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You can’t blame Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau for being a little annoyed at the Derrick Rose injury situation. He’s been patient for a few years now, when faced by the media but Rose’s latest injury lay-off has triggered Thibodeau to say what we’re all thinking.
THIBODEAU: ROSE HAS GOT TO GET OUT THERE AND PLAY
He’s been out for nearly two years, used the FIBA World Cup practically as a warm up, where he passed with flying colours. You would think Derrick Rose would be back to the form that saw him win the 2011 NBA MVP.
Nope.
A few more injury concerns have seen Rose sit on the sidelines some more and Thibs is a little pissed now. Rose returned to the line-up against Utah on Monday after missing the last four games.
Via ESPN:
Asked whether Rose looked fatigued in the second half of Monday’s game, something the 26-year-old discussed before Monday’s shootaround in regard to his muscle recovery after missing more than a week, Thibodeau chafed.
“Oh, I don’t know. Jesus. He’s got to get out there and play,” Thibodeau said. “I thought he did a lot of good things. You could see he’s not real comfortable with the ball yet, but that will come. When Derrick strings some games together, he’s going to take off. He’s got to go. That’s the bottom line. He’s got to go.”
As is always the case with the Bulls, Rose’s lingering status continues to hover over everything they do. Thibodeau is optimistic that both Rose and (Pau) Gasol will be able to play against the Nuggets in the back end of the back-to-back. […] “I would hope so,” Thibodeau said. “Jeez. We’ll see [Tuesday], I guess.”
TUESDAY AGAINST DENVER
Derrick Rose exits the game after 10 minutes on court. He left with a tight hamstring.
Via ESPN:
The Bulls officially listed the injury as left hamstring tightness, but Rose said after the game his hamstring was fine and he did not have a setback. He was “just trying to be smart” given his recent injury history.
“It wasn’t nothing like I’m limping or I pulled it or anything, it wasn’t any of that,” Rose said. “It was just that I wasn’t moving the way I wanted to while I was on the floor. So why push through it when I wasn’t able to affect the game the way I wanted to? I came in here and talked to (Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau) and we both agreed on just sitting out.”
Rose was 1-for-4 from the field for two points in 10 minutes, but was not aggressive when he was on the floor. Rose acknowledged that Thibodeau initiated the conversation at halftime and Rose agreed with his coach’s decision because he was having a hard time moving around on both ends of the floor against the Nuggets’ high-tempo offense.
“It’s frustrating,” Rose said. “But you can’t let it get me down. I know that at the end (the setbacks) are just going to be minor but it’s a long season and we just got to keep going and I know the team, they’re not worried about me. I should be good.”
The Bulls lost 114-109 to the Nuggets.
THE SIXERS HOLD A Q&A OVER THEIR 0-14 START
As the Sixers have one of the more passionate fanbases in the NBA, this was always going to be interesting.
Via NBA.com
The fan is polite, but smoldering. The subject — no surprise for a team that’s gone 10-36 at home the last 13 months — is season ticket prices. […] “A couple of years ago, you guys raised the prices when Andrew Bynum came here,” he tells the team’s chief executive officer. “And that didn’t work out. We paid for tickets, and then the [Jrue Holiday] trade happened. So we paid last year to watch nothing. And then this year, we bought tickets thinking we were gonna watch two lottery picks. The point is, we’re paying the same prices other people are paying … We’re paying what everybody is paying, and we’re watching three players out of 15 that would make [other] NBA teams.”
(CEO Scott O’Neil) had started this meeting with 17 disgruntled season ticket holders — 16 men and one woman — with a little joke. Rebuilding, he says, “has been a breeze.” […] “For you, not us,” comes the response from the crowd, loud, low and dead serious.
(O’Neil) tries to point out the similarities between what the 76ers are doing and what other teams went through in rebuilding. It took the Oklahoma City Thunder four seasons to win with Kevin Durant, he says. It took the Washington Wizards four seasons to win with John Wall. It took the Toronto Raptors four seasons to win with Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan. LeBron James, he says, wasn’t coming here. The Draft is the only way to build, O’Neil says. Unfortunately, it’s the longest way. […] More than a few of the season ticket holders are sympathetic. But more than a few aren’t.
