Rose situation being badly mishandled
Initially, I thought the Bulls were handling the Derrick Rose injury well.
But recently things have changed dramatically.
It’s more like major mishandling.
For the first Bulls playoff game, Rose, in a beautiful suit and diamond earring, looked every bit the part of a front office employee. He sure didn’t look like the leader of the Bulls.
After reading various columns and hearing assorted comments, it seems to me that the Bulls are keeping fans and media at bay with scattered information. They say Rose knows his body, and bulls coach Tom Thibodeau states Rose is 95 percent but can’t get over that final hurdle.
I think it’s a farce that Rose is trotted out like a show pony and shoots hoops before the game, but then marches in at game time to change into a snazzy suit to sit on the bench.
Can you even imagine Michael Jordan when he had his foot injury getting in uniform to shoot in the pregame warm-up and then parking himself on the bench just to watch?
Absolutely no way that would ever happen.
I wonder what Bears Hall-of-Famer Gale Sayers thinks of this situation. When Sayers blew out his knee in the late 1960s, the very next year he led the league in rushing, averaging 4.2 yards a carry. He had to change his style by running inside the tackles.
I don’t see Sayers getting into his uniform before the game and tossing the ball around and then telling Bears coach George Halas he was only 95 percent and couldn’t play. He would’ve been ripped by the owner and the fans.
Bears QB Jay Cutler didn’t play in the second half of a playoff game after injuring his knee and got ripped for weeks — and it still haunts him.
Why is it perfectly fine for D-Rose to sit on his tail and collect millions?
Basketball TV analyst and former NBA head coach Jeff Van Gundy speculated earlier this week on Mad Dog Radio that there could be something else involved. What it could be, I don’t know, so why doesn’t D-Rose hold a news conference with the head coach and Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf and make a statement.
What is going on right now is embarrassing. I used to call Luol Deng soft, but was I wrong. Joakim Noah, Deng and the rest of the guys are hurt, tired, undermanned and probably aren’t even close to 95 percent — but Rose has to wait until he’s 100 percent.
I sure can’t get him to come back to play, but I can make adjustments in my columns. Until further notice, Derek Rose will no longer be called a superstar, field general or warrior. Just star will do.
Until now that was unthinkable.
White Sox contest winners:Thanks again to all the readers who emailed me about attending the White Sox game. We are going Thursday night and the winners are Jim Bowe, Mark Baumbach and Debbie Kaminski. Congratulations. I am looking forward to a fun night at the park.Program note:Watch me on #147;Mancow#148; on WPWR Channel 50 at 6 a.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.Ÿ Mike North#146;s column appears each Tuesday and Friday in the Daily Herald, and his video commentary can be found Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at dailyherald.com. For more, visit northtonorth.com.