Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2010
2:37 PM
By Aggrey Sam
CSNChicago.com
No reason to sound the alarm just yet: Derrick Rose's scary tumble in the fourth quarter of Monday night's win over Indiana won't require him to miss Wednesday's game at Toronto, if the Bulls All-Star point guard has his way.
"It was very tough last night," Rose told reporters after Tuesday's practice at the Berto Center. "Right now, I'm just feeling a little sore, but hopefully I'll be playing tomorrow."
"If it's up to me, I'm playing, knowing that it's only sore and usually I could play through soreness."
Rose, whose injuries were classified as a sprained right wrist and a bruised right elbow--the third-year guard said he only "tweaked" his left ankle on a play prior to the hard fall--surprisingly said that neither of those injuries were bothering him the most Tuesday.
"It would have to be my (right) hip. My hip is really messed up," said Rose, who didn't participate in Tuesday's practice and wore a brace on his injured wrist. "It's (Rose's right wrist) not that bad...if anything, my (right) elbow hurts more than my wrist. Right now, I'm a little beat up, but I think that I should be able to play through it."
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"I've just been getting treatment. I'll be getting treatment on the plane (Tuesday afternoon), getting treatment in Toronto and hopefully for the game, I should be all right," continued Rose, who will ice his injuries, get electronic stimulation and take painkillers. "Last night was probably the worst I've felt in a long time, knowing that my whole body was sore. I had to soak everything. It was a bad night."
"I'm just happy and blessed that I didn't break anything."
At the time of the fall--which occurred midway through the game's final period when Rose was undercut in the air by Pacers swingman Brandon Rush--Rose feared the worst.
"At first, I thought I was going to hit my head. I kind of held myself with my arm and wrist," said Rose of his thought process. "That's basketball. You learn from it, situations like that. I think I was just mad that they weren't calling the calls and I was just trying to drive very hard and make them call it, and that ended up happening."
"I feel like a Bears player. I've got all these injuries."
Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau was cautiously optimistic when he addressed reporters.
"He had some soreness today, but everything appears to be fine," said Thibodeau after Tuesday's practice. "He's a little nicked up, but his ankle's fine. There's a little soreness in the elbow, a little soreness in the wrist."
"If he says he can play, then he'll play. He's moving around pretty good today," he added. "We won't know until he goes through shootaround tomorrow."
"He has a lot of toughness, both mental and physical. He doesn't like to take any plays off. He doesn't like to take any days off. He attacks the basket, he gets knocked down, he gets up, he'll keep going. He doesn't shy away."
During the game, Rose was whistled for his first technical foul in the NBA--and his entire basketball career.
"That was my first one ever. High school or grammar school, college, ever," Rose revealed. "I think the play where I drove, it had to be a charge or a blocking foul. They didn't call anything. It kind of got to me."
"I said it was 'some b.s.' It took him a while to give me the tech. I thought it was over with. I guess it got to him. I'm running back down the court and he called it," he continued. "He was shocked that I said. That's why, I guess, it took him so long."
Rose did find some humor in the situation, joking, "Hopefully I don't get anymore techs because I need that money. It's a recession out here."
Rose also touched upon the Bulls' current six-game and his growing chemistry with Carlos Boozer, who led the team with 22 points and 18 rebounds Monday.
"It's (the team's confidence) high, but we know that we can't get big-headed. We've got to continually improve on our defense, especially on our help side--just clogging the paint, just making it hard for the other team to score--so we can get into the open court," said Rose. "Anywhere around the basket, if I pass it to him (Boozer), he's going to get fouled or hit the shot. He's still getting in the groove. Some of the jump shots he took last night, those are shots he usually hits. We're very confident in his ability to shoot the ball and finish in the paint."
Despite his injuries, Rose had no hesitation when asked if Monday's scare would alter his game or mindset.
"I'm going to continue to drive. I didn't come into this league from shooting jump shots. I came into this league from driving."
Aggrey Sam is CSNChicago.com's Bulls Insider. Follow him @CSNBullsInsider on Twitter for up-to-the-minute Bulls information and his take on the team, the NBA and much more.