By Joshua Chapman
Breaking news: The Chicago Bulls won’t be winning the 2013 NBA Championship. Now that we have that out the way, there is no reason for the Chicago Bulls to bring superstar point guard Derrick Rose back this year.
On April 28, 2012, all of Chicago stood still. That was the day their messiah, their savior, the best player to put on a Chicago Bulls jersey since Jordan himself hobbled out of the United Center grimacing in pain with a torn ACL. Twenty years ago, this would’ve been a death sentence, but thanks to new medicine fans can only hope that Rose can return to his former prominence. The real question between Bulls fans, however, is whether or not Rose should return for the second half of the season.
The side that believes Rose should come back argues that the Bulls are the only real threat to Miami in the East, who are seen as the roadblock to the NBA Finals as well as the best team in the league. While the Bulls and Heat have had some great games against each other, there is a huge difference between regular season basketball and postseason basketball. In the postseason, when the intensity is turned up a notch, the Bulls simply do not have enough to compete. Granted they are closebut this is not their year.
So why bring him back this year? Why risk further injury? Why put a player out there who is physically 100% but might not be there mentally? It’s not like the Bulls are 1B to Miami’s 1A. Without Rose, they’ll probably lose in the second round of the playoffs. With him, they’ll probably lose in the conference round of the playoffs. This is the franchise player we’re talking about, an undisputed top 10 player in the ENTIRE league. If this was a player like Richard Hamilton or Carlos Boozer, who help in the scheme of things but aren’t putting the team on their back like Derrick Rose does, then it would be more acceptable to play them this year. But it’s not. It’s Derrick Rose, who has drawn praise from Kobe Bryant to LeBron James to Kevin Durant, the biggest stars in the NBA.
Rose himself said he’s not 100% and wouldn’t mind sitting out this year. The man obviously knows his body better than the rest of us. Let Derrick sit.
Breaking news: The Chicago Bulls won’t be winning the 2013 NBA Championship. Now that we have that out the way, there is no reason for the Chicago Bulls to bring superstar point guard Derrick Rose back this year.
On April 28, 2012, all of Chicago stood still. That was the day their messiah, their savior, the best player to put on a Chicago Bulls jersey since Jordan himself hobbled out of the United Center grimacing in pain with a torn ACL. Twenty years ago, this would’ve been a death sentence, but thanks to new medicine fans can only hope that Rose can return to his former prominence. The real question between Bulls fans, however, is whether or not Rose should return for the second half of the season.
The side that believes Rose should come back argues that the Bulls are the only real threat to Miami in the East, who are seen as the roadblock to the NBA Finals as well as the best team in the league. While the Bulls and Heat have had some great games against each other, there is a huge difference between regular season basketball and postseason basketball. In the postseason, when the intensity is turned up a notch, the Bulls simply do not have enough to compete. Granted they are closebut this is not their year.
So why bring him back this year? Why risk further injury? Why put a player out there who is physically 100% but might not be there mentally? It’s not like the Bulls are 1B to Miami’s 1A. Without Rose, they’ll probably lose in the second round of the playoffs. With him, they’ll probably lose in the conference round of the playoffs. This is the franchise player we’re talking about, an undisputed top 10 player in the ENTIRE league. If this was a player like Richard Hamilton or Carlos Boozer, who help in the scheme of things but aren’t putting the team on their back like Derrick Rose does, then it would be more acceptable to play them this year. But it’s not. It’s Derrick Rose, who has drawn praise from Kobe Bryant to LeBron James to Kevin Durant, the biggest stars in the NBA.
Rose himself said he’s not 100% and wouldn’t mind sitting out this year. The man obviously knows his body better than the rest of us. Let Derrick sit.