Westerlund: Derrick Rose's Bumpy Road Continues
By Cody Westerlund-
CHICAGO (CBS) – Since the outset of training camp, the Bulls have held firm in their belief that point guard Derrick Rose's game would round back into form following season-ending knee injuries in consecutive seasons.
Coach Tom Thibodeau time and again has explained there would be bumps in the road in the comeback. Teammates have given Rose the utmost support, telling him to stay true to himself. For his part, Rose has always outwardly exuded confidence in his abilities.
Such conviction is being put to the utmost test now, the long road more winding than expected and not simply cast off by saying it's "still early."
As the championship-aspiring Bulls fell 97-77 to a bad Jazz team on Wednesday night at the United Center, it wasn't their worst performance of the season that was particularly worrisome. Duds happen now and then even for the NBA's elite, and so long as they aren't coming in April and beyond, it's best to put little stock into them.
It was the play of Rose that continues to befuddle. He shot just 3-of-15 and scored seven points, missing floaters, shorting layups, getting blocked and not finding his outside shot. That extended his shooting slump to six games, a span in which he's shot 28-of-110 from the field, a mark of 25.5 percent.
Rose hasn't shot 50 percent from the field since Christmas Day.
"That's basketball," Rose said. "Shots aren't going to fall, that's just part of the game. When they start falling, things will change. Who knows. I'm going to continue to shoot my shots."
Rose also spoke of how the energy for the Bulls was missing – "lethargic," as coach Tom Thibodeau said. Those words were true but also felt hollow from Rose, who as the big-money point guard needs to be the one to provide a jolt in such situations if Chicago's to reach its ultimate goal.
For Rose, that's the most alarming indicator that goes beyond mere shooting struggles. For those who watch closely on a nightly basis, Rose has too often appeared to be driving a stick shift in the past two weeks. Sometimes he's in a low gear, sometimes he ramps it up to fifth gear.
Sometimes his game is just stalled, and he's simply not engaged. That's what Wednesday felt like.
"You have to have a mindset that you don't take possessions off, and you fight through everything," Thibodeau said. "And you do it day after day after day – and that's what championship teams do. That's what we aspire to. That's what we're going to have to do. In terms of where he is right now, I think he's making steady progress. He hasn't shot the ball well, but he's run the team very well."
One of Thibodeau's preaching points is for players to find a way to affect a game positively even if they're not shooting well. Heck, it's basically the explanation for his reliance on Kirk Hinrich so much.
Rose didn't do that Wednesday (to be fair, no one beside Jimmy Butler, Pau Gasol and Taj Gibson really did), and that's a step that looms significant as well. Thibodeau always want him to attack offensively, but Rose also needs be far more engaged defensively.
Several times Wednesday, Rose simply was in no man's land as his man cut elsewhere, and his ball pressure has often lacked.
"You have to understand, he's been out two-and-a-half years," Thibodeau said. "You get away from that competition for two-and-a-half years, it doesn't come back (immediately). That's something, you have to compete in practice. You have to compete in getting yourself ready. You have to keep going. There's going to be some bumps in the road. As long as he keeps stringing games together, he'll figure it out. I have lots of confidence in him … It's not an easy thing."
In the fourth quarter of Monday's inspired win against the Rockets, Rose played tenacious defense on Patrick Beverley down the stretch after the latter had arguably outperformed him. Rose's on-ball defense was a vital reason the Houston was held to just seven points in the final seven minutes.
It reminded of Rose playing so well in going head-to-head against John Wall in a win at Washington in December. When challenged individually or called on to come through in crunch time, Rose has answered the call.
So it – the return to an elite level, the ability to lead – is in Rose. It's just a matter of consistency, which he's not displaying right now, on either side of the ball.
"You have to play hard every night," Thibodeau said. "That's a habit to build it. It comes through your work. Yeah, he's capable of doing that, and our team is capable of doing that."
Cody Westerlund is a sports editor for CBSChicago.com and covers the Bulls. Follow him on Twitter @CodyWesterlund.
