Reinventing D-Rose

PARIS (George Eddy's International Show) - The overly-accelerated and dense NBA lockout season pushes on regardless as players are dropping like flies to serious injuries all in the name of making more money.

Of course I am the guy who has been preaching for many years that the NBA's 82-game regular season should be shortened to protect players from injury and prolong their careers so naturally a 66-game season squeezed into four months with so many horrid back-to-backs could not receive my approval!

In my opinion, the day the NBA eliminates back-to-backs will be the day the league takes a giant leap forward. This does go against the modern day trend of accelerating all aspects of our lives as we bounce around from screen to screen telling the world about our intimate details on Twitter or Facebook instead of actually living!

Premature aging of today's high-level athletes is not only a phenomenon in basketball. Since the NBA is all about business they are going to have to think deeply about protecting their product which means protecting the PLAYERS.

Protecting them, for example, from hard fouls which have become an unfortunate  macho culture in the league which is accentuated during the playoffs when intensity increases as the results become more crucial.

It's simple: if a defender grabs or hits an opponent without going for the ball - especially from behind - call a flagrant foul and a lot of the intimidating bully tactics would diminish.

If a player goes nuts and throws a life-threatening elbow, suspend him for a LONG time! Some of the hits that high-flyers like Blake Griffin or Derrick Rose have suffered this season make me cringe. We want to see these amazing athletes fly for many years for our viewing pleasure, not be crippled and grounded like poor Brandon Roy! 

Rose is a symbolic case in point, a player whose muscles largely outweigh his joints and who possesses a rare explosiveness that permitted him to become the youngest MVP ever.

He blew out his knee against Philadelphia after suffering numerous injuries all season long and now he's facing a long rehabilitation process where I feel he is going to have to reinvent himself physically and technically in order to have a long and fruitful career, something we should all hope and pray for because Rose is a humble and likeable superstar in the Kevin Durant vein, who represents the future of the NBA - nothing less!

Rose should be inspired by the evolution that players like Michael Jordan, Dwyane Wade, Tony Parker or Manu Ginobili experienced during their careers. Going from young, hard-driving finishers who received a lot of bumps and bruises early in their careers to all-around players with better shooting range and intermediary mid-range shots which are less costly for their health.

He can and will transform himself into a point guard similar to Parker, Chris Paul or Rajon Rondo who rain in teardrop shots and who slalom around defenders and avoid straight-on hits from opposing big men by being fundamentally sound and also, slithery as a snake!

Believe me, this would be in the best interest of Derrick Rose AND the NBA.

George Eddy

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