Heartbreaker in the Alamodome

Derrick Rose was a superb player at Memphis his freshmen year. His outstanding play helped his team go to the NCAA national championship game in 2008. The team set a school record with 38 wins and 2 loses. Memphis was the number one ranked team in the nation and their opponent was Kansas, the number two seed. The jayhawks were no joke this year. With Mario Chalmers (currently the starting point guard for the Miami Heat) leading his team to 37 wins, this matchup was looking like on for the record books.

And it most certainly was. However, for Rose it ended in a heartbreaker. With 1:15 left in the game, Memphis was up 62-58. Kansas had only one full timeout left so they had no choice but to foul. And they did with ten seconds left on Derrick Rose. He missed the first and made the second. The score was 63-60 and with 2.1 seconds left Mario Chalmers puts in a three to send the game into overtime. Memphis missed four out of the five free throws that would've put the game out of reach. The grizzlies lost it in overtime 75-68.

"Although Chalmers will go down in history, the most memorable overall performance came from Rose, the Memphis freshman, who completely took over the game in the second half, scoring 14 of his team's 16 points..." (Associated Press. ESPN).

That game would be his last one in his college career and even though he lost that big game, he played incredible. The Chicago Bulls recognized his talent as a point guard leading Memphis that season with 189 assists. He entered the NBA draft and was drafted the number one pick.

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mr-scratch/3537269153/

                                       

Derrick Rose: The Rise

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/keithallison/5487338555/sizes/m/in/photostream/

The road to success doesn't come easy. It especially didn't when it came to Derrick Rose. A native to Chicago's south side, a tough place to grow up, has overcome a lot of hardships to be where he is today. The Englewood section of Chicago that Derrick called home is a violent neighborhood. He was born October 4th, 1988 to a single mother and the youngest of his three brothers. His mother Brenda Rose pushed all four of her children to stay away from the drugs and gangs that flood Englewood. And while she steered Derrick away from trouble, his three older brothers steered him into basketball. His talent for the sport grew and his great basketball journey began.

Rose attended high school at Simeon Career Academy. It was there where he began making a name for himself throughout Chicago and eventually nationally. He led his school to back to back championships which had never been done before by a Chicago public school team. He became a top five recruit in the nation and was chosen as the best point guard in the country by many scouts. So seeing former Memphis grizzly coach John Calipari sitting court side next to Derrick was a usual scene. Rose committed to Memphis and led his team to the NCAA championship game his freshmen year. However, they lost to Kansas in overtime.

After his freshman year at Memphis he announced that he would enter the NBA draft. He was selected the number one pick by his home town team, the Chicago Bulls. I am inspired by Derrick rose because of how he came up from nothing to now being one of the best players in the NBA.

In this blog I will explain more in depth about his life growing up and his road to success and how he has inspired others. This blog will also include Derricks return from his recent injury. I will also explain some things that you might not know about Derrick. I hope you learn a lot from this blog about Derrick Rose. Enjoy!