Rose takes responsibility for failure, but not credit for success. He is a point guard as much off the court as on it, feverishly working to divert attention to those around him. He wants his teammates to have the ball and the publicity.

If he’d cared to upstage Douglas-Roberts through the course of the season, Rose’s talent would have facilitated such a coup. But CDR established himself as the Tigers’ first option while a sophomore and improved enough during the offseason to reach the verge of All-America honors. Rose made it happen by delivering the basketball at just the right moments — and by accepting the supporting actor Oscar while CDR played the lead.

“He had a lot to do with it because teams can’t just double-team and box-and-one me like they did last year,” Douglas-Roberts said. “You have to play him, too. And if you don’t, he’s going to get 25. That just made it much easier for me. It’s like Dirk Nowitzki is averaging five more points with Jason Kidd. It just makes it easier when you have a great point guard.”

Calipari’s Tigers were criticized for many things, including several unnecessary offcourt incidents and the Final Four suspension of reserve point guard Andre Allen. Led by Rose, however, this group embraced the idea of sharing the basketball in a way that some would-be championship contenders would not.

The veteran players said they never worried that adding an uber-recruit to their ranks would upset this balance. They met him on his recruiting visit, and they knew. “He was very calm. He just sat back and tried to understand how we all are,” said guard Antonio Anderson. “On the visit, we actually went out and went bowling, and he came with us and had a ball. To this day, he never mentions anything about what he did in high school or McDonald’s or how they ranked him or anything. He just never talks about himself.”

To say there is a lesson in all this for players who wish to emulate Rose’s success, a lesson about the value of selflessness, might be to underestimate his uncommon degree of humility. It is not easy to possess such talent, to apply it when necessary and still to maintain a sense that however special one’s accomplishments may be, the person who achieves them remains, for lack of a better word, ordinary.

“I asked his mother: How did you raise a kid this good as a player, yet he’s humble?” Calipari said. “She said, ‘I told him that you’re no different than anybody else, and you treat people the way you want to be treated.’ “

There was just enough light at 2:30 a.m. along San Antonio’s River Walk to keep pedestrians from falling into the murky water. It was Sunday morning, April 6, a few hours after the Memphis Tigers stormed into the NCAA Championship game, and Calipari was walking fast to help put a little oil into his creaking hip. He had it replaced a few years back, and you still can see the slight limp it puts in his gait if you’re paying close attention. He was talking fast, as well, but that is not a condition of middle age. That’s a genetic predisposition.

Calipari was delivering a monologue about the blur his schedule had become after arriving in town for the Final Four—the Final Four that seemed so far out of reach when he arrived at the University of Memphis in March 2000. He mentioned he had to make one slight adjustment early on, so he could attend Mass the day after the team landed.

It took a moment, but this struck me as curious. “Wait a minute. You went to Mass on Thursday?”

“I go to Mass every day,” he said. Calipari once read a book about the great Vince Lombardi, in which the Green Bay Packers legend claimed he derived strength from taking Holy Communion daily. Calipari figured it made sense, as well, for him. There is a lot to handle in a position where so many people are dependent upon your actions and decisions, and he prefers not to deal with it alone.

Calipari explained he prays for players past and present, including some who’ve prospered and others who are facing enormous challenges in their lives.

“Do you pray for Derrick Rose?” I asked. “He doesn’t seem to need it.”

“I pray for all of them,” Calipari said.

Well, perhaps that explains it.

Only God can make a Rose.

Print this Email this Blog this  IM this

MORE FROM NBA

NBA Section Front

Spurs force Game 7 Barkley will pay $400,000 gambling debt Jazz desperate to hold court vs. Lakers Jazz's Kirilenko misses practice — visa problem Walters: Lakers best off sitting Kobe for Game 6 Road-weary Celtics seeking a win in Cleveland Curran: Rondo can be Celtics' savior if allowed to be Strange Celtics twist: Rondo to the rescue Expert: Home cookin' has no effect on road woes Ventre: If I was building an NBA team... NBA Section Front   Add NBA headlines to your news reader: