Rose one step closer to playing for Bulls again
Derrick Rose took the next step in his return from arthroscopic knee surgery when he participated in full contact practice on Monday at the Advocate Center.
"He was good today," coach Tom Thibodeau said after practice. "He was aggressive. The big thing is he was a little winded, but we expected that. But overall, I thought it was good. He said he feels good physically. The big thing is going to be the wind and conditioning. He's been out a long time."
Maybe the next step for Rose is to play in a 5-on-5 scrimmage. Monday, it was just 4-on-4 because a few players - Pau Gasol, Mike Dunleavy, Kirk Hinrich and Aaron Brooks - were given the day off. All four are expected to join practice on Tuesday.
Rose declined to speak to reporters, but teammate Joakim Noah summed up feelings about Rose's latest return from a knee injury.
"We know when Derrick's back right, he takes our team to whole other level," Noah said. "He knows that. We know that, but right now it's just about being healthy and being in good spirits. I think he did well (Monday). He's working hard. We're all working hard. It's good to have Derrick back."
Noah brought some comic relief to the questioning when he jumped on a question about whether Rose showed flashes of his old self during practice.
"It was his first 4 on 4 contact since surgery, so relax," Noah said, drawing laughs from his audience.
The natural question now is when will Rose play in a game? There's no answer yet. He's not likely to play Wednesday when the Bulls visit Milwaukee. Friday, when the Bulls host Detroit, will mark the five-week anniversary of Rose's surgery. His return to game action may not happen until some time next week, though.
"Well, this is the next step," Thibodeau said. "We'll know more as he goes forward. Obviously, he needs some practice time where he's taking contact.
"Ultimately, he's got to feel comfortable. You can't put him out there if he's not comfortable. That's the big thing. Each week he's done a lot more. This is the next step, so hopefully he'll be good."
The Bulls have eight games left in the regular season. The hope all along, once the surgery was completed, was for Rose to get a few games of playing time before the playoffs begin the weekend of April 18-19.
"As long as there's no setbacks, that's the plan," Noah said. "I know he's working hard. That's what it's all about."
Rose last played on Feb. 23 against Milwaukee at the United Center and has missed 17 games. The Bulls have gone 9-8 since Rose went out, but they were also missing top scorer Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson for much of that time. Both of those players are back on the floor and the Bulls have won five of their last six games.
Gasol wrote in his blog about how the players were devastated when they heard the news about Rose's latest knee injury. Now that he's back, does it give the team a lift?
"No question," Noah said. "(With) everything that he's gone through … when he gets hurt, it's not just him, it's on all of us. We all feel it. We're a family. We spend more time together than we do with our families.
"It hurts to see him go down or to see any of your guys go down. We know how much we put into this. To see him come back and be resilient like that, I think it makes our team stronger."
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