Bulls Fri Feb 11 2011

Derrick Rose vs. Chris Paul: Who Ya Got?!?!

By Colin Hettinger

Coming up this weekend is the last game of the Bulls' five-game "Disney on Ice" road trip, a Saturday night matchup against the New Orleans Hornets. Chicago is 2-2 so far on this Western swing, which has been right on par with their 12-12 record away from the United Center this season.

But let's be honest. The best thing about this game coming up is the chance to see two of the NBA's best point guards go toe-to-toe just a few weeks before they do so as starting guards in the Feb. 20 All-Star Game. With the pride both of these players have, I fully expect Saturday's game to contain NO LESS than 97 no-look passes.

LET'S GO TO THE TAPE!

Age: Rose is 22, Paul is 25. Edge: Paul, but not by as much as you'd think. Rose has the physical advantage of youth, especially given Paul's surgically repaired left knee. But with three more years of experience, he's got to have a few tricks up his sleeve that Rose is still picking up.

Height: Rose is 6-3, Paul is 6-0. Edge: Rose! Granted, height isn't the most important thing for point guards, but man, Paul's going to look so silly standing next to Rose.

Weight: Rose is 190, Paul is 175. Edge: Rose! See above, re: "going to look so silly."

College: Rose played at Memphis, but then a little scandal happened, and so now while he still actually played at Memphis and led the team to the NCAA championship game, as far as the record books are concerned, he technically didn't. Paul went to Wake Forest, where they made it to the Sweet 16 one year. Edge: Paul, if only because his career was so much easier to explain in one sentence than Rose's.

Biggest High School Accomplishment: Paul scored 61 points in a game a few days after his grandfather was murdered, one point for every year of his life. That's touching. Rose ... somehow pulled off getting someone to take his SATs for him? Does that count? No? Fine, then ... being named Illinois' Mr. Basketball his senior year? Sure, let's go with that. Either way, edge clearly goes to Paul.

Hardware: Paul's got an Olympic gold medal from the 2008 Summer Games, Rose was part of the U.S. B-Team that won the FIBA world championship last summer. Edge: Paul.

Season stats: Rose: 24.7 points, 4.4 rebounds, 8.2 assists, 1.0 steals per game, .446/.365/.830 shooting percentages. Paul: 16.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 9.8 assists, 2.5 steals per game, .485/.449/.904 shooting percentages. Edge: Rose!

Most awkward YouTube mixtape soundtrack: Rose: Some techno beat with spoken word voiceover. Paul: Three Days Grace. Edge: NOBODY WINS. Incredibly, both players' highlights have been combined into one terribly awkward clip, sure to get you moderately excited for Saturday night!

Note: The story originally said Rose had no hardware. Sorry!