The Bulls are headed for Brooklyn for a climactic Game 7 after losing one of the gutsiest efforts you will ever see from a basketball team. Kirk Hinrich missed his second straight game with a calf injury. Luol Deng's viral infection was so bad that he had to have a spinal tap before the game to rule out viral meningitis. Taj Gibson and Nate Robinson fell victim to the same bug - with Robinson literally throwing up on the bench during timeouts. Joakim Noah continues to gut his way through plantar fascitis, while Taj Gibson continues to wear a knee brace.
And Derrick Rose, at one year plus four days since tearing his ACL, continues to sit on the bench in a suit.
Kirk Hinrich spoke with the Chicago Tribune's K.C. Johnson on Tuesday. He talked about needing to give Rose "the benefit of the doubt", and how the team "trusts" Rose.
What incredible subtext there.
You cannot give someone the benefit of the doubt if there isn't some doubt there.
And you would not need to trust Rose if you could plainly see by watching him on the practice court that he's not ready.
Appearing on 670 The Score on Wednesday, Johnson maintains that Bulls - even privately - continue to back Rose. But an experienced reporter like K.C. must understand that no one speaks to the team's beat writer on the basis of confidentiality. If you don't want a story even in the bloodstream, you don't tell it to a reporter, even "privately". Just because they haven't told him doesn't mean they're not thinking hard about this, as the subtext of Hinrich's comments reveal.
Rose has deservedly earned a great deal of capital with his teammates, and even if they were miffed by his continued absence, it is highly unlikely they would throw him under the bus even even on the deepest of background.
(What will be interesting is when we hear from guys like Rip Hamilton and Nazr Mohammed after the season when they are no longer Bulls - and they no longer need to concern themselves with the integrity of the clubhouse or facing Bulls teammates.)
While the freak-of-nature return of Adrian Peterson is not a fair benchmark for Rose, let's at least try to form a coherent context for his continued absence.
Iman Shumpert tore his ACL on April 28, 2012 - the day before Rose. He returned for the Knicks on January 17 - nearly four months ago.
Jamal Crawford tore his ACL early in his career, with the Bulls, and missed 8 months.
Ricky Rubio tore his ACL on March 9, 2012 - seven weeks before Rose - and returned to the court for the Timberwolves on December 15. He was out just over nine months.
Corey Brewer of the Timberwolves, an athletic wing player, tore his ACL on November 29, 2008. He played 33 minutes in Minnesota's opener 11 months later after playing the whole preseason.
Rose was cleared to return to practice on January 31 - over three months ago, 9 months out from the injury.
Rose was cleared for game action - his knee deemed 100% sound - on March 9... seven weeks ago, just over 10 months out from the injury.
The Tribune's Johnson, during an interview with the Mac and Spiegs show on the Score, said that he believes Rose has made a "strategic decision not to play this year".
For $16 million and while the Bulls are fighting through non-stop carnage, we're past the point where this is acceptable anymore. That kind of "strategic decision" can't stay in Rose's hands indefinitely, not this long after he has been cleared.
By contrast, just today the Knicks' Shumpert had this to say:
"I'm not really thinking about my knee. We've just got to win games. I've got the whole summer to work on things, to get myself to where I want to be individually, athletically. But right now, with what we've got and how my knee feels, it's good enough to play and I've got to go out there and make plays."
Shumpert and Rose were injured on back to back days, yet Shumpert came back four months earlier (and counting).
One can understand where this excessive caution comes from. Derrick's brother, Reggie, tore his ACL and never came back the same from it. And Rose has had a protective circle around him for his entire life, shielding him from the dangers of his Englewood neighborhood and managing his college recruitment. Derrick has likely never made a weighty decision in his life and may not be equipped to make this one, either. This isn't a matter of motivation, and those who question Rose's desire are missing the mark badly. This is a matter of decision-making capacity.
But all of this represents mildly informed speculation. What we know is this:
The Rose brush fire would be incredibly easy to douse if the Bulls wanted to. Tom Thibodeau could say on any day: Derrick still doesn't look nearly like himself out there, and we don't want him pushing it. He's too valuable to take even a small risk with.
Instead, Thibs just tells us every day that Rose is improving, getting closer... which tells us nothing about where he actually is right now.
