Let's Break Down Derrick Rose's Crossover on Peyton Siva

Derrick Rose, the one-time NBA MVP, tried to take Detroit rookie Peyton Siva to school Wednesday night. Rose went to his patented crossover, which has destroyed the ankles of Andre Miller and Brandon Jennings, among others.

Here’s the thing – Siva, who I thought was a better on-ball defender at Louisville than his backcourt mate, Russ Smith – actually defended this as well as possible. Siva has unbelievable lateral movement, and even though Rose goes to the crossover, the rookie is right there with him.

But Siva is puny; Rose is powerfully built. Where Siva fails is that he makes a (weak) play for the ball as Rose brings the ball in position to score. The Bulls point guard yanks the ball up, and then as he continues to rise, contorts his body in a way that he’s able to lob a shot over incoming 7-footer Andre Drummond. And not just any shot, mind you – a perfect attempt off the backboard and into the hoop.

It’s vintage Rose. And it came against a rookie who is Detroit’s #3 point guard.

The announcers went ballistic – it was a tremendous move – but Siva defended this as well as humanly possible until … Rose went Rose. And besides LeBron, I’m not sure if anyone can stop Rose when he’s 100% healthy.