Returning This Year? Not So Fast

We just can't stay away from Derrick Rose news.  For those unaware, I have a rule of avoiding it unless there's a major breakthrough.  Going from one step to the next in practices doesn't count.  However, what we have now is probably as close to major news as we've gotten in some time.

After telling USA Today Sports he wasn't close to returning, Rose gave some time after last night's Celtics loss to local reporters, some of whom were miffed about being snubbed by the former MVP.  What he told them was enough to make it a "developing story" on SportsCenter.  He reiterated what he had just made public and was quoted as saying "I don't mind missing this year."  Not since "Why can't I be MVP of the league?" has a Rose quote garnered so much media attention and fan reaction.  The press is just doing its job while many fans aren't happy with what they've heard after previous assumptions Rose would be back sometime during the second half.

Almost from the time Rose went down in last year's playoffs, my dad has not backed off on his belief that Rose will not suit up at all this season.  Until now, he's been in a rather small minority.  That got even smaller when Adrian Peterson recently had an MVP season in the NFL mere months after having his own ACL repaired.  Now that we know the feelings of the man himself, many aren't so sure we'll see him in a game before next preseason.  He says he can't dunk, giving an indication that any excitement of seeing him sooner rather than later has been premature.  So, perhaps, was "The Return."  Maybe it's time for Adidas to order a second season.

I won't lie.  It stung me to hear this as much as anyone else.  I'm always an optimist, though I've known from the beginning of the year Rose won't be the same player right away.  We should have expected a first-person progress report soon with the All-Star break looming.  Does that make the news easier to take?  Not a chance.  Any comic book with Superman crippled is difficult to read.  That's why we hate to see the greatest Bull in the lifetime of the youngest fans deliver this punch himself.

We knew this season was a lost cause, even during last year's playoffs.  Rose is the only player on this team who can create his own shot.  While Luol Deng and Joakim Noah earned their All-Star berths, they don't fall under the secondary scoring option category, which everyone knows by now hurts the Bulls.  Quite a few fans have already declared they won't get their hopes up for anything until that problem is fixed.  Rose is out, so you might as well start thinking about next year, they say.

Whenever Rose returns should factor into whether he alone feels he can return (and perhaps Jerry Reinsdorf as well), not so he can make a futile playoff push.  Listening to his fans or his shoe company would only cause problems.  If the towel's already been thrown, the rush isn't there.  The Bulls have already put on a good showing without him, so they can at least look competitive to the rest of the league.  Right now, they would at least like to get past the first round.  Beating Miami in a seven-game series is impossible, but can they at least make them work should they meet?  Those questions will be answered, with or without Rose.

Hang in there, Derrick.  Your fans and this city are praying for your complete recovery.  Don't listen to anybody rushing you.  We'll watch the games.  Just focus on you.  You've earned the right, now use it.