Rose-y Practices for Team USA

It all started with a simple Vine of Derrick Rose driving to the hoop and throwing down a sick dunk in his first practice with Team USA.  This was the first time in quite awhile any media had been allowed access to Rose's post-rehab workouts, so the newest information possible was key to the image making its way around social media.  The ending to this story remains to be written, but for now, the images and lauding from the team's coaches have caused a small, but noticeable upturn on public opinion of Rose.

Assistant Jim Boeheim had the most noticeable praise for Rose, calling him his "biggest surprise coming in here."  Head coach Mike Krzyzewski has gotten in on it too, saying he was "absolutely terrific these first two days."  We all know what assistant Tom Thibodeau would say about his star point guard, so I think these acclaims from two of the top college coaches in the country will do.

Rose has said his whole purpose for this international tournament and the coming NBA season is to prove the "doubters" wrong.  If you've read this blog enough, you'll know I've typically been one of the first to come to Rose's defense when he's been the subject of large amounts of criticism.  So obviously, this comes as a refreshing breath of air.  It feels like it's been months since anything good was said about Rose among the media or fans.  I will make no apologies for sticking by Rose, even when some of the things these "doubters" said about him were merited.

Of course, it's going to take some time for that criticism to subside enough.  Recent polls and sports talk radio suggest some people still aren't ready to forgive Rose for all the drama of the past two seasons and others don't think he'll ever return to level he once played at.  That should not have been unexpected.  Rose has not yet accomplished anything meaningful except show the world a glimpse of what he can do when he was completely healthy.  Whether the 2010-11 MVP version cannot be determined yet.  A couple of practices open to everyone give us too small of a sample size to make any sound judgments on who this Rose is.  Maybe the coming tournament will clarify things a little more.

At the very least, we have to admire Rose for going on this mission for himself.  The mindset of all NBA players, but especially NBA stars, is that they're never good enough, so they always have to improve themselves.  Rose's situation is slightly different in that he's looking to be healthy long enough that he can still be one of the top stars in this league.  Regardless, he's taking on the challenge and won't be backing off on it.  This coming season and this world tournament mean too much for him to just go through the motions.  Just maybe, that can give us hope that whatever unfolds in the next several months will be something special.