In honor of the Bulls starting their regular season tonight, let’s think back to the prime of Derrick Rose. Before the orbital fracture, right meniscus tear, sprained ankles, ACL tear, to the 2010-2011 season. The MVP season, in which he averaged 25 PPG, and led the Bulls into an epic playoff run, eventually falling the the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals. Derrick Rose, with the help of other veterans and an irreplaceable bench squad, led the Bulls to the best season since the Jordan-era. Every game, home or away, we witnessed the explosiveness of Rose, with every time he drove to the basket, or made clutch buzzer beaters, or eye shaking no look passes. Without a doubt, Rose had an incredible season and very much so earned the MVP award, at the impressive age of 22 years old.
But a lot has changed then, highly driven by injuries. Even through all of those injury, the Bulls have made additions to the team, such as having Nate Robinson for a year, Pau Gasol, Nikola Mirotic, welcoming back Kirk Hinrich, and Aaron Brooks. Of course, you can not forget how important Jimmy Butler is as an asset to the team. Butler has had amazing seasons, improving tremendously after each one.
Now, Rose is planning on starting tonight against the Cavaliers at the United Center. Even though it seems like Rose is done and has no more, let’s remember he is only 27. For a player who plays all four years in college (which doesn’t happen with a lot of stars) who is that age, this would only be their fourth season in the NBA. He still has some youth in him, hopefully enough to produce a solid season. Although he hasn’t been on the court that often in the past few years,in the few games he has played in recently, you can still see the same Derrick Rose explosiveness and his famous change in speed as he attacks the basket.
So, Derrick Rose definitely does have potential of producing a successful season. There are some huge keys for him to do this. He needs to stay very confident. He needs to believe in himself that he is Derrick Rose, former and current super athlete that has the ability to perform, as long as he stays healthy. Health is another key, in which he needs to know how hard he is going and when he needs to take it easy on his knees. He also needs to be able to play as a team. The Bulls roster is full of talent, and if they can find a flow, great things can happen. Keep in mind, we have not seen a full, awful season out of him yet, so there is no reason to presume that he will be trash. If he can stay healthy, Rose, with the help of a stacked depth chart, can be successful this season.
-Joe Berns
