Imrem: Bulls' Rose still not making any promises
Basketball isn't the only game that Derrick Rose isn't playing these days.
The Bulls' injured point guard won't play the public-relations game, either.
Rose met the media Monday night for the first time since his most recent knee surgery.
Inquiring minds wanted to hear the same thing they wanted to hear after Rose's previous two knee surgeries.
They wanted to hear Rose say that he's pushing his body to dangerous limits to return to the lineup sooner than humanly possible.
They wanted to hear Rose issue a defiant, “Yes, I'll definitely be back this postseason to complement teammates on the court rather than compliment them from the bench.”
They wanted to hear that nothing — not doctors, pain, Bulls management, basketball gods or a court order — will deter him this time.
Rose didn't even have to mean it. The Q. and A. between athletes and media is generally little more than a slow dance anyway.
Still, Rose insists on dancing only to his own beat than to yours or mine.
The best Rose offered was that he does want to get back and there's a good chance he will.
“I'll listen to my body,” Rose said.
To his critics, that sets off blaring sirens, flashing red lights and pit bulls nipping at sensibilities.
When Rose listens to his body, the traditional message is that he should be selfish, take his time, wait to be somewhere between 200 percent and 300 percent ready.
Never mind that the Chicago sports greats Rose would like to join — like Michael Jordan and Walter Payton — would have rushed back because that's who they were.
Rose will move at his own deliberate pace, which might frustrate fans again or surprise them for a change.
Does Rose expect to be back for the playoffs? “I think so,” he said when the correct answer was, “I will be if it kills me.”
Rose also said, “That's the plan” instead of “That's a lock” and “It's a good chance” instead of “You can bet on it.”
Look, it's easy to nitpick with everything Rose said. He brought it on himself all the way back to his first surgery in the spring of 2012.
Doctors cleared Rose to play after a reasonable rehab period, but he declined the invitation, leaving teammates to plod along without him.
Rose hasn't done anything dubious since, but that first post-surgery approach has stalked him ever since.
This time, Bulls general manager Gar Forman said shortly after Rose's surgery that the former league MVP should be ready to play again in four to six weeks.
Four weeks would be with nine games left in the regular season; five would be with seven games left; six would be with three games left.
Any of those scenarios would give Rose at least a little time to blend back with teammates before the playoffs.
Is Rose bothered at all that management slapped a timeline — perhaps with some pressure — on his comeback?
“Who cares?” Rose said. “I'm not thinking about that.”
Later he added, “Whenever I'm ready to come back I'm going to come back” and “It's all about how I'm feeling at the time.”
It wouldn't be hard to read into it that if Rose isn't feeling how he wants to feel, he might not be on the court until next autumn or later this decade.
The good news: Rose said he feels good. The bad news: He offered no promises.
Derrick Rose will play the game again sometime — the game of basketball — but don't expect him to ever play that other game.