By the same token, Hinrich could easily say: Trust me, guys, I'm on the practice floor with him every day. That's not Derrick Rose. He's not ready yet.
Instead Hinrich speaks of having to give Rose the benefit of the doubt.
The Bulls are not telling us that Rose doesn't look ready, or hasn't been declared fit by their medical and training staff. They're telling us that he hasn't declared himself ready to play yet - and every indication is that he and his camp made the decision long ago to run out the clock on this season.
If Rose truly is not ready to play yet for some physical reason, then we should be very worried at this point. Given that his timeline has already extended past that of almost every other NBA ACL injury in the last decade, there would exist a real chance that Rose may in fact never be the same explosive player again.
(Note: the Score's Dan Bernstein maintains that he has been told, off the record, by people who see Rose in practice that he is dominating and looks as physically impressive as ever.)
And if Rose cannot mentally get himself in a place where he can play as he always has, even after weeks upon weeks going full speed on the practice floor, then we need to be concerned that he will never again be the warrior who plays the game with abandon and no regard for his body. Mentally, he may be permanently damaged goods.
We're past 12 months now. If he really can't play, for either mental or physical reasons, then don't we have a real problem here?
But if this, as Johnson believes, is a "strategic decision", and Rose has outsourced his own free will to his hyper-protective big brother, then this gets sticky.
If the Bulls, after going up 3-1 over Brooklyn, proceed to drop three straight in the wake of Hinrich's injury - or if the Bulls prevail in Game 7 but face Miami without Rose - it's almost impossible to imagine that Rose will not have spent a great deal of his hard-earned capital with his teammates, the Bulls organization, and the fans.
And then it would no longer be possible to view Rose as categorically untouchable as the Bulls seek to compete for a Championship.
If New Orleans would part with a top-3 pick (which would presumably be used on Michigan PG Trey Burke) along with the himself-recovering Eric Gordon, would the Bulls not have to consider that for Rose?
If Charlotte landed the #1 pick (presumably Kansas SG Ben McLemore) and were willing to package that with PG Kemba Walker (nearly 18 points and 6 assists a game this season at age 22), would you not have to consider that, too?
If Philadelphia would part with Jrue Holiday (18 points, 8 assists this year at age 22) along with the disappointing but still young and serviceable Evan Turner, and the #11 pick... that, too, would have to be considered.
Such scenarios would have once been beyond unthinkable. Rose was not only an electrifying player but the ultimate competitor and perhaps sports' most humble and likable superstar, not to mention a hometown hero.
But we are now reaching a threshold where either something might be very wrong with him, or if not, then his relationship with the team and city is on the verge of backsliding catastrophically.
Your "subtext" argument is flawed because it assumes that players are seeking out KC and putting the story "in the bloodstream" rather than responding privately to a question KC is asking (and you KNOW KC is asking on and off the record). If asked, the players can not answer (which would be viewed as damning), or answer as they have. So there's no "subtext" inherent.
ReplyDeleteWhat has consistently been said by the Bulls and Rose is that he doesn't feel like he's fully recovered. His legs don't feel the same, call it "ability to dunk off left leg in stride," call it "muscle memory," whatever.
This goes directly to Hinrich's comments. There is clearly doubt in the media and public. So when asked about Steve Kerr's comments, Hinrich says essentially that because it's about Rose knowing his body and his legs, the team has to trust him when he says they don't feel right/ready. You're over-parsing his words to impute a "we believe if he's ready he'll play" statement into a "we doubt but give him the benefit of the doubt."
Everything in Derrick Rose's history tells you that he's a)team-first, b)highly competitive, c)one of the hardest working players in the game, d)an ultra high-character individual. There is no reason to throw out years of that evidence now. It's akin to how Luol Deng was viewed as soft a few years ago when he's shown that he's about as tough as they come.
On a related note: I personally don't want Rose coming back if he's tentative and/or mentally favoring the leg. To me that's a recipe for a compensating injury. It's also way different to play 5 on 5 in practice against your own guys than to go out and play against guys who will be looking to knock you out of the game and who while they wouldn't be trying to hurt you will certainly not be all that upset if by being overphysical you end up not playing. (i.e. Kenneth Faried v. Stephen Curry.)
The "subtext" and "bloodstream" are separate concepts.
