Bulls celebrate D-Rose's 26th birthday
A celebration was in order at Saturday's Bulls practice.
Derrick Rose turned 26, which might be hard to believe for some local fans who will always remember him as the homegrown No. 1 draft pick who joined the Bulls just a year after leaving Simeon Career Academy.
Rose didn't speak to reporters following practice at the Advocate Center, but Joakim Noah mentioned some dissatisfaction with the birthday festivities.
"We made the rookies sing a cappella," Noah said. "I was disappointed a little bit in the rookies. Not a lot of passion. Head down while they were singing. I was looking for some eye contact. They'll figure it out."
There are three rookies on the roster - Doug McDermott, Cameron Bairstow and Nikola Mirotic. Only one of the three grew up in the U.S., so maybe there's a lack of confidence with singing "Happy Birthday."
On the bright side, Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau talked about Rose shaking off a little more of the rust during Saturday's scrimmage-heavy practice.
"For Derrick, today was probably his best day thus far," Thibodeau said. "There was a lot of 5-on-5, we scrimmaged a little bit more. So I think that was good for him. We played 1-on-1 type stuff. It was good and he's got to get used to that again.
"You can run on a treadmill, you can run on a track. You can do all that stuff, but that's not going to prepare you for what you're going to be doing in an NBA game."
Earlier in the week, Thibodeau talked about how Rose is still getting used to taking contact on the basketball court. On Saturday, Thibodeau tried to convince his audience this is no cause for alarm.
By mentioning contact, Thibodeau isn't talking about Rose driving to the basket and getting clobbered. He means the usual grind of being guarded closely in the NBA.
"You can't move from point A to point B without a body being on you," Thibodeau said. "That's why the USA Basketball stuff was so important for him, to get used to having contact. The more he does it, the better it is for him, the more you're starting to see the rust come off.
"Now you're starting to see him make some of the plays he's capable of making and he's starting to get a little bit of a rhythm. He's starting to shoot the ball better, which we anticipated. That's why him practicing and practicing hard is so important for him."
The Bulls will get one more practice Sunday before opening the preseason with back-to-back games - at home Monday against Washington, followed by a trip to Detroit on Tuesday.
In theory, Rose will have a better supporting cast around him this season, with the addition of Pau Gasol inside and some promising outside shooters. So another adjustment for Rose is figuring out the proper scoring-to-playmaking ratio.
"He's going to do whatever the team needs him to do," Thibodeau said. "I think we do have more shooting. We have another guy in Pau we can throw the ball inside to. We can throw Jo the ball at the elbow. So there's a little more flexibility."
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