Looking 'great,' Rose could return any day now
Here's the latest on Derrick Rose: He graduated from 4-on-4 scrimmaging to 5-on-5 scrimmaging Tuesday.
The Bulls held a few of the older players out of Monday's practice, which is why there were just eight players on the court.
On Tuesday, they had everyone except rookie Doug McDermott, who sat out with a sore back.
"I thought (Rose) looked good," Taj Gibson said after practice at the Advocate Center. "Real competitive. Talking trash just like he never left. We had some fun. He looked great."
Who even knew the notoriously quiet Rose talked trash in practice?
"He was more frustrated, more down on himself at times, making a couple tough plays, a couple missed shots," Gibson clarified. "But he was still in it. He looked great to me. Everybody was real excited to see him back. It's a good sign for our team."
Rose stuck around after practice for extra shooting but did not speak to reporters. He's not expected to play Wednesday at Milwaukee, but beyond that it's anyone's guess when Rose will return to game action. He had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee Feb. 27.
"I don't want to jump ahead," coach Tom Thibodeau said. "It's the second day of contact. Let him keep building. When he's feeling good enough to be out there, we'll go from there. Just go day by day."
Maybe this part is obvious, but Thibodeau does seem eager to get Rose back on the floor. The Bulls have eight games left in the regular season, so the sooner Rose plays, the more chances he will have to get back in a good rhythm and the Bulls will get more time to build continuity for the playoffs.
"When you miss the amount of time that he has missed, the big thing is the conditioning and the timing," Thibodeau said. "The only way he can get that is by being out there playing. He's done all the rehab work and all the strength work he needs to do.
"He's got to continue to do it obviously. But what he hasn't been able to do is play. And so being able to scrimmage now is key for him."
Thibodeau was able to make light of the situation when he was asked if Rose's team won Tuesday's scrimmages.
"I'll withhold comment," Thibodeau said with a smile. "Our second unit is playing well. … Actually, we divided it up so it wasn't a true first and second unit."
But Rose's team did lose. Gibson confirmed that part.
"We won. I didn't want to be on his team. I wanted to be against him," Gibson said. "But it was just fun to see him back out there pushing. A lot of times when guys get injuries, they shy away from pushing it.
"He was out there pushing himself extremely hard, yelling, just being a teammate the way he was before he left. It's good to have him back. Last year and the year before it was frustrating."
If Rose can complete a successful return, he will see his first playoff action since April 28, 2012, when he tore the ACL in his left knee in Game 1 of a first-round playoff series against Philadelphia. The Bulls have played their last 22 playoff games without him, winning just one out of four series.
The Bulls have talked about how working Rose back into the lineup shouldn't be a challenge, since they've done it before. Rose played in 46 of 57 games this season before this latest knee injury.
The soonest Rose could play is likely Friday against Detroit at the United Center. The return may not happen until next week, though.
"He just has to string some practices together," Thibodeau said. "(Monday), we established a baseline and keep building from there. It's just steady progress. He's got a long way to go. And we have to focus in on what our team needs to do."
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