DeleteThe subtext of Hinrich's comments were what was not said; "I see him in practice every day and he's not ready." If you have to give Rose the benefit of the doubt... that means there must be doubt.
My point on guys talking to KC Johnson is they will NOT overtly put any stories into the bloodstream, and I think KC makes a bad assumption that just because they're not saying it to him, it must mean that they don't think it.
And like I said, the Bulls clearly WANT to keep some pressure on Rose, because defusing this would be the easiest thing in the world. They could tell us bluntly that he isn't ready to play. They don't do that. They could declare him out for the year. They don't do that, either.
You're missing the underlying point. It's a question of how his leg at this point, it's at the point where it's impossible to measure externally. So he may well be playing well in practice but not feel right(and by the way, Hinrich wouldn't be a guy who knows what Rose looked like prior so not sure he's the best guy to make the comment you hypothesize about him not being ready). And given there's a big stepup between any practice and the game, that's a meaningful difference. This applies similarly to the Bulls wanting to "keep some pressure" on him. It could just simply be that it's at the stage where no one but Rose can judge how it feels and how ready he feels and so they can't rule him out and they don't want to eliminate the chance that tomorrow he feels ready. It doesn't have to be related to pressure or anything.
DeleteAs for the "bloodstream" comment, you're assuming (or at least implying) that the fact that they mention it at all means they don't mind putting it "in the bloodstream." You're right that a lack of comment doesn't necessarily mean they're not thinking it (that would be like proving a negative), but it similarly doesn't mean they're thinking it but not saying it, as you imply. If anything, lack of saying something would lead you to say "can't be sure, but it's more likely they're not thinking it than that they are thinking it but not saying it."
In general, in today's day and age, it's very hard to keep rumors, etc. If the players were doubting Rose, it seems unlikely you'd have an airtight cone of silence, especially given that you've got guys who are clearly on their way out the door like Rip. All it would take is a stray comment to a wife/brother/friend, someone says/hears something, and you'd have a "there are grumblings." The fact that you have literally nothing but support and belief from the team tells me that by far the most likely conclusion is that they do believe Rose and believe in him. That this is also consistent with his character demonstrated over his years of history in HS/College/NBA adds to the likelihood.
The rumors ARE out there. Dan Bernstein says openly that he has talked to people who see Rose in practice, they say he looks great, and that even players are confused as to why he's not playing.
DeleteAnd remember, we're not talking about rushing him back the moment he was medically cleared. He was medically cleared two months ago. And his timetable has extended now well past that of any NBA ACL injury in recent memory. No one has taken more than 10 months to get back into game action, and we're now PAST 12 for Rose... and he has been practicing for three months.
LIke I said, if he's really not ready... then we have a big problem here, because that means he might never be OK.
But comments from Hinrich and Thibodeau are ambiguous at best and telling in what they DON'T say.
Comments from Hinrich/Thibs are not "ambiguous at best," they're 100% consistent with what is being publicly stated - that at this point it's about how his knee feels. Your argument is wholly speculative, essentially "well they say they believe in him, but they didn't say XXXX so clearly they don't REALLY believe or they have their doubts."
ReplyDeleteSee the recent ESPN article discussing exactly what I was saying - when he's playing he's still thinking it through about the leg, which can work fine when you know you're not going to get abused on drives but is a recipe for disaster in games when guys will be looking for opportunities to slam you down.(http://espn.go.com/chicago/nba/story/_/id/9239520/derrick-rose-chicago-bulls-held-back-lack-muscle-memory-according-report)
The comments are ambiguous because no one actually says "Rose isn't ready". They're saying "he tells us he's not ready".
DeleteAnd Hinrich would know what a normal Derrick Rose looks like. He played with Rose for Derrick's first year or two and has played against him since.
The problem we're running into is that Rose wants to fo something no one else in sports does: come back when he's 100% effective, not 100% healthy... and by most accounts, you can't GET to 100% effectiveness until you play.
Again, we are in uncharted waters here. In the last 10-12 years, we haven't seen anyone take longer than 10 months to get back on the floor, and the average has been about 9. So that fact that we're past 12 now for Rose means that either something is very wrong with him - that his injury was worse or his recovery has not been as strong as other NBA players who tore ACL's - or that he's in less of a rush than other NBA players who tore their ACL's.