Derrick Rose’s shooting woes have been well-documented this season.
While much of it could be attributed to the broken orbital bone he suffered in the Bulls’ first practice, Rose, to his credit, never used the eye injury as an excuse. In hindsight, though, it sounds as if Rose’s double-vision was more troublesome than he let on.
Derrick Rose is shooting 69.6% on bank shots this season. Said he started because of depth perception issues following eye surgery.
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) February 22, 2016
When asked about his newfound bank shot on Monday, Rose admitted he added it because of his depth-perception issue after the injury.
“It’s an easy shot for me,’’ Rose said. “My eye. My eye is getting a lot better, and I was like you know what just add it to the repertoire and it’s been working. And they give me the shot, they give me mid-range. They just don’t want me getting to the lane. I don’t know when they’re going to learn.
“When it was messed up I had to find like the depth perception because the rim was off, and I knew mid-range going off the glass, I knew how hard to hit the glass. That’s a shot I’m always shooting when I warmed up. I think it’s just been repetition.’’
Derrick Rose step back bank before the end of the half. pic.twitter.com/rsQoaH9WN3 — ⓂarcusD (@_MarcusD_) February 6, 2016
According to the good folks at NBAsavant.com, Rose has taken 54 bank shots (through games of Jan. 24) and made 40, a 74 percent clip. Overall, Rose is shooting .419 from the field.
More than 8 percent of Rose’s shots this season are off the glass, compared to 1.2 percent during his MVP season in 2010-2011.
No other player in the league had taken more than 50 banks shots as of Jan. 24. DeMar DeRozan (28-of-42) and Dwyane Wade (23-of-47) are the next closest to Rose.