Gregg Doyel of CBSSports explains why Derrick Rose’s absence this season will stay in the minds of many fans: “I’d have compared Derrick Rose to someone else, anyone else, if anything like his refusal to play in the 2013 playoffs — and that’s what happened; the Bulls said he could play, and he refused — had happened before. But this has never happened before. If you support Derrick Rose, I’m not trying to change your mind… People in Chicago, where Rose is a hometown kid, are mad at Rose. Or disappointed in him. Or both. And this isn’t one of those positions that’s easy to take because we didn’t like the player anyway. That happens sometimes. A player does something questionable, and because we don’t like the guy anyway, we decide that this offense was awful. Not the case with Rose. Most people like him. It’s difficult, really, not to like him. Superstars just don’t come as sweet or humble as this.”
Jerry Sloan is no longer interested in coaching the Milwaukee Bucks, according to David Aldridge of NBA.com: “Hall of Fame coach Jerry Sloan has decided he is not interested in the Milwaukee Bucks’ head coaching job after meeting with Bucks officials last week, according to veteran agent Keith Glass, who is advising Sloan on potential head coaching jobs. “The bottom line is, Jerry doesn’t really feel it’s the right fit for him right now,” Glass said Thursday. “He’s interested (in coaching again). He’s in Chicago now watching the Pre-Draft. And his name keeps popping up with every job, and he hasn’t applied for anything. He had a real nice meeting with them. They came to see him on his farm (in downstate Illinois). They had a great meeting just in terms of liking each other. (Bucks general manager) John Hammond said ‘I wish I could have stayed and watched the game with him.’ It’s just not the right fit for Jerry, from Jerry’s point of view. That’s not a negative thing; that’s just the reality.”
Danny Ainge praised the defense of Tony Allen and touched on Rajon Rondo’s defense, from Mark Murphy of Boston Herald: ““Tony and Avery were both basically made that way,” Ainge said. “We fell in love with both of them because of their defensive abilities — they’re both just great defensive players. I don’t think anyone can just become a great defensive player; it takes mental and physical qualities. Playing hard and being in good shape, being quick with your feet, these are all things you need.”… “Rajon has the physical skills that great defensive players have, but he’s never used his ability to be the consistent defender that Avery and Tony are,” Ainge said. “He can turn it on when he has to. He reminds me a lot of Dennis Johnson in that way. DJ had that ability.”
Richard Hamilton praised his teammates for being supportive, but was dumbfounded by the lack of playing time, from Aggrey Sam of CSN Chicago: ““My teammates, they’ve been great. They’ve been great for me, especially over these last two weeks, just staying positive with me and things like that, so I couldn’t let them see me sweat. It’s just one of those things that when you get the opportunity, just go out there and perform,” he explained. “I have great guys here. That’s what made my job fun. Even though they last two weeks were hard, difficult, my teammates have been great, all the way from Derrick to Luol, to Booz, to Noah, to Jimmy. Everybody was so supportive, I was just like dumbfounded about the situation. But they kept me going. They kept me positive.”
- Hamilton then talked about how great of a scorer he is: ““I really don’t know, but I won’t do a long-term deal or anything like that. It’ll probably be another two-year deal and then see how my body and everything responds,” he continued. “[Scoring is] easy for me. It’s just one of those things where mentally, how long do I want to play. See, I can play because what I do, nobody else does. It’s like a lost art. I can get my shot off on anybody because the league’s getting younger, but guys don’t really know the game. So, it’s easy. I can do it as long as I want, but probably another two years and that will probably be it. “If I’ve got great teammates, great chance to win it.”
Tom Thibodeau said Derrick Rose made the right decision in not playing this season. Joakim Noah admit that it was difficult to not see him come back. ESPN Chicago has details: “If we were going to make a mistake, we wanted to make the mistake on the side of caution,” Thibodeau said. “We feel good about where he is. He has the whole summer to build more confidence and that’s the important thing. As we said when he first had the surgery, we weren’t going to rush him back, and we held to that. I think it was the smart decision.” Bulls center Joakim Noah admitted the daily questions and speculation about Rose’s status were difficult, but applauded Rose for the way he handled the season.”It was hard. You definitely as a player you want him to come back, but at the same time, you understand that you’ve got to look at the big picture,” Noah said. “I’m really proud of him, actually, because he’s dealt with it great with all the pressure coming from a lot of people. I think that the way he handled it was great. I don’t think a lot of people could have handled it like that.”
