Rose's vision still an issue
Derrick Rose has an excuse for not being able to shoot straight.
His field-goal percentage through nine games is a disappointing .359. But it's not easy being accurate with blurry vision, and that condition could continue deep into the season.
“They said it could be as a long as three months,” Chicago Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said Sunday at the Advocate Center. “But it's continuing to improve and that's obviously a positive.”
Rose said he wasn't aware of the three-month prognosis, which conceivably would take him to the all-star break with damaged vision. Rose suffered a fractured orbital bone beneath his left eye on Sept. 29, which caused the persistent problem.
“Nah, this is my first time hearing about (the three month estimate),” Rose said. “You kind of have that hope in your mind that it gets well a lot quicker, but for this to be seven or eight (weeks) out and still the same way, I can't do nothing but live with it.
“I'm loving the way I'm working out. I'm loving the way that we're playing. We're winning games, so that's the only thing I'm worried about. Everything else will come.”
When the regular season began, Rose said he was basically playing with one eye closed, because he would get double-vision on the left side.
“I'm playing with both of them open now, but it's still blurry when I look certain ways,” he said. “That's part of it, I guess.
“The depth perception of the rim, my eyes are thrown off. I'm finding ways around it, but there's no excuses. I'm not going to blame anything on it. I just know it's part of the process and something I have to deal with.”
Rose seemed to be on his way back to strong shooting with 29 points, including 10 in a row in the fourth quarter, when the Bulls beat Oklahoma City on Nov. 5.
Since then, it has been more of the blur. Rose scored in double figures three times but connected on just 13 of 41 shots (31.7 percent) in those three contests. At the same time, his assists are up, with 8 in each of the last two games.
“I'm trying to get (Jimmy Butler) to shoot more, man, especially with what I'm dealing with,” Rose said. “Certain games, I'm going to have it. Other games, I'm not. I know it's part of the process.
“In a game, sometimes it's (frustrating), because I'm missing a lot of shots that I normally hit — floaters or layups. But everything else will come. I'm getting my legs under me. It's still preseason for me, the (ninth) game. So I'm still warming up.”
• Get the latest Bulls news via Twitter by following @McGrawDHBulls.