Chicago Bulls star point guard Derrick Rose is slightly ahead in his rehab schedule as he works to return to the court from his second torn meniscus.
Derrick Rose hasn’t had an easy go of things over the past few years since he tore his ACL in the playoffs against the Philadelphia 76ers. That was just the start of what has been a nightmare of knee injuries that have completely clouded what was once a superstar career. His latest injury was a torn meniscus, although he is still hoping to return to the court this season to help his Chicago Bulls out.
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According to a report K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune, Rose is actually slightly ahead of his rehab schedule.
Needless to say, this is big news for the Bulls and their fans. Chicago has been wrecked by injuries this season, and is currently having to play without Rose, Jimmy Butler, and Taj Gibson as they all nurse different issues. It is hard for any team to overcome that many key players sitting out with injury, but the Bulls are still fourth in the Eastern Conference.
It has been made very clear that Rose is expected back at some point this season. He underwent knee surgery back on February 27th, and finally took part in the non-contact parts of Bulls’ practice. That is a huge step in the right direction, and head coach Tom Thibodeau talked about Rose’s most recent update.
"“It’s the next phase of his rehab,” Thibodeau said. “He still has to obviously strengthen the knee. But it’s a good step for him.”"
During the 46 games that Rose did play in before going down with the meniscus tear, he averaged 18.4 points, 5.0 assists and 3.1 rebounds per game. He was shooting 40.7 percent from the floor and 28.7 percent from behind the three-point arc. They aren’t amazing numbers, but they were very important to the Bulls’ early season success.
Rose was continually becoming more and more aggressive with his game before suffering his latest injury. He was showing more willingness to play like his old, dynamic self. Seeing him go down with yet another knee injury was even more devastating for Bulls’ fans because of that fact.
Perhaps the most difficult part of suffering a knee injury is coming back on the mental side of things. It is easy for a player to go through rehab and get his knee back to full strength, but the mind never forgets the pain of the injury. That is going to be the biggest hurdle once again for Rose and he makes his way back from yet another injury.
H/T Chicago Tribune
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