Bulls' Rose: 'Just building strength,' no set return date
MILWAUKEE — Derrick Rose made it sound as though he's close to returning from his latest knee injury, but he didn't give much insight Wednesday about when his return to game action might happen.
Rose spoke to reporters after the morning shootaround at the Bradley Center. The last time he played was Feb. 23 against Milwaukee at the United Center.
“Just building strength,” Rose said. “Just trying to take care of my body, hydrate, but strength has to be there.”
He also mentioned conditioning as another missing component. Wednesday's game against the Bucks was the 18th Rose has missed due to arthroscopic surgery on his right knee.
“That's the last thing that I'm missing I would say, my wind,” Rose said. “But that comes with not playing, running around and just doing rehab and doing isolation stuff so just got to move around a little bit more.”
Rose was cleared for full-contact practice Monday, so he now has had two chances to scrimmage, plus whatever they did at Wednesday's shootaround.
“I was able to get to the spots,” he said. “It's just that making shots and just getting the wind to actually run up and down, that's the hardest thing. But as far as playing a game or trying to come back full strength and all that, that's going to come.
“My rhythm of the game will come. It just takes me being out there and actually playing.”
Based on that comment, it sounds like Rose wants to get back on the floor as soon as possible. The Bulls' next game is Friday against Detroit at the United Center. After that, they have three straight road games in Cleveland, Orlando and Miami.
Rose didn't want to speculate, though, on when the return to game action might happen.
“I haven't even thought about it. Just been worrying about rehab,” he said. “Who knows? Who knows?”
New starting point for Bucks:
Heading into Wednesday's game, Milwaukee was 5-12 with point guard Michael Carter-Williams in the lineup. The Bucks had a 30-23 record when they sent Brandon Knight to Phoenix and acquired Carter-Williams from Philadelphia.
“I think it's just a matter of time,” Bucks coach Jason Kidd said before the game. “In-season trades are always hard, no matter who you are. For a 23-year-old who just won rookie of the year, it's probably been tough the last couple of weeks.
“But you can see that he's been a plus on the floor for us. He's getting better, and he's going to make his teammates better.
“We were playing at a very high level, which the outsiders didn't think we could do. So there's going to be a point in the season where you're going to slow down, things are going to be tough. You've got to learn from it, and that's what we're going through right now.”
Thibs calls for time:
Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau had the usual vague answer when asked about Derrick Rose's progress.
“He's just building,” Thibodeau told reporters at the morning shootaround. “He needs a little time. But each day is better and better.
“It's a process he has to go through. He's got to get through some practices first and then when he's good with that, we'll go to the next step.”