Derrick Rose Injury: Turf Toe Will Derail Bulls' Title Hopes
The Bulls' championship hopes were pushed aside by the pain in Derrick Rose's big toe.
Chicago entered this season with justified big aspirations. A large portion of that was due to the ability to the reigning MVP playing point guard for them.
This is a complete team, but they are still only going to go as far as their leader can take them, and now, that leader is limping.
The Injury
Rose aggravated a turf toe injury on the big toe of his left foot in the first quarter of Chicago's Tuesday night game with Timberwolves.
Here is Rose following the game, as quoted by Nick Friedell of ESPN Chicago:
"Activated my turf toe. But I'm fine. Finished the game. Towards the end, I didn't feel it. Took an Advil. I was good.
I've been having turf toe since my second year. I'm fine...(Wednesday) I'm not sitting out, I know that. I will be playing.
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Friedell reported that Rose was limping in the locker room after the game. While Rose contends this will not lead to him missing any time, this is still a big cause for concern, and this is certainly not something any Bulls fan wants to see.
Problematic Big Toe
This problem is going to follow the MVP all season. There is just one way to get a turf toe to heal, and that is with rest.
This comes to us via Web MD:
"The basic approach to treating turf toe is to give the injury ample time to heal, which means the foot will need to be rested.
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Hence Rose's appearance in the walking boot. They are trying somehow to get the pressure off of that foot. The problem is that this NBA schedule does not allow that to happen.
This season is short and compact. That means the Bulls can't afford to let Rose sit out two to three weeks to let this heal fully, and he is also not going to have many days off in between games.
Why This Kills Their Championship Hopes
There is no doubting Rose's toughness. He can play through this pain and he can play well. However, he is not going to be 100 percent.
The injury will limit Rose's explosiveness, and that is a vital aspect to his game. The Bulls offense relies on the penetration of their point guard to get going.
The Bulls will not be able to contend with the best team in the playoffs if Rose is less than 100 percent. The competition is too stiff, and Rose is far to vital to the Bulls' success.
UPDATE: Tuesday, January 11th at 6:30 p.m. EST
Despite his assertion that he would not miss a game, it appears that he will miss at least the Bulls next game.
The Bulls have signed guard Mike James from the D league to help with depth while Rose battles through this injury.
