Rose May Practice Soon? Stop the Presses!

I'm breaking my rule on not writing about Derrick Rose's recovery unless there's a major development.  Why?  Look no further than the back page of today's Sun-Times.  Rose's picture is on there with the headline "Christmas Wish".  The sub-headline mentions that his teammates expect him to be practicing before the end of the calendar year.  Stories have mentioned he's mere weeks from it.  Then today, Tom Thibodeau told the media he wouldn't expect that.  I hope he's put a stop to the brief nonsense this "story" caused.

Yes, Rose has begun cutting on his repaired knee and sprinting.  Yes, that's an encouraging sign.  But as Chicago sports fans typically like to do, a few made it out to be something better than it actually was.  In fact, one of my high school friends posted about this on Facebook and concluded his post by saying "we going to the Finals."  I don't know if he was just kidding or dead serious, but I know that there's a better chance the Bears win this year's Super Bowl than the Bulls even win the East. 

We all know the Bulls need a second scoring option along with a healthy Rose to be a contender again.  I'll bypass that issue right now in favor of the current one.  Whether Rose returns to the lineup in February, March or even late January, nothing about this team's aspirations is going to change much.  I know I'm probably preaching to the choir here, but Rose will be at a bit of a disadvantage against players who have been playing for months.  Better players are licking their chops at the prospect.  As much as they respect the 2011 MVP, none of that matters if they're on the same court as him.  They'll leave nothing back and drop 30 points if possible.

At least when Michael Jordan returned in 1995, he wasn't coming off a debilitating injury like he did during his sophomore campaign, which was abbreviated by a broken foot.  He was still in athletic shape thanks to baseball in '95.  Broken feet don't take as much time to heal as a torn ACL.  That's why Jordan looked as fresh as ever when he came back each time.  Rose has a greater mountain to climb.  How long it will take is anyone's guess, but it's not debatable that he won't have enough to win a title this year, especially with the current roster.

Back-to-back nights mean back-to-back divisional games for the Bulls.  I'll be posting after both beginning with tonight's home matchup against the Indiana Pacers, the preseason favorites in the Central.  Marco Belinelli will start in place of Rip Hamilton, who won't play for a few games as he deals with his foot injury.  These two teams have had some serious blood the past couple of years, so this one should be entertaining.  Time for the Bulls to make a statement.