Derrick Rose is more athletic than Russell Westbrook.

[Pointguard]

[QUOTE=SOD 21]I thought this is an interesting comment about some European executives that were attending the summer league after both of the players were drafted:

"Most of the European executives who did not follow college basketball very closely keep wondering how in the world Derrick Rose was drafted ahead of Westbrook solely based off what they are seeing at the summer league. That

[Pointguard]

The only thing I can say for sure that Westbrook does better is leap off of one foot. If you look at the video as the OP suggest and compare it to any Westbrook video you can definitely deduct that Rose is more explosive, faster, quicker, more agile. I have always contended that Rose was stronger. Rose is the only PG I seen that Billups or Wade didn't even bother to try to use their strength on. And Wade bullies shooting guards. Westbrook has lost weight the last two years so I don't even think it would be close now.

[Graviton]

The only thing I can say for sure that Westbrook does better is leap off of one foot. If you look at the video as the OP suggest and compare it to any Westbrook video you can definitely deduct that Rose is more explosive, faster, quicker, more agile. I have always contended that Rose was stronger. Rose is the only PG I seen that Billups or Wade didn't even bother to try to use their strength on. And Wade bullies shooting guards. Westbrook has lost weight the last two years so I don't even think it would be close now.

Rose was a pitbull, I remember multiple times he would take hits in the air on his drives and still land straight on 2 feet while the other guy would get pushed away or fall on the ground.

[Young X]

Westbrook is probably the most explosive athlete I've seen in basketball. Just look at this:



Just shot out of a cannon

btw, I know I'm late but anyone ever notice that Rose never does one handed dunks? Can someone show me a dunk Rose has like this?

[Graviton]

Westbrook is probably the most explosive athlete I've seen in basketball. Just look at this:



Just shot out of a cannon

btw, I know I'm late but anyone ever notice that Rose never does one handed dunks? Can someone show me a dunk Rose has like this?

I think Westbrook is just the better one-handed dunker. His tomahawk jams are just viscous. They have a distinct sound even, that I only hear from some of Lebron's dunks, WB puts all his power into it. Rose on the other hand is a better 2 hand dunker and glides to the basket, his dunks are smoother, he represents grace and agility. Westbrook is more raw explosion and aggressiveness.

[Young X]

I think Westbrook is just the better one-handed dunker. His tomahawk jams are just viscous. They have a distinct sound even, that I only hear from some of Lebron's dunks, WB puts all his power into it. Rose on the other hand is a better 2 hand dunker and glides to the basket, his dunks are smoother, he represents grace and agility. Westbrook is more raw explosion and aggressiveness.

That along with his alley oop against the Pistons are the only ones I've found. Has little to do with with athleticism just curious about it.

I hope Rose and Westbrook stay healthy next season. I would love to see them two go head to head. PG matchups/rivalries>>>

[Graviton]

That along with his alley oop against the Pistons are the only ones I've found. Has little to do with with athleticism just curious about it.

I hope Rose and Westbrook stay healthy next season. I would love to see them two go head to head. PG matchups/rivalries>>>

I am looking forward to...

Paul vs Rose
Paul vs Westbrook
Westbrook vs Curry
Westbrook vs Kyrie
Rose vs Wall
Rose vs Rondo
Lilard vs Westbrook
Ellis vs Westbrook

I love me some PG action.

[theaussieguy]

There is no athlete in the world quite like a healthy rose. I guess the same can probably be said for wb.
But give me healthy rose any day.

Glad I'm not the only one who 'gets it'. Westbrook is top tier for sure but the stuff Westbrook does is almost expected, he looks more athletic than Rose which is why I guess I am so impressed by Rose. Because once Rose gets moving you realize he is not just the fit black kid you first thought, he is a freakish one of a kind that IMO is more impressive than Westbrook. You begin noticing little subtleties in the way he moves, his slightly skewed posture and an ability to take off two feet like I have never seen before, let alone for a 6'1 guy. There is something just seriously seriously amazingly special about a healthy D rose. Can't really put it into words really.

I love westbrook too, but he just can't put on the burners and get up like a healthy D rose. Less versatile with his athleticism IMO.

