Derrick Rose says Knicks can win 'every game,' and people have it wrong
Settle down, everyone ... he clearly doesn't think the Knicks can go 82-0
By
Matt Moore
•
2 min read
Derrick Rose has said some things this summer. The New York Knicks star called his team a "super-team," then doubled down on it. Now he's saying more bold things in an interview with Yahoo's The Vertical about his new Adidas shoe. Or is he? Here's the quote everyone's reacting to/laughing at/freaking out over:
"I feel like I'm not done," Rose said. "It's a new start. I feel rejuvenated, and when you put all that together, when I step on the floor, I really don't know what to expect. What I'm doing right now is just preparing myself for something big. I think we have a chance to win every game, and in the league, that's rare."
Source: Kicks fix: Derrick Rose's next chapter.
OK, on the surface, the idea that the Knicks could win every game and go 82-0 is preposterous, but when you really start to dig down into the numbers... nope, that's still lunacy. But here's the thing: that isn't really what he said.
Players talk in these terms all the time and if you really pay attention to the daily banal quotes that players give, or if you're in a locker room consistently, you start to catch onto what they mean. When you're in a season and you feel like you can't beat any team you come across, that's a huge problem. It means you lack the confidence in your squad and you just accept you're going to lose. That happens every year to a dozen teams or so, who by March just know that they're going to lose this game, and probably the next one, and then they're asking "when does the season end?"
Middle of the road teams feel like they'll probably lose to the best teams, but you never know, and that they can beat the rest. The great teams feel like any given night, no matter who they're playing, they can take them down. Sometimes that attitude even pushes you beyond your limits. The Celtics operate this way. Boston goes into every contest, from Philly to Golden State, with the mindset that they can win that game.
That's all Rose is talking about, that circumstances don't have to be perfect, or even right, for them to win a game they're in. They're good enough to compete and get a victory. And that's a reasonable approach, which shouldn't be mocked or jumped on. He believes the Knicks can win "any game" not "all the games."
(NOTE: It's also wrong. The Knicks cannot win every game and will probably lose nearly or more than half their games this season. But hey, keep that confidence up, D-Rose!)
