According the NBA official website, Chicago Bulls PG Derrick Rose sat out the Saturday game versus the Washington Wizards due to knee soreness. Should Chicago Bulls fans be concerned about Rose returning in time to make the regular season at 100 percent health? The Bulls organization hasn’t treated this as a serious injury, therefore I wouldn’t cause too much of a stir over a bit of knee soreness. However, depending on the severity of the ailment, this could be a major setback for Rose and the Chicago Bulls organization.
Hypothetically speaking, let’s assume Rose will miss the first few weeks of the regular season. Do the Bulls have a viable backup point guard who can step up and carry the load of leading the team in Rose’s absence? My immediate response is no.
Point Guard Marcus Teague would be next in line, however, I’m not exactly confident in his ability to score. Last season he had a few good moments during the regular season but it was Nate Robinson who stole the show and provided the spark the Bulls needed to advance to the second round of the playoffs. Nate Robinson is now a member of the Denver Nuggets due the Bulls’ inability to resign him, subsequently losing him in free agency.
The Bulls could now be forced to turn to an unproven guard (Teague) who possesses superior quickness on the court but has yet to develop as an NBA guard. How successful are the Bulls without Rose? The Bulls remain one of the toughest and best defending teams in the league and they can easily snatch the 7th seed in the Eastern Conference even without their star guard.
In my opinion, even with Rose in the lineup, the Bulls remain one superstar short of posing any serious threat to the Indiana Pacers, Miami Heat, and Brooklyn Nets. Derrick Rose is still an NBA MVP caliber player and if healthy he can definitely represent the league in route to hoisting his second MVP trophy. But what is he without his explosiveness and ability to get to the rim? I’ll leave such a question up to you to answer but we all know Rose will more than likely return on his terms and his terms alone. As a fan you should appreciate a player who will only return to play when he has reached optimum heath capacity. There is absolutely no point of stepping on the court less than 100 percent only to take two steps back due to lack of rest increasing the chances of re-injury.
I shall reiterate, with a healthy Derrick Rose, the Bulls are a scary team to face during the playoffs and I believe they are tough enough to defeat any team within the league, however It is vital that Rose returns in true form. Anything less than a full recovery could result in a long and weary regular season for the Chicago Bulls fans and a short playoff experience for the Chicago Bulls team.

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