Memphis' Rose is new Kidd on block

Maybe, just maybe, there is a way to get Memphis point guard Derrick Rose off his game.

The sight of a needle.

"I'm terrified of needles," Rose said.

The freshman standout -- a virtual lock to be an NBA lottery pick in June -- sat out almost eight minutes of the Tigers' victory over Michigan State in an NCAA South Regional semifinal last week, resisting stitches after he was cut above his right eye.

"I thought they were stitching him, and I was mad at the doctors," Memphis Coach John Calipari said. "How can it take you that long to stitch him? Go tell them to hurry."

Scared and upset, Rose kept resisting until doctors finally glued the wound closed instead, and he returned to the game.

"That shows you," Calipari said. "He's just a young kid."

Funny Calipari should mention the word kid. NBA point guard Jason Kidd is the player Rose is most often compared to.

UCLA Coach Ben Howland, whose team plays Memphis in a Final Four semifinal Saturday in San Antonio, sees a resemblance between the broad-shouldered 6-foot-3, 205-pound Rose -- an impressive rebounder -- and Kidd, a 6-4, 210-pound NBA All-Star.

Rod Strickland, a former NBA point guard who is on Calipari's staff as director of student-athlete development, sees it too.

"He's a triple-double waiting to happen," Strickland said after watching Rose's 21-point, nine-assist, six-rebound performance against Texas in the regional final.

Not if there are any syringes around.

"If I would have got stitches, they would have had to stick a needle right above my eye," Rose said. "I was pouting and stormed out of the locker room. I was mad."

Rose's needle phobia might stem from a childhood bicycle accident, although for some reason it hasn't prevented him from getting tattoos. But rest assured, Calipari said, it is real.

"When I tell you terrified, I mean, like if there's something that scares you where your heart races," he said. "Like snakes, or a spider or mice, whatever fear you have, that's his. Sweat pours from him. He's deathly afraid of needles."

A stomach virus this season nearly undid Rose.

"He threw up, so now he's dehydrated," Calipari said. "If they give him the medicine through the IV, you're good in 24 hours.

"He's laying on the table. He's tight. He's sweating. His veins are small because he's dehydrated. So they go to do it, and the first one, they miss. Now he's like, 'No!'