Derrick Rose sat out of the Chicago Bulls’ preseason bout against the Washington Wizards on Saturday night due to soreness in his left knee.
Crap.
Don’t panic, though. The Bulls and Rose don’t want you to panic. But you may be panicking, waging a war between yourself, the optimist, and yourself, the Rose realist. Personally, my subconscious is embarking on a Woody-Buzz Lightyear type argument at the moment.
Ahem:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXu6lQqhieA
The Chicago Tribune‘s K.C. Johnson delivered the news first, and fantastically I might add, as he urged everyone to take a deep breath:
Deep breath here: DRose out with left knee soreness. Team said it's precautionary. Gar hopefully speaking soon. Noah also out. #Bulls
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) October 12, 2013
Lost in that tidbit is Joakim Noah’s injury. He still seems banged up from last season, when coach Tom Thibodeau ran every Bull worth a lick ragged. Yet that’s not what is important. Well, not most important.
Rose sitting out is like one of the most harrowing deja vu experiences ever. He missed all of last season nursing a torn ACL. The last thing anyone in Chicago who isn’t a sadistic S.O.B. wants to see or hear about is him missing more time. So Johnson got it right when he implored everyone to take a deep breath.
And Rose himself afforded some the opportunity to exhale after he, according to Johnson, said he was fine:
I’m good. I could’ve played, but the front office made the decision to sit me out. I can’t complain about that.
That’s certainly encouraging. Sort of. Maybe. Or not.
Sitting out this early into his return is hardly comforting, but at least he and the Bulls don’t appear to be worried. In fact, this is something everyone involved may just have to get used to. Rose is returning from a major injury; there may be nights when the Bulls decide he’s not going to play just to be cautious.
Even if they don’t, get used to hearing everyone talk about it. Each time he falls down and takes a second or so to get up, and every bump or bruise he sustains, is going to be dissected like an eighth-period biology project. It’s going to happen; it’s inevitable.
Chicago can’t prevent Rose from absorbing contact. Or getting fouled. Or playing the game of basketball altogether. Things happen on the court. During games. In practice. And other places too. There will always be dangers lurking, ones that Rose cannot avoid.
The important thing is that he’s able to play, or so he says. All we have is his word, which at this point, must be good enough. No one knows Rose’s body better than Rose himself. If he says he could’ve played, then we should believe he could’ve played.
Had this been anyone else in the league, we would have chalked his absence up to additional preseason rest. The games don’t count, and Rose isn’t fighting for a roster spot.
This is no time to panic.
Hopefully, that’s true days, weeks, months and even years from now. I’d just hate to find out later on that this was, indeed, the perfect time to panic.
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com. Follow @danfavale on Twitter for his latest posts and all things NBA.
