Bulls' Rose happy with way he's managing his health
Derrick Rose looked great Monday against Detroit, after missing time with two sprained ankles, but should we be worried about his killer instinct?
With just less than a minute remaining in the 102-91 victory, Rose knocked down the clinching basket, a pullup jumper in the lane over smaller ex-teammate D.J. Augustin.
Asked if he had anything to say after getting the best of Augustin, Rose quickly replied, “No, it was his birthday. I didn't want to do that.”
Augustin turned 26 on Monday and played well against his former team, scoring 16 points. But Rose took home the best gift, a victory that bumped the Bulls to 6-2.
Rose was aggressive throughout the game, attacking the basket and pushing the ball on the break. He finished with 24 points and 7 rebounds after missing four of the five previous games with the ankle injuries.
“I feel good. I'm just happy I took those days off,” Rose said after Tuesday's brief practice at the Advocate Center. “I really got some lifts in and got my body together and just tried to continue to be positive and keep things going.”
Rose said he could tell right away this game was going to be different from Milwaukee last week, when he served as more of a game manager, especially after landing on an opponent's foot and aggravating the sore ankles.
The 24 points against Detroit was his highest output in a regular-season game since April 8, 2012, when he scored 29 in a loss to the Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
“I think I'm close (to 100 percent). It's just getting game-time reps,” he said. “Everything that you see I'm doing now, adding the midrange, adding the floater. (I'm) missing them right now, but at least I'm getting up those shots. I know I'm going to have games where offensively I'm going to be great.”
But Rose also appreciates the knowledge that he doesn't have to dominate games for the Bulls to win. Even with a couple of 20-point games under his belt, Rose is the team's third-leading scorer, behind Jimmy Butler and Pau Gasol.
“For sure, I pick and choose, especially with this team,” he said. “I can go a game scoring 8 to 10 points and we can still win pretty big, especially if everybody's playing right. I think I'm my most aggressive probably in the first third (of the game) and at the end of the fourth.
“Those are my spots, and I think my teammates are getting used to it.”
Coming back from two knee surgeries and nearly two missed seasons, no one wanted to see Rose miss four early games with sprained ankles. But in Monday's game, and before he got hurt against Cleveland on Oct. 31, Rose has been very much his old self.
In fact, he might turn out to be an improved version of his old self. He still has the speed and athleticism. He has added a little more game savvy, better 3-point shooting and even scored in the post a couple of times against Augustin.
“I've been managing myself pretty good,” he said. “I know a lot of people have been mad when they see me sit out or whatever. But I think a lot of people don't understand … when I sit out, it's not because of this year. I'm thinking about long term.
“I'm thinking about after I'm done with basketball, having graduations to go to and having meetings to go to. I don't want to be in my meetings all sore or be at my son's graduation all sore, just because of something I did in the past. So just learning and being smart.”
Of course, Rose's son, Derrick Jr., is still a few years away from preschool graduation. That comment came from left field, but it does show he has the big picture in mind.
Replace being healthy for his son's graduation with being healthy for the Eastern Conference finals and all Bulls fans will surely be onboard with the long-term plan.
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