Derrick Rose Injury: Latest Setback No Reason For Panic
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Derrick Rose is out with an injury.
In a highly anticipated matchup between two new rivals last Friday, the Chicago Bulls squared off with the Cleveland Cavaliers in a potential Eastern Conference Finals preview. It was a tremendous game, with Rose looking a lot like his old self: 20 points on 8-of-16 shooting to go with four rebounds and four assists in 25 minutes. But when Rose sprained not one, but both ankles in the game, the Cavs were able to prevail with a 114-108 overtime victory.
Forget the home opener defeat; Rose’s health has always been the fragile stick by which Chicago’s 2014-15 season will be measured.
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The following night, Rose was out of the lineup against the Minnesota Timberwolves. According to ESPN’s Nick Friedell, Rose’s ankles were good enough to play, but the former MVP decided to play it safe and sit it out. The Bulls escaped with a 106-105 road win thanks to Jimmy Butler‘s return, but that’s just an added bonus to keeping Rose healthy for the playoffs.
Three games into the season, Chicago has a 2-1 record that easily could’ve been 3-0 if not for Rose’s ankles and a minutes restriction on Joakim Noah (that Tom Thibodeau eventually abandoned anyway).
Rose hasn’t been dominant by any means, but in the two games he’s played, he’s been far more efficient than he ever was during the 10 games he played last season, when it was clear he was still very rusty. His time with Team USA at the FIBA World Cup this summer gave us another look at rusty Rose, but so far it’s translated to a much more comfortable player for the NBA season.
In two appearances, Rose is averaging 16.5 points, 4.5 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.0 steals in 23.5 minutes per game while shooting 47.8 percent from the floor. He’s struggled with his three-point shot (2-for-9), but three-point shooting was never Rose’s strong suit anyway. On a more encouraging note, Rose is averaging a hearty 25.3 points, 6.9 assists and 5.4 rebounds per 36 minutes, numbers that would be on par with his stat line from 2010-11 — the year he won his MVP award.
Unfortunately, getting to 36 minutes looks like it might be a problem for D-Rose this season. Thibs has both Rose and Noah on minutes restrictions when they’re active and as we saw Saturday, unless Rose absolutely needs to play for some reason, Chicago is taking a much more cautious approach to their superstar’s health.
Luckily, the Bulls have the depth and the offensive firepower to at least survive without him. Noah and Pau Gasol form the league’s best passing frontcourt, so even though Noah’s lingering knee issues have limited his impact, Gasol is averaging 18.7 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. Taj Gibson is still a monster off the bench and in his return, Butler put up 24 points to continue the momentum from his promising preseason. The Bulls’ bench is only going to get better and Chicago’s depth will help make up for the seemingly annual injury problems that belabor this team.
Ankle sprains happen to everybody. The good news is this isn’t an ACL or and MCL tear. Is it a little concerning that Rose sprained BOTH his ankles in that game against the Cavs? Sure. But the basketball gods haven’t hesitated to punish Rose in the past, so if a pair of sprained ankles is as bad as it gets in 2014-15, the Chicago Bulls will take that in a heartbeat.
Nobody likes seeing Rose on the sidelines, and it’s admittedly troublesome that three games into the regular season, Rose is already missing time as a precautionary measure. Rose practiced on Monday, per K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune, but his status for Tuesday’s game against the Orlando Magic is still up in the air. Since Orlando is 0-3, Rose will be in no rush to return to the court if he’s not perfectly healthy.
But looking at the big picture, sitting out was the smart play for Rose. The fans are always going to want to see him back on the floor, but I think they’d probably prefer to see him at 100 percent for an Eastern Conference Finals matchup rather than the third game of an 82-game season.