Derrick Rose is injured, again. The Chicago Bulls point guard made his triumphant return to the court after two years of knee injuries and looked healthy. He then sprained both ankles, tweaked his hamstring and then tweaked it again. Rose had returned after missing four games nursing an injured hamstring only to hurt it again in a loss to the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday. The point guard is downplaying the idea he suffered a setback.
The Bulls are listing Rose as having hamstring tightness. He exited the game in the first half and did not return as Chicago ended up losing 114-109. The point guard finished the day doing 1-for-4 for two points in 10 minutes on the floor. He claims it was a coach's decision to keep him out in the second half, but believes he will be fine to play in the next game.
"It wasn't nothing like I'm limping or I pulled it or anything, it wasn't any of that," Rose said, via ESPN.com. "It was just that I wasn't moving the way I wanted to while I was on the floor. So why push through it when I wasn't able to affect the game the way I wanted to? I came in here and talked to (Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau) and we both agreed on just sitting out. It's frustrating. But you can't let it get me down."
Frustrations are high with Rose. The point guard made his return against the Utah Jazz and Thibodeau expressed his frustrations about the fatigue Rose was showing. After not playing in four games, the point guard was clearly struggling, but managed 18 points in 25 minutes. Thibodeau says he simply needs to get out and play games, but injuries are preventing him from doing so.
"Oh, I don't know. Jesus. He's got to get out there and play," Thibodeau said. "I thought he did a lot of good things. You could see he's not real comfortable with the ball yet, but that will come. When Derrick strings some games together, he's going to take off. He's got to go."
The Bulls are dealing with multiple injuries that are hurting the team's success. Joakim Noah has knee issues. Taj Gibson is out with an ankle injury. Pau Gasol just returned from injury time. Could the Celtics make a trade to get help? Norris Cole is reportedly available with the Miami Heat. Nate Robinson is available and he has experience with the Bulls. Patrick Beverley could be a solid option or even JR Smith or Iman Shumpert from the New York Knicks could help with Rose being on and off the court. If the injuries continue, the Bulls will be forced to make a move.