Speedy Stormy Rose

That’s D-Rose’s new nickname. In some parts of the world.

According to the Focus Taiwan News Channel:

“Derrick Rose, the NBA’s youngest Most Valuable Player (MVP) in history, was seen happily receiving a new Chinese nickname on Saturday during a two-day visit to Taiwan. Chosen by Taiwanese fans through an online poll recently, the nickname ‘Biao Feng Mei Gui,’ which means ‘speedy stormy Rose,’ was presented to the Chicago Bulls point guard at a news conference in Taipei.”

That’s pretty close to “Too big, too strong, too fast, too good,” don’t you think?

Speaking of Derrick, Charles Barkley was a guest on “The Waddle and Silvy Show” on ESPN 1000 last week and had some advice for the speedy and stormy one:

“Well, I think it would be a mistake for Derrick Rose to go overseas. I think any great player has got too much at stake. You could go there and hurt yourself. If you are as great as Derrick Rose, why would you risk your NBA career and contract by going overseas? I just don’t think that’s very smart. If I were somebody like Derrick Rose, I would go back and work on my degree. I think some of the lesser players are going to go over and play, because they can make some good money. But for someone like Derrick Rose, that’s a bad idea.”

Fair enough. I can’t see Rose playing overseas anyway, regardless of what happens with the lockout. Oh, and Sir Charles had something to say about that too:

“I’m saying, best-case scenario if everything went perfect, they would start the season in January. But I’m still going to stay on the record and say they’re not going to get to play at all next year. In my honest opinion, I hope they don’t screw up the momentum of last year. It was a great year for the NBA. Even if some of the attention was negative, because of the Heat, it was nice to see Dirk (Nowitzki) and Jason Kidd get their rings.”

Kyle Korver isn’t feeling any more optimistic about the lockout:

“It’s not going well … for sure, it looks like the season’s not going to start on time. It’s really frustrating because the NBA’s never been more successful. It’s never made more money. From [the players’] standpoint, you don’t understand why … how do you lose money? I don’t understand. The NBA made like $2.4 billion this year. So that’s frustrating. Especially coming off a year where your team did well and you want to keep building on that, and you’re being locked out and not being able to play.”

If the 2011-12 season is lost — and here’s the team’s TV schedule in case it’s not — that will be a huge bummer for a Bulls team that, even by Dwyane Wade’s admission, is this close to a championship:

“They met us in the Eastern Conference finals, and they were one player away from making it a very, very, very tough series. Derrick Rose is evolving into a phenomenal player. You could look and see they’re one player away from being there every year.”

Wade also has an idea of how the Bulls can take it to the next level. And, yeah, it’s pretty much the same idea everybody else has:

“It would have to be a player that can take the pressure off him from making every play. As a point guard, when you have to score so much, and have to make every big shot, and have to make all the passes, eventually it takes a toll on you throughout the season, no matter how phenomenal you are. So just someone who can come in and take some of that pressure away. That’s why I was excited not only to play with my friend but excited to play with a guy like LeBron, because it takes some of that pressure away from having to do it year after year after year. It saves you, your body.”

On the plus side, the players are planning to get together during the lockout to practice, so hopefully they’ll be ready to go when the lockout ends. Whenver that is.