Derrick Rose still can not “believe” that he is a Knick again, his best choice, back at Tom Thibodeau and even Knicks’ senior vice president, William Wesley, who was involved in attending Memphis.
And he sounds delighted that he can serve as a mentor to Immanuel Quickley, the Knicks rookie point guard – his full-back from the bench.
In his first remarks to reporters since the trade, Rose said after the Miami loss he thinks the world of Quickley.
“It should not be too difficult with him,” Rose said. “We are similar. He becomes a double team in his rookie year. There are not too many rookies that attract that kind of attention. For him to see the kind early on, it will only make his game better. The game is going to slow down more. And he listens. That’s the biggest thing about him, he listens. With that, you always have room for improvement. He’s a dog. He’s a dog. I can not explain it. You have to be a player to understand it. We’re in a fight, I know he’s fighting. ‘
After the morning break, Quickley revealed that Rose had spent dinner with him and fellow rookie Obi Toppin.
“He just stressed me out – he gave me my number first and said everything I needed just hit him,” Quickley said. ‘But he sat down with me for a bit, Obi and I actually just told us he’s here to help us, he’s here to help us grow and things like that. It’s good to get a chance to talk to him last night. ‘
Rose reflected on his first tournament in New York with Jeff Hornacek and Phil Jackson. Hornacek tried to get Rose to shoot more 3s, but he was not comfortable. Rose said he was now a better 3-point shooter, hitting 2 of 3 in his second Knicks debut.
“I was quite stubborn,” Rose said. ‘They wanted me to like shooting 3s and all, but I felt that teams would judge me at the end of the year that I was effective and my effective course. That’s one of the reasons I did not shoot 3s, and if you were watching the team at the time, we had Melo [Carmelo Anthony] and KP [Kristaps Porzingis], so I feel like I don ‘t have to shoot 3s. My job was to push the ball and make sure they got going. Years later I feel like I’m adapting. … I’m now more of a threat where you can no longer go under screens. I try to push the ball, and I let the game come to me and stop forcing it. ‘
This is now his third series with Thibodeau.
“It’s family here,” Rose said. ‘I have West here. I have Thibs here. I found everyone I had success with here and laid a foundation. ‘
Several title candidates made offers for Rose, but he confirmed that The Post reported that Knicks was his best choice.
“Of course,” Rose said. ‘Even though I could not say it at the time, I just wanted to be comfortable. I’ve known these guys since high school, eighth grade, high school. I never really thought of anything else but to really come here and understand that they want me to let the young guys they already have here grow. ‘