The Chicago Bulls have 16 games left in their season and have been without star guard Derrick Rose for the entire way through. Even after successful surgery to a torn ACL, Rose still doesn't feel like he's comfortable to take to the court for some real action.
According to the Chicago Tribune, Rose is back to sounding like a player who plans on sitting out the rest of the season, instead of putting himself at risk of another injury that will undoubtedly turn into another major setback for him, the Bulls and their fans.
"Whenever I'm ready, I'm going to be out there," Rose said after Thursday's morning shootaround at the Berto Center. "It can be tomorrow where I feel I can play next game. Nobody knows but God."
However, there's a plus side because according to Rose, he feels physically stronger from weightlifting and various core workouts, which he's been at for the past 10 months.
"I'm way stronger," He said. "Just seeing how I'm going to put that in my game, I don't know yet. When we're playing 5-on-5, I'm trying to pick the right spots and really find out how strong I am.
"During 5-on-5, I'm very comfortable when I'm out there playing, If anything, it's much easier because I can shoot the ball much better. Sometimes, you kind of think a little bit when I'm out there. That's when I know I'll be ready to play, when I'm out there not thinking but reacting."
If there's anything positive for fans to take from this it would be Rose's confidence that he'll return "a better player". He looks at his NBA peers like Timberwolves guard Ricky Rubio and Knicks guard Iman Shumpert returning from their ACL tears as beacon of hope of what could possibly be in his future.
"I'm just trying to stay focused," Rose said. "Try not to listen to a lot of the people on the outside and just do my job. My job is to come in and push hard every day. My trainers have been doing a great job making sure I'm taking care of that. Just try to get out there as quickly as possible."
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