If Rose can play, he should play

Minute by minute, I think more and more that Tom Thibodeau must be as crazy as I am.

The Bulls' coach insanely plays the ailing Derrick Rose. He insanely plays Luol Deng enough minutes in regulation to qualify him for overtime pay. He insanely plays key rotation players with big leads and little time left in the game.

Yeah, so? Sounds a lot like what I would do as Bulls coach, yet fans and other media members howl their disapproval.

First of all, everybody knows Thibodeau is off kilter even without this issue. However, nobody is quite sure how far off kilter.

Take the man's reputation for endlessly watching tapes of bouncing basketballs. Does he really do that or does he doze off after a few minutes like most normal human beings would?

Heck, for all we know he sits in there alone so nobody can see him wiping his tears after slipping in a disc of “Sophie's Choice.”

None of us will know that, but what I do know is it was disappointing to see Thibodeau go a bit soft Friday night by holding out Rose as a precaution.

Sadly the new normal for athletic injuries is precaution.

Not even a stern taskmaster like Thibodeau is immune from spasms of belief that at less than 100 percent an athlete must be wrapped in Bubble Wrap and stored in a corner of the gym.

No harm, no foul this time. Just don't make a habit of it.

Today the Bulls play the more formidable — in theory anyway — Celtics at Boston. Thibodeau likely was intent on keeping Rose in one piece for what is expected to be a rare test for his team.

Still, whenever Rose can play he should play. This is a professional sport. Players get hurt, sometimes badly enough to end their seasons.

If that happens, it happens. If it costs a team a shot at a title, so be it. At least there's honor in going down while manning up, and there's next year to try it again.

That apparently is Thibodeau's general policy and should be because too many athletes are too protected.

Why? I guess because they make so much money now, or because they might tweak a boo-boo, or because they have a note from their mommies.

Fans complain a lot about athletes being pampered yet advocate them being treated like sniffling schoolkids until playoff time.

There simply isn't enough pressure — peer or public — in the NBA to keep players playing through what ails them.

Instead the approach is that even someone like Rose, who wants to play through his aches and pains, should be protected from himself.

This certainly is by this league's standards a rigorous season with a lot of games packed into a short period of time … blah-blah-blah.

Please, spare me the agony. This cautionary tale is just another example of athletes becoming like the hypochondriac office worker moaning in the next cubicle.

Doctors proclaim a player healthy yet there is an outcry over him daring to jeopardize his career and his team's championship hopes.

Please, give me a break. Thibodeau and I might be crazy, but our craziness does have limits.

Like, a doctor must clear a player to play; a minor injury must have no chance to become major if aggravated; and the player must be able to endure pain.

If all those qualifiers are met, both the sane and insane should understand that players should play if there's a game to be played.

mimrem@dailyherald.com