Difficult time for Rose’s Bulls teammates, too
This is a difficult time for Bulls fans but probably tougher for the players, who talked often about how their hard work would pay off with Derrick Rose back on the floor. Now Rose will miss the season after surgery to repair cartilage in his right knee.
“I know how much we were talking throughout the summer,” Luol Deng said after Monday’s overtime loss in Utah, according to bulls.com. “We did a better job this year than any other year keeping in touch and talking about how bad we want to win it all. We’re still going to fight for that. I feel bad (Rose) is not here. It’s just tough.”
Deng isn’t the only Bulls player feeling down about the injury.
“We were just starting to figure out how we were playing with Derrick in the lineup,” Kirk Hinrich said. “It seemed like we were starting to click with rotations. But that’s how it goes. Offensively (since), we’ve been terrible. We’re low energy and holding the ball, and when we do we’re not very good.”
Joakim Noah got a technical and later fouled out in overtime against the Jazz.
“We’ve got to snap out of it,” Noah told reporters after the game. “We’re human. We’re disappointed with the way we’re playing and everything that’s going on. I personally have to snap out of it and be a better leader. It’s a tough blow. We lost our best player for the year. But you know we have lots of guys here who are very capable players. We just have to play with more fire.”
Forman calls surgery a success:Derrick Rose#146;s latest injury, torn medial meniscus cartilage in his right knee, is not nearly as bad as the torn ACL in his left knee. General manager Gar Forman gave a report from Monday#146;s surgery.#147;The surgery was a huge success. We were all on the same page, from Derrick to us, that what was best for him was to get it repaired,#148; Forman said. #147;The knee will be stable and there won#146;t be any long-term effects as far as his career is concerned.#147;What sometimes gets lost in a story like this, there is a human element to it. So the first thing is our thoughts go to Derrick and his family. He fought so hard to get back, and it#146;s a tough blow for him to get hurt again.#147;That said, we all know what his makeup and character is and the determination he has. He#146;s going to have 100 percent recovery and be just fine.#148;JVG not optimistic:ESPN analyst Jeff Van Gundy had this to say on the air about the plight of the Bulls: #147;They know at the very best, they#146;re a lower-end playoff team that will most likely get beat in the first round. That#146;s got to be disheartening for a group to go through two years in a row.#147;But if they#146;re going to play well this year, (Luol) Deng, (Joakim) Noah, (Taj) Gibson and (Kirk) Hinrich all have to up their level of play. They#146;re capable of doing that.#148;