For the first time in four years, it appears that Derrick Rose will play (almost) a full season. And with that comes the point where we analyze his game to see how he’s been so far this season.

Ready?

On the surface, it seems like Rose is struggling this season, and it’s true to some extent. He’s averaging 17.5 PPG, 5 APG and shooting only 43.7% from the field. But keep in mind that he’s only playing 27.5 minutes a game and he’s obviously trying to shake some rust off. The Bulls are playing it super safe with Rose, as they don’t even want another injury scare, let alone another injury. And just to show you how safe the Bulls are playing it, Kirk Hinrich (27.7) is averaging more MPG than Rose. Sure, it’s only .2 minutes more a game but this is the first time ever that a backup is playing more minutes that Rose in his career.

The bread & butter of Rose’s game has always been his ability to finish at the rim, and there hasn’t been a drop-off in that department. He’s shooting 60% at the rim, the 2nd highest in his career, only below his 61.1% FG, which he had in his MVP season.

However, Rose is not as aggressive in shooting near the rim as he once was, as only 21.9% of his shots have come at the rim this season, a career low. That is understandable, however, when you factor in the injury risk involving such high-contact shots.

Possibly the most startling aspect of Rose’s shooting this season has been his 3pt shooting. 39% of his shots have come from 3, a career high by a fairly large margin. But it’s not like he’s making them: he’s only shooting 27.2% from 3, which is his worst shooting percentage from that area in 4 years.

A lot of the Bulls success obviously comes from how good or bad Rose plays. He shoots 46.8% from the field when they win, and only 31.9% when they lose. That’s a differential of 14.9, which is huge. Then again, they’ve only lost 9 games so far this season, so it’s not something to go crazy about. But you might want to keep an eye on this statistic, as it will show in time how far this Bulls team will go.

What Tom Thibadeau has done successfully for the first time ever is not run his players to the ground. He’s been extra careful with Rose’s minutes, making sure he doesn’t play too many minutes. Out of the 17 games he has played so far, he only played 30+ minutes in 7 of them. And in those 7 games, he’s shooting 42.4% from the field.

In 9 of those 17 games, he has played 20-29 minutes, he’s shooting 45.8% and has an offensive rating of 108 and a defensive rating of 101, compared to a 100 offensive rating and a 113 defensive rating when he plays 30+ minutes.

This trend of playing Rose fewer than 30 minutes will ultimately pay off come playoff time, when he has the fresh legs needed for Chicago to compete for a championship. And it’s not like they are in dire need of him right now: Kirk Hinrich has been a solid played all year and Aaron Brooks has been a beast off of the bench, shooting 44.7% from 3.

Rose hasn’t looked tremendous thus far this season, but he’s certainly looked good. And the scariest part: he will only get better as he plays more.

Verdict: B

All statistics courtesy of basketball-reference.com