Derrick Rose raised more than a few eyebrows in free agency this summer when he proclaimed that the newly-revamped New York Knicks qualified as a “super team.” In his defense, their outlook is a lot better now that they’ve added Rose and Joakim Noah to a core that already included Carmelo Anthony and an exciting young rookie in Kristaps Porzingis.
The problem is that both Rose and Noah have been on the steady decline as they’ve been ravaged by injuries the past few years, making it difficult to elevate them to the same level as, say, the Golden State Warriors or the Cleveland Cavaliers. Regardless, Rose didn’t back down on that assessment of his team when asked about it during an interview in South Korea earlier this week, with a hat tip to Matt Moore of CBS Sports for the find:
“I still believe that. Like I said, with that ‘super team’ term, you gotta be very careful, I guess, if you’re in the United States,” Rose said. “But I feel like if you’re in any team in the NBA – it don’t have to be the NBA, it could be in the college level, high school level – you should believe in yourself and have the confidence in yourself that you’re playing on a super team anywhere. So I have a lot of confidence, and I’m not taking that back.”
Fair enough. The Knicks should certainly improve upon their 32-50 record from last season and have a good chance to make the playoffs. But they are far from being a shoe-in to contend for the Eastern Conference crown. A lot will have to go right for that to happen.
Rose will have to regain at least some semblance of MVP form, Noah will have to prove that he can stay healthy and still defend at a high level, Anthony will have to adapt to a somewhat lesser role, and Porzingis will have to continue to develop amid all this while the rest of the Knicks’ disparate pieces try to coalesce. Regardless, it’ll make for an interesting season in New York.
(h/t CBS Sports)
