cavaliers and Wolves last season.
“He’s playing really well. It’s a credit to how hard he worked to get through the injuries,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said. “But he’s adapted his game to how the game is going. He’s a heck of a player.
“Accepting new roles is tough. Some guys can do it. Some guys just can’t do it. They can try to shoot 3s all they want. When they can do it, for the team, obviously, it’s beneficial. The league has changed. If you want to be effective, you have to change, sometimes.” Timberwolves coach
Tom Thibodeau, who was with Rose in Chicago when Rose was the 2011 MVP by slashing to the rim, said he was not surprised by how Rose, 30, transformed his game.
“When I was with him this summer, I could see the bounce was back and … just the way he was working in the gym,” Thibodeau said. “That was something he couldn’t do the previous five summers. He put a lot of time into it. It doesn’t surprise me. Usually guys as they get older they improve their shooting. In Derrick’s case, that seems to be true. He’s put a lot of work into it. He’s got a lot of confidence going.
“That sets up the rest of his game. Obviously, he’s a downhill player, very explosive, very strong.”