Derrick Rose Making Progress Despite Slow Process

CHICAGO — Three weeks into the season, six weeks since the start of training camp, the double vision persists.

Derrick Rose has been working his way back from an orbital bone fracture since the first day of camp, which is a small setback compared to his previous health history, but it’s made things difficult early on in the Chicago Bulls’ season.

And it hasn’t gotten better.

“It’s still the same,” Rose said after the Bulls’ 96-95 win over the Indiana Pacers on Monday. “I wish every morning that would be different.”

And now there's also the ankle sprain, suffered against the Pacers, though claimed to be minor by Rose himself. We know how self-diagnosing has gone in the past, but this dent seems innocuous enough.

Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said Sunday that he’s been told Rose’s vision may not fully return for three months. Rose doesn’t want to put a timeline on that, but as long as the issue persists, he’s going to have to find ways to continue to be effective.

To help with the depth-perception issues, Rose has started using the backboard more—just a small thing that has made the game easier for him while his vision isn’t all the way there.

“It’s an easy shot,” Rose said. “They’re giving me the shot, and I think I shoot it off the glass pretty good. Any opportunity that I get, I’m going to shoot it off the glass.”

On Monday, he was as effective as he’s been all year, attacking, making smart passes and taking good shots. He had 23 points on 9-of-18 shooting with six assists and no turnovers before he twisted his left ankle partway through the fourth quarter (Rose was upbeat about the injury after the game, and it’s unlikely he misses any time).

“He was great,” Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said. “His tempo and his shot were really good. He’s been putting his work in. Not only in practice but coming in late to work on his shot. … He will keep getting in better shape. He had a really good game in shooting and with six assists and no turnovers. I thought he played terrific.”

Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

For Rose, it was an encouraging sign in the midst of a season that’s been full of setbacks and inconsistencies. Whether due to the blurred vision or a hesitancy to make mistakes, Rose has been passive in his shot selection and his overall impact has been, well, ordinary.

Even including his assists, Rose’s offense has only accounted for 1.135 points per possession this season, which puts him in the 53rd percentile of players, per Synergy.

“In a game, sometimes it is,” Rose said at practice Sunday. “Because I’m missing a lot of shots that I normally hit—floaters or layups I normally hit. But everything else will come. I’m getting my legs under me. It’s still preseason for me, the [ninth]. So I’m still warming up.”

If there’s a positive to come out of Rose’s first 10 games of the season, it’s that his knees have thus far held up. But the double vision has presented a fresh set of challenges, one that he’s still navigating.

“All of it’s going to come,” Rose said. “It’s all about putting your game back together, too. It’s the first time I’ve had surgery on my face, so that’s something different. The depth perception of the rim is a little bit thrown off, so I’m dealing with that. It’s all going to come to me. Like I said, I’m happy the way I’ve been working out every day, getting the most out of every day. I’ve been going hard.”

Until the vision comes back, Rose is more than willing to be primarily a playmaker. He’s urged Jimmy Butler to shoot more, and he’s trying to feed Pau Gasol in the post as opposed to looking for his own shot. But in order for the Bulls to be their best, he needs to be an attacker.

“Ever since I’ve been in the league, it’s been like whenever I have the ball, it’s like, ‘Don’t let him get to the rim,’” Rose said Sunday. “It’s like a contain type of blitz where Pau keeps getting open shots or any pick-and-roll I have, the big is going to have the shot more often than I do.”

Gary Dineen/Getty Images

Despite their up-and-down play, the Bulls are 7-3 heading into the annual “circus trip,” their first extended stretch of road games of the year. It’s going to be a test not just for Rose, but for the Bulls. Three of the four games on the trip are against playoff contenders (the Phoenix Suns, Golden State Warriors and a rematch with the Pacers).

It’s as good a time as any for Rose to put together a solid stretch of games, to build on what he showed Monday night before the ankle injury. But all of that depends on his vision improving, and so far, that process has been frustratingly slow.

“You kind of have that hope in your mind that it gets well a lot quicker,” Rose said. “But for this to be seven or eight [weeks] out and still the same way, I can’t do nothing but live with it. Get the most out of every day, keep putting my deposits in and keep working on my game until my eye gets better. I’m loving the way I’m working out. I’m loving the way that we’re playing.

“We’re winning games, so that’s the only thing I’m worried about. Everything else will come.”

Sean Highkin covers the Chicago Bulls for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.