Oh Bother

Derrick Rose's grandmother gave him the nickname "Pooh" when he was little, so the title of this post is appropriate under the circumstances.  It's been roughly 24 hours since we were all subjected to one of the darkest images in Bulls history:  one that ranks up there with Jordan's retirement(s) and Hue Hollins' phantom foul call.  Rose felt a pain in his knee during midflight of a drive and everyone immediately feared the worst.  Even watching on TV, one could recognize the air had been sucked out of the United Center.  Just a few hours later, those worries came true with the news that Rose had torn his ACL and will miss the rest of the playoffs, the Olympics and most likely the start of next season.

I'm not going to point fingers here, like some people are at Tom Thibodeau for leaving in his star in the closing moments of a game that appeared to be decided.  Strictly for the reasons of getting back in sync and keeping the pressure on Philadelphia for the next game, I agree with his decision.  Unless it's blatently obvious, I don't believe pointing fingers at one particular person for a disaster is a good idea.  I really think people do it just to feel better about the situation and they need somebody to blame because it's easy to do so.  They won't admit one thing, so they turn to another.  Regarding this situation, those making Thibodeau a scapegoat need to shut their mouths.  I've already said why, but I'll add that the 76ers were making a run.  You want this series over in four or five games and you don't want to set them up in a position to steal Game 2 on your home court.  This could have happened to anyone at anytime.  It just happened to occur under Thibodeau's watch at the worst possible time.  No way to predict these things.

When it comes to watching sports in general, I tend to be an optimist, the half-full side of the glass analogy.  It's what keeps me going as a fan.  However, even the most positive Bulls fans have to admit that once Rose's season died, the 2012 championship dreams died with it.  I've been saying throughout the year that the Bulls' ability to go far in the postseason depended on Rose's health.  That's gone now.  Without their leader and No. 1 player, this team has been downgraded from championship contender to highly competitive group in the East that can give fits to teams more equipped to go to the NBA Finals, but not get over the hump themselves.  They'll get past Philly and maybe even Boston (assuming they beat Atlanta), but it stops there.  Even with Rose in the lineup, playing Miami in a seven-game series was no gimme.  Many experts still had them falling to the "Hollywood as Hell" bunch.  With last year's MVP now out of the picture, beating the Heat has become impossible.  While C.J. Watson and John Lucas III are certainly capable of staying with those natives of South Beach during a 48-minute game, doing it over seven games is very tough.  They can have offensive spurts, but they lack the arsenal to do that consistently, a very valuable quality in Rose that has made this team tough to beat.  If the Bulls are to beat Miami in the conference finals, a LOT of things will need to bounce their way.  I just don't see it.  Like many of you, I was hoping to spend a nice hot morning in Grant Park this June with a large group of my Bulls bretheren, but those plans appear to have been put on hold for the forseeable future.

We know what's likely to become of the '11-'12 Bulls.  The same can't be said for Rose however.  Recovery time from an ACL tear varies for everyone who suffers it, but it's no fewer than six months.  That means we'd be very lucky to see him ready for next year's Opening Night.  He should be at full strength by the All-Star break, but will it be too late for the Bulls then?  If they've built their roster around him and Luol Deng is recovering from wrist surgery at the same time, that means fewer victories over the first half of the season, which can mean the difference between home-court advantage come next April.  This team might not be at full strength for a championship run again until season after next.

What about Rose's future?  Is he ever going to regain his explosiveness that has helped make him so special?  Will he have to reinvent his game in such a way that it alters his game significantly?  I get flashes of Gale Sayers asking these questions.  He suffered a devastating knee injury in the prime of his career and while he came back in a positive way, he was never quite the same.  Of course, sports medicine has evolved a lot in 45 years and Sayers was a football player, but I can't help but be reminded of that story.  Like everyone else who bleeds red, white and black, I hope Rose can at least approach what he has been up to this point in his young career.  If that explosiveness is no longer there or as effective, he needs to find another way to stay a star in this league. 

It's just not fair.  Rose was supposed to fit the role of a basketball icon remembered for generations.  He's supposed to retire having led the Bulls to a title or two and taken the NBA by storm.  His No. 1 needs to be raised to the United Center rafters before eventually being enshrined in Springfield.  Imagine if all of that potential was derailed because of one play, one move, one moment.  It can't happen.  Simply can't.  But as my buddy Lucas Mitzel told me after former North Central football star Shaun Wild was murdered this past February, life isn't fair and we have to play the cards we're dealt.

Nothing we can do now except watch the rest of the season play out.  I made a promise to post after every playoff game and I intend to keep it.  Besides, you never know when or if a lucky bounce will come.  It's happened in the NBA before.  It can happen again.