Tigers' Rose plays a lot better than he eats

HOUSTON -- The food that fuels genius has been studied and debated for thousands of years, all the way back to Greek philosopher Epictetus, who is credited with the following quotation around 100 A.D.:

"Preach not to others what they should eat, but eat as becomes you, and be silent."

Those have been words to live by for University of Memphis coach John Calipari, whose point guard prodigy Derrick Rose could easily have been the subject of that idiom. Rose's diet, to be kind, has been something less than the stuff of champions -- unless you're talking about a junk food-eating contest -- going back well before he enrolled in college.

But with Rose leading No. 1 seed Memphis into the NCAA South Regional semifinal with a superb 39-minute performance in the second round against Mississippi State, Calipari isn't going to worry about what his freshman consumes heading into Friday's Sweet 16 match-up against No. 5 seed Michigan State.

"The kid likes to eat grilled cheese and corn flakes and pizza and candy," Calipari said. "It's a great diet. All I can tell you is, he's like the ever-ready battery. He ate a box of corn flakes the other day and played that way; I said, 'Eat another box, that's fine kid. Keep eating them.'"

Despite his highly developed physique and strength for a 6-3 point guard, Rose has certainly not been the product of personal trainers and nutritionists. Before he arrived at Memphis and began working with director of performance enhancement Richard Hogans, Rose never lifted a weight or used a cardiovascular machine to expand his lung capacity.

And though it didn't particularly hurt his ability to play at a high level in high school, Rose's considerable natural gifts weren't necessarily enough to get him through 40 minutes of a college basketball game.

In November, December and even January, Rose would frequently take himself out of games after four- or five-minute spurts, raising his fist to indicate he needed a breather. Though he played 34 minutes against Oklahoma, 36 against Georgetown and 33 against Cincinnati during the pre-conference schedule, Rose admitted this week he had to empty the tank to get through those marathons.

"Wow," Rose said. "Yeah, I was exhausted."

Little by little, however, Rose has built his stamina. Or at the very least, Rose at some point figured out a way to conserve his strength during portions of the game so he can be as effective late as he is early.

Rose said he learned a lot from the Tigers' 66-62 loss to Tennessee on Feb. 23, when he scored 23 points with five assists on a night when his teammates could not get much going.

In the second half, Rose was the focal point of Memphis' offense, making a handful of short jumpers and layups, usually off baseline drives. But by the end, it was visually obvious he didn't have much left. It's impossible to say whether fatigue played a role, but Rose was never able to get free for a shot in the final minute with the game on the line.

"It was the first game I played where I played (that hard for that long), and I was kind of winded at the end," Rose said. "I learned from that game to take it easy and play smarter. "

Rose's endurance hasn't been in question since then. Against Mississippi State Sunday, Rose went 6-for-14 from the field in 39 minutes, scoring 17 points with nine rebounds, seven assists and just one turnover. Though Rose went 4-for-9 from the free throw line, which could have been a byproduct of how many minutes he played, Rose appeared to be as fresh as he's been at the end of any game this season.

Rose made arguably the most important basket of the game, a 15-foot jumper with 3:58 left that gave the Tigers a 68-59 lead.

The Tigers will probably need the same kind of effort from Rose this weekend to get to the Final Four.

"He was exhausted," Calipari said. "But I will play him 39 if he can last 39. At this time of the year, if someone has it going, you try to go with your best. If you see him starting to tire, you get him out for a few minutes."

Rose said Tuesday he still hadn't fully recovered from the Mississippi State game but would be prepared to go the distance against the Spartans.

"All the conditioning helped me for now," Rose said. "I've learned how to stay in the game a little bit more because the team needs me. I know it's going to wear my body down some, but for my team, I'll do anything."

(Contact Don Wolken of The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn., at XX(at)xxx.com.)