[Milbuck]

Glad I'm not the only one who 'gets it'. Westbrook is top tier for sure but the stuff Westbrook does is almost expected, he looks more athletic than Rose which is why I guess I am so impressed by Rose. Because once Rose gets moving you realize he is not just the fit black kid you first thought, he is a freakish one of a kind that IMO is more impressive than Westbrook. You begin noticing little subtleties in the way he moves, his slightly skewed posture and an ability to take off two feet like I have never seen before, let alone for a 6'1 guy. There is something just seriously seriously amazingly special about a healthy D rose. Can't really put it into words really.

I love westbrook too, but he just can't put on the burners and get up like a healthy D rose. Less versatile with his athleticism IMO.

Body control. Rose has a level of body control that no one in the NBA can touch..the closest was prime Wade, and we all know how he's doing right now. At his best he has damn near perfect control of his body when moving, instinctively knows exactly how to twist, turn, etc to get through defenses. Rose is able to contort his body and make incredibly awkward moves seem effortless, which makes his athleticism that much more deadly. Never seen an athlete like him at his position.

[oarabbus]

Rose is faster, jumps higher and is quicker. Rose is superior to Westbrook.

Surprisingly, one guy is POOR athletically in one area - Westbrook has a standing vertical leap of just 30 inches. Check the combine numbers. What that means Westbrook lacks explosion unless he can get a running start. Rose does not need that. Rose is explosive anywhere and everywhere on the court.

...

It's a good thing that the standing vertical is nearly irrelevant in basketball for non-shotblockers

[Wade3]

Rose looked like Barry Sanders pre-injury, ****ers nickname should have been the Rubberband Man the way his ankles used to twist like Keyser Soze.

[Pointguard]

A lot of ish posters don’t like Rose and don’t go to games so they don’t really know how much of an athlete Rose really is. There is obvious separation between Rose and Westbrook in agility, coordination and speed, it is at the very least close in strength, explosion, quickness and jumping ability. I don’t really see the argument in strength but since a couple of people here see it differently.

I don’t see Rose having a problem with Patrick Beverly who tries to intimidate Westbrook. I also don’t see a healthy Wade not trying to bully Westbrook. When Memphis played UCLA in the tourney, Rose was definitely the bigger player and Westbrook, who was an PAC 10 defender of the year, was quickly taken off of Rose. If you see them live til this day Rose is obviously bigger and more so within the last two years. Too hard to measure.

Jumping wise will be hard to get to. At the very least Rose combine numbers were significantly higher. Rose also has several pictures/videos with his head right at rim level. At the combine 4.5 inches higher for Rose in the no step leap and 3.5 in the max verticle.

In the example below you see Rose’s ability to explode as startling to opponents. This is a 40 foot drive with every defender in front of him (with four players with one foot in the lane) without anybody on OKC even remotely close to doing more than watch him during a critical play in the game. And defenses are designed to stop Rose from doing this. Reaction time is the best indication of explosion and quickness. Its the second dunk in the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MShYmCftBgU

In the OP the Rose highlight film this happens not from 40 feet out but at least 17 feet out about 25 times. In part two of that Rose highlight film it happens another 25 times. Now in the Westbrook highlight films it happens about 16 times between both films despite Westbrook having played significantly more healthy games and well over a 150 more closer to his physical prime.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMpiipqZwyg

And this is with Westbrook having an advantage in stealth. He isn’t keyed in on like Rose, Brook usually only takes the open path as he doesn’t manuever like Rose, and with Rose it’s usually the 3rd and 4th defender as opposed to it usually being only the second defender on Westbrook that can’t brace themselves for the layup.

[yeaaaman]

I don't see how anyone could distinguish between the levels of their athleticism in any meaningful way just based on footage. We'd have to see them race or something to really tell. I bet both could have been made into NFL receivers or DBs just based on speed and jumping ability (before anyone jumps on me I know that the ability to take hits might not be great enough).

I hear all the talk about Russell Westbrook most athletic PG ever and I look at Rose's game and I count his body control as athleticism that sets him (or set him) apart from Westbrook.

The speed, change of direction, while remaining under control, all of that put together put him above Westbrook, but that's just my opinion off watching their games. Not necessarily just watching them sprint from one end of the court to another, that doesn't fully encompass athleticism.