It’s difficult enough to try to integrate an injured star player at any point during an NBA season. It’s even tougher to ease back a star during the season’s stretch run and adjust during the playoffs.
This is the challenge the Chicago Bulls face once again in bringing point guard Derrick Rose back into the fold. Four games into a comeback from his most recent knee injury, the Bulls are very pleased with Rose’s progress and optimistic that they are coming together just in time for the lengthy playoff push the team envisioned when it put this core group together.
Rose missed exactly 20 games in his most recent stint on the sidelines – if he plays in tonight’s season finale, he will have played in just 100 games since winning the MVP four years ago – and said that regaining his conditioning and playing in the fourth quarter is his main priority.
“The only thing I’m missing is the fourth quarter,” Rose said after Monday’s 113-86 blowout win in Brooklyn. “But I think with the way I’ve been working out, I think that I’m good enough to play in the fourth quarter and find my way through it.”
Rose has not played 30 minutes in any game since his return, but his on-court impact remains unquestionable. In the four games back with Rose on the floor, Chicago outscored its opponents by 14.2 points per 48 minutes, according to NBA.com. Having him back in the rotation in time for the postseason – even if adjusting on the fly at this point of the season is sub-optimal – is huge for coach Tom Thibodeau’s squad.
Chicago is essentially an average team without Rose. Its record is 32-18 when Rose plays this season and a pedestrian 17-14 when he sits. Rose has played in only seven games since the All-Star break, and Thibodeau is not concerned that Rose returned so late in the season.
“Any time we can get him back is great,” Thibodeau told SheridanHoops. “Obviously him being out there is important for the team, so we could build some continuity. Yet he’s missed a lot of time, so you’d like to have the group out there together and not only in games but in practice as well so you could work on the things and situations you’re going to be facing.”
Thibodeau said that he will probably go with a nine-man rotation during the playoffs – Joakim Noah, Pau Gasol, Taj Gibson, Nikola Mirotic, Mike Dunleavy Jr., Rose, Jimmy Butler, Aaron Brooks and either Kirk Hinrich or Tony Snell, depending on matchups. Finally having everyone healthy for one of the only times since the beginning of the season allows the Bulls to attempt to build the chemistry they thought they would have all season long.
“It will be important to show that we can build on our chemistry during the playoffs,” said big man Pau Gasol, brought over during the offseason as an upgrade to the dispatched Carlos Boozer. “That’s the whole point. You grow as you try to advance to the playoffs. The stronger move on and the weaker go home.”
Chicago is undeniably stronger with Rose running the point, regardless of how well-adjusted he is in his return and how his overall net rating – the difference between the team’s points scored and allowed per 100 possessions – is a minus-10 this season, according to Basketball-Reference.
“There’s no one like him,” Thibodeau said. “He’s got the power, quickness and speed. It’s very unusual. I don’t know if anyone else is like him in the league.”
Gasol agreed.
“I think he’s a guy that makes such a huge difference on the floor on both ends,” Gasol said. “Not just offensively, where we know he’s explosive and could get really hot and make things happen, but defensively he could make a huge difference to our team, to be able to lock down guards and with his athleticism.”
Chicago may have locked down a playoff spot up a while ago but it did not clinch home-court advantage in the first round until Monday and still doesn’t know whether it will be playing Washington or Milwaukee in the first round. Hinrich told SheridanHoops that having Rose play in some meaningful, playoff-type games was important for the team’s growth as the postseason approaches.
“It’s a challenge, but I think we’ve shown signs every game since he’s been back,” Hinrich said. “We’re starting to gel and it’s a good thing. I like where we’re headed.”
One interesting benefit for the Bulls of having Rose injured so many times is that they are accustomed to bringing him back into the fold, Getting reacclimated with Rose likely was easier for Chicago than it was recently for Portland with LaMarcus Aldridge or Indiana with Paul George.
“We’ve been through it so many times that I think we have a good understanding, but everyone has to readjust a little bit,” Thibodeau said. “The fact that we’ve been through it so many times, we have a pretty good idea of what we have to do. Then the challenge becomes how quickly can we get that done? And that’s where we are right now.”
How quickly the Bulls can get back to where they would like to be – championship contention – is largely dependent on Rose, who said that right now he is just trying to play the way he normally would in the playoffs while reading and adjusting to every opponent he encounters.
“They’re playing me different almost every game,” Rose said. “I’m seeing the floor a little bit better with finding people, knowing when I’m going to shoot the ball.”
As any former MVP would be, Rose is well aware of his impact on the floor and said that everything will fall into place once he gets his conditioning right.
“Even if I’m not moving quick, even if I’m not shooting the ball great, you still gotta defend me because I think I could control the game with just passing,” Rose said.
Rose doesn’t even have to do that much anymore to really help this team. With Gasol and Noah imposing their will inside and Butler emerging as the league’s most improved player, Rose no longer has to carry a heavy burden for the Bulls on either end and can ease into his return.
“I don’t think he has to put a heavy load on himself, he’s got a great team around him. A great core,” Butler told SheridanHoops. “He’s comfortable and doing what he’s supposed to do and that’s playing basketball and getting back into rhythm for the playoffs.”
Rose may be getting back to the Bulls a little later than they would have liked. But it seems like his return to a team with its strongest core since the Michael Jordan era may come just in time for Chicago to thrive in the playoffs and finally fulfill its championship aspirations.
Shlomo Sprung is a national columnist for SheridanHoops who focuses on analytics, profiles and features. He is also the web editor of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. A 2011 graduate of Columbia University’s Journalism School, he has previously worked for the New York Knicks, The Sporting News, Business Insider and other publications. Follow him on Twitter.