Should Derrick Rose Comeback and Play? Or Should he just announce that he is officially out for the rest of the season. I didn't think this was much of a topic, but every time I've turned on talk radio in Chicago since March this exact question comes up all the time.
Before the season, I personally didn't think it was a big deal if he made it back this season or not. With a healthy Rose the Bulls were still going to struggle against the Heat. I always thought when he is fully healthy he should come back. However, when you've been medically cleared for months and apparently are tearing it up in practice, people wonder why he still isn't dressing.
Now it is being suggested that he come back and play a couple of minutes a night. This I can get behind. He should try to get some of the rust off his game and no one is going to criticize him if he plays 10 minutes, and scores 0 points. If that happens next fall, that's a different story. He's been medically cleared so playing a couple of minutes shouldn't be a big deal was my thinking. Then I read Bill Simmons 2 part article, "30 Questions about Round 1 of the Playoffs."
To pull a Simmons "Quick Tangent"
The best part of reading this article was when he posted it, the Celtics had won 2 in a row and Bill was drinking his own Boston Cool-Aide like Crazy. Boston's going to beat New York, 2nd time in a decade Boston has come back from down 3-0 to New York blah blah blah. Well I didn't read this until Sunday when the Celtics have already been eliminated. So that was fun.
Quick Tangent on the Tangent
Not that this is Bash Bill Simmons time (for that please check out these funny guys at
http://firejaymariotti.blogspot.com/ ) but there was another great drinking his own Boston Cool-Aide moment.
"Even if Kevin Garnett played only six years in Boston, there's a 100
percent chance he's getting his number retired there. He's a true Celtic
in every sense."
Kevin Garnett, the Minnesota Timberwovles' All-Time Leading Scorer, Rebounder, Shot Blocker, Assists, Steals, Games, Minutes, and has played in every T-Wolves playoff game ever. Celtic 4-Life
Back to the story.
From Simmons Article
Q: Can you hold it against Derrick Rose for not coming back?
Absolutely not. See, Gilbert Arenas affected the NBA in four ways …
1. He's the first NBA star who tapped into the potential of
connecting with fans on the Internet (with his groundbreaking Agent Zero
blog). Then Twitter happened, and Facebook, and Instagram, and now
we're at a point where Kobe could run for president because he's so good
at social media. In fact, I think I'd vote for him in 2016. As long as
he wasn't running with Dwight Howard.
2. After he bolted Golden State for the Wizards, they named a rule
after him — the Gilbert Arenas provision, which makes it easier for
teams to sign their own restricted free agents who were second-round
picks.
3. They also named three unwritten rules after him: "Don't bet large
sums of money with teammates during poker games on chartered flights,"
"Don't bring guns into the locker room for any reason," and "Don't give
someone a massive nine-figure contract if you're not positive he's
healthy."
4. He's the all-time "came back too soon" cautionary tale for anyone
who suffered a major knee injury. Gilbert tore a meniscus near the tail
end of the 2006-07 season, came back too soon, reinjured it in November,
missed much of the season, came back too soon a second time, reinjured
his knee in the playoffs, came back too soon the following fall, had a
third surgery, and ended up playing 15 games total in two years. Make no
mistake — he was NEVER the same.
Now? He's a cautionary tale, the name that floats through the head of
any player who wants to keep pushing himself to play, feels really good
… but doesn't totally trust his knee yet. Magic Johnson's biggest
professional regret is coming back too soon during the 1981 season. He
knew his surgically repaired knee didn't feel right, but as Magic tells
it, you start feeling that pressure from every direction. Fans,
teammates, coaches, the owner, you name it. And it's not even
intentional. Might even be something as simple as someone saying, "How's
the knee feeling?," only they make eye contact for an extra second and
you start thinking, Does he not believe me? You get in your own
head. You feel guilty all the time. Your confidence is shaken. You can't
do the one thing that always came easiest to you. So you start pushing
yourself to come back, tricking yourself, convincing yourself to feel a
certain way. And that's when you can get in trouble.
As Magic put it, When you're ready, you know. If you're wondering even a little? Then you don't know.
I think that's where Derrick Rose is right now. He's in his own head.
He doesn't totally trust his knee yet. His hammies still hurt. And yet …
he feels horrible that he can't help his team. So he's vacillating, and
fortunately, GILBERT ARENAS keeps flashing through his head in all
caps. Over everything else, that's Arenas's real legacy. Nobody wants to
be The Next Guy Who Came Back Too Soon.
I like that last Magic quote the best and that's the reason why I'm ok with Derrick not coming back or coming back whenever he wants.
My hope is that he's been fine all along, but knew the Bulls could make it to play the Heat in the playoffs and is just waiting. Either in Game 1 or in Game 3 (to do it in front of the home crowd) Rose is going to come back and score 50 as the Bulls destroy the Heat and cruise to a title.
Yup I'm a Meathead
