Derrick Rose goes down for the third time in as many years with a knee injury. I have to give him credit for any mental strength he has at this point. And the fact they’re even talking about him coming back at some point this season is a little strange to me because who knows how long of a rehab he’ll have to go through. By the time of his estimated return it’d be around playoff time and there’ll be even more pressure on him then. Considering he won’t have time to work his way back into things. I question why the Chicago Bulls would even want to put him in that position.
True enough the team seemed to be sleepwalking their way to a 4th seed which isn’t very special in a particularly top heavy eastern conference and even with Rose there was no guarantee they would even win their division. Somehow Cleveland has managed to right the ship and Lebron James return though regarded as a mess at the beginning his teammates seem to want him around rather than give him the Kobe Bryant treatment where they’re happier without him.
Everything Rose did this season seemed to be over-scrutinized to the point of petty and the team continued to lose games they should’ve won. But things only matter once the playoffs start. Do we really see the Atlanta Hawks in the finals? As much as the Bulls were struggling with all of the pieces they were still the favorite in the east in my mind.
What bothers me most however is this continued rent a point guard stance. I think we are beyond hurting Derrick Rose’s feelings if we were to draft a point guard to give us a quality player at that position should he go down again. No one seems to notice that Kirk Hinrich has probably missed games than Rose has with a sundry of injuries. We’d do just as well to grab someone from the stands.
Unfortunately Chicago is a big city media town who doesn’t go easy on their stars. They find all types of ways to create stories especially during the Lovie Smith era where they were frustrated by the lack of information they could glean from the Buddha like head coach. But when it came to Rose it seemed like it was a roast every night. I’ve seen articles calling him soft and questioning why a man would want to have a life beyond basketball. If it was negative they’d jump all over it. He could score thirty points and show flashes of his “former self,” and it was never enough. They complained when he slowly worked his way back into the flow of things which he should have done last season and I blame the organization for that one. And poor Coach Thibs having to get his dander up because he had to defend his star in dealing with questions on when he would play
They wouldn’t say a word when Pau Gasol or other teammates would miss a game or two and holy cow did they make a stink when Derricks travel plans awry and he missed a practice after the All Star break. Be glad he didn’t turn into Allen Iverson. Instead he apologized to his teammates especially when it affected his play during a loss. I would be the last to say maybe he would be better off somewhere else. Some small market city where they appreciate their stars. I could understand the consternation if this was Los Angeles and they’re celebrating their 14th win. But this is a playoff team and most teams don’t gel until after the all-star break when everyone is trying to solidify their playoff position. We have the coaching to win with or without Rose. I guess it’ll be up to the old adage hoping something else happens to knock this story off the front page.

Godfrey Logan Outside Analysis  2/28/15