Like most of us, Derrick Rose prizes his freedom, and the Cleveland Cavaliers point guard feels he has a lot more of it now that he's out of the more restrictive offense he played in last year with the New York Knicks.
"(With the Cavaliers), I get to do whatever I want," Rose told reporters Wednesday, according to Alex Squadron of the New York Post. "In New York, I couldn't. It was just simple. That's why I made the transition."
Of course, Rose is still drawing on a small sample size, having played in just two regular-season games with the Cavs before sitting out the past three with an ankle sprain. But the former league MVP - who has typically thrived by playing aggressive, up-tempo, improvisational basketball - already feels more comfortable in the Cavs' free-flowing system than he ever did in the Knicks'.
"There wasn't no freedom (with the Knicks)," he said. "Here I got freedom.
"Coach (Tyronn) Lue and the team have been doing a great job of letting me play the way that I want to play. So I can't complain at all."
The Knicks were beholden to the triangle offense last year, which tends to favor disciplined set plays over freestyling. (Even with Phil Jackson and the triangle gone, the Knicks are struggling to nail down coach Jeff Hornacek's playbook.) So naturally, Rose is happy to be in an environment where he's encouraged to be himself, and make plays on the fly.
"That's how I wanted to play last year," he said. "But that never happened."
