Derrick has had some great games this season but most of them came early in the season when teams were just getting a feel for him. Now he seems like he's regressing a little bit. I don't like the way he's playing the game right now. He's been inconsistent with his scoring. Some nights he'll shoot a great % and some nights he'll just stop and pop a mid range J while leaning backwards that will cause his % to suffer. He's turning the ball over way to much and just doesn't look good at all to me right now. Is this his rookie wall? What is going on?

Looking at DRose's stats, I see no reason to conclude he's regressing on the offensive end at all.

His per game scoring has dropped from 18.9 in November to a low of 15.3 in Jan and is at 15.8 in Feb before the next 2 games. But that's almost entirely a function of his minutes being cut. His minutes/game have dropped every month so far, 39 in Nov, 37.3, 35.6, and in Feb. 33.3 (see, there's actual evidence to back up my b*tching about him being benched).

When you look at his per 48 min scoring (cause that's all ESPN gives me normailzed by minutes) he scored 23.3/48 in September and 22.8/48 in Feb. (with a little decrease in Dec and Jan).

But beyond just scoring, all his other stats have gradually ticked upwards during the year as well. Despite having his minutes cut, his assists/game are going up (6.0, 6.2, 6.8, 6.5), his rebounding is steady or improving (4, 3.1, 3.3, 4), his Fg %age has bounced around a bit but Feb. is his best month, his turnovers and his turnovers per 48 have decreased.

The only thing statistically that makes it look like DRose is hitting a rookie wall is that his minutes have been cut by 6 minutes a game. He's actually becoming somewhat more effective as the season goes on in almost every category. That could be a symptom of his legs tiring out, I'll grant. But then again, it's so fun to bench rookies in the 4th quarter I don't know how anyone resists it. Rookies learn best on the bench and everyone knows it.