Derrick Rose: Team USA, injuries and his unexpected journey

The Return 2.0

Obviously, the first return from injury didn’t go as Rose or everyone hoped with Rose tearing his meniscus and missing most of last season. It’s different this go-round.

All the coaches at Team USA’s camp are raving about Rose.

After the first day of camp, head coach Mike Krzyzewski told Nick Friedell of ESPN he was “ecstatic about watching him (Rose) in practice,”gearing up for the FIBA World Cup.

Once thought to be a long-shot for the Team USA roster after missing nearly two years of action, Rose has emerged as one of the front-runners and “most impressive player in camp,” assistant coach Jim Boeheim told  Friedell.

Here‘s what Boeheim also told Friedell:

"“That’s my biggest surprise coming in here,” Syracuse coach and Team USA assistant Jim Boeheim told ESPNChicago.com, in reference to Rose’s performance. “The one thing I was worried about is whether he would be able to step in after so much time [off]. He looks, to me, as good as when we had him in the world championship in ’10, when he was at full strength coming [into] an MVP year. He looks very, very good. Obviously, [when] he gets in some games, it will be a little different, but it’s not like he hasn’t had success in games. He had a lot of success.”"

I’m not one for rumors (okay, that’s a lie), but, like Sauron and Lord Voldemort before him, it appears that Rose is back. It’s not surprising when you consider how good Rose was when he got hurt the first time. Perhaps, Rose’s new mindset and confidence has made all the difference in his play.

Here‘s what Rose told Friedell about his readiness to play:

"“I’m there, man,” Rose said, when asked how close he is to playing like his old self. “I’m not worried about that. My confidence is very high, and that’s the only thing you might see this year — that my confidence level is through the roof.”"