Derrick Rose's Return to MVP Form Is Still a Work in Progress
CHICAGO — There is no shortage of questions surrounding Derrick Rose this season, but one of the most important ones has all but disappeared. Is Rose playing tonight? For the Chicago Bulls' last 11 games, the answer has been yes.
Thanks to a new NBA rule, teams are required to update the media on a regular basis on the injury status of their players. What that usually means is that players with even the slightest nick are listed as "probable," just as a cover in case they can't play.
Rose hasn't been on the Bulls' list for a couple of weeks. Early-season ankle and hamstring strains forced him in and out of the lineup in November, but in terms of pure stability, it's been smooth sailing for Rose these days. For a former league MVP who has missed most of the last two seasons with serious knee injuries, just playing is half the battle.
"He's stringing some games together now, which I think is critical," said Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau.
Even now that he's been playing every day, it's been an uphill battle for Rose to get his consistency back. Seemingly every time he has a game that evokes his vintage, explosive self, he follows it up with a performance too reliant on jump shots. The aggressiveness comes and goes.
Last week, Rose was brilliant in home wins over the Brooklyn Nets (23 points) and Portland Trail Blazers (31 points). He looked like the old, pre-injury Rose, attacking fearlessly, getting to the free-throw line and making floaters with confidence.
But he followed that promising stretch with a pair of ineffective games, scoring 14 points in each half of the Bulls' road back-to-back in Miami and Atlanta. In Monday's loss to the Hawks, he shot 6-of-21 from the field. Two steps forward, two steps back.
“Physically, he looks as good as he ever did,” said Blazers coach Terry Stotts, whose team was on the receiving end of Rose’s best game of the season. “I think he’s explosive. He’s more measured in his game as far as when to attack the basket, when to shoot threes. I don’t think he’s looking to attack all the time like he did when he was a younger player, but physically he looks as good as ever.”
There are a lot of moving parts with the Bulls. In addition to Rose's physical and mental hurdles after being out for so long, he's playing with a new team. It's a group that has a lot more experience playing without him than with him, and integrating such a ball-dominant player back into the lineup has been an adjustment for everybody.
"I am a scoring point guard," Rose said after practice last Monday. "So my game is scoring a little bit more than passing or facilitating, but when you’ve got more scoring on your team, you have to facilitate a little bit more. So picking and choosing when to pick my spots is kind of hard right now, but I’m a hooper, I’m a basketball player. So I should be able to learn it pretty quickly."
Between Rose's November injuries and other ailments on the team (most recently Joakim Noah's ankle problems), Chicago's ideal starting lineup of Rose, Jimmy Butler, Mike Dunleavy, Pau Gasol and Noah have only played together in eight of the Bulls' 24 games this season. It's hard to build cohesion when everybody is healthy, let alone when a team is the revolving door the Bulls' rotation has been.
"By nature, he’s trying to fit in right now," said Thibodeau. "It’s a new team for him. He’s trying to learn his teammates. He’s playing off people. We need him to go. Just go. Go. Great players will figure it out. Pau will figure it out. Joakim, Jimmy, they’re going to figure it out. That’s the way it is."
It's hard not to notice the changes in Rose's game. He's more hesitant to drive and settling for a lot of outside shots. His 14.3 shot attempts per game are a career low, while his 5.6 three-point attempts (on which he's shooting 28.1 percent) are a career high.
When he drives, he's deadly. He's shooting 60 percent on shots at the rim this season, per Basketball-Reference.com. But he doesn't do it every night. Instead, he's feeling out other aspects of his game and trying to power through his shooting struggles.
"I’m shooting open shots that they’re giving me," Rose said. "I’m trying to get used to taking those types of shots, if we get in a situation where we’re down two and I have an open three, having the confidence to take those shots. Or if we’re down and we need a run, having the confidence to come down and pull a three. Put pressure on the other team.
"I’m taking a lot [of three-pointers]. But I feel like that’s an easy shot for me, a set shot. I’m going to have a game where I’ll string in four or five of them, and it’s just going to help my confidence. I can’t stop taking those shots. They’re shots I normally take in practice, so my teammates know they’re great shots for me."
His coach, like everyone else, would like to see the aggressive Rose come out more.
"He’s gotta attack," said Thibodeau. "That’s the bottom line. Some teams are going under and some teams will adjust to a blitz. All I know is when he’s pushing the ball up the floor and attacking, that’s who he is. He can’t defer. He can’t pace himself. He’s gotta go. That’s the big thing. He’s gotta go."
The Bulls have won games without Rose, but having him on the floor and playing well makes things easier for everybody. In Chicago's wins this season, Rose is averaging 18.7 points per game and shooting 46.8 percent from the field. In losses, he's scoring 12.6 points and shooting 31.9 percent, per Basketball-Reference.com.
"When he’s playing like [vintage Rose], it’s the thrust that we have as a team," said Thibodeau. "When he’s pushing the ball, we get some easy baskets, we get some deep post-ups, we get into the penalty early so we can get some free throws. A lot of good things happen."
With how long he's been out, nobody thought Rose's transition back to playing every day would be a seamless one. The hope is that come playoff time, Rose will be playing like his peak self consistently. If that happens, it's hard to see anybody in the Eastern Conference being more dangerous than the Bulls.
But there will be bumps in the road between now and then, a lot of trial and error and the periodic frustration.
"I’ve got to listen to my body and listen to myself and learn how to play with my teammates," Rose said. "Every game I’m getting more and more comfortable with it."
"We all feel he’s going to be back to the same guy he was," said Thibodeau. "He’s going step by step, he’s got to keep building, keep attacking.
"When he’s aggressive, there’s no one like him."
Sean Highkin covers the Chicago Bulls for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @highkin
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