2014 FIBA World Cup: 10 major takeaways
By Bryce Olin
7. Derrick Rose is back
Derrick Rose played in his first competitive basketball since tearing his meniscus in Portland in the tenth game of the 2013-14 season. While Rose struggled to score and get into a rhythm, I saw enough of Rose to know something very important: Rose is back.
You can see it in his step, in his cuts, in his explosive dunks, all over the place. He looks fine out on the court, and that’s a great sign for the Chicago Bulls and the NBA. Obviously, no one can guarantee that he won’t get hurt again, but after basically two years off from professional basketball, Rose looks great. I know some results-based thinkers out there are looking up his stats in the tournament to post them in the comment thread.
BREAKING NEWS: I don’t care about Rose’s stats against inferior competition in a tournament with a weird basketball, even weirder rules, and a team that’s been together less than a month. Rose’s pace was the most surprising aspect of his game to me. You forget how good and how fast he actually was before he got hurt, but he might even be faster now with the ball in transition than he was prior to his knee injuries.
On top of his speed and quickness, Rose’s hesitation game is on point as well, which will benefit him and the Bulls in the much faster NBA game and help him get easy shots at the rim. In one-on-one situations, only a select group of defenders will be able to stop Rose. LeBron James still has the length and size to bother Rose at the rim, but there are few other players who will be able to keep Rose out of the paint without extra help. If he can stay healthy, I fully expect Rose to be as good as he ever was based on what I saw in Spain.