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The sun came up the day after Derrick Rose suffered a season-ending injury. OK, moreso figuratively than literally. It’s spring in Chicago, so what did anyone really expect Sunday (April 29) to be like? Like it was. Mostly overcast, which is the way some folks felt after the NBA’s reigning Most Valuable Player tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee late in Saturday’s playoff opener against the Philadelphia 76ers.
A little something for Bulls fans -- and others -- to help make it through life without Derrick Rose for quite a while. THe female with the bright hair is Charlie Mancini, who was at a C2E2 booth recently. Video below.
Monday promises to bring more analysis regarding Rose’s presence in the game so late. Some folks will point to Sunday night’s rally by the Los Angeles Clippers to defeat the host Memphis Grizzlies 99-98 after trailing by as many as 27 as reason for Rose being on the court with less than two minutes left. Different game, different circumstances. Not that that matters. You can rationalize all you want — from either side — about Rose’s injury
All the hindsight in the world isn’t going to fix the Bulls’ immediate future. But that probably won’t stop folks from talking about it.
On the bright side (OK, there really isn’t one, so we’ll have to really stretch the definition of “bright”), no one will have to worry about Rose being injured or enduring increased wear and tear on his body at the London Olympics this summer. He won’t be able to participate. Yeah, that’s far from a bright side, but it’s the best some of us can do on such short notice.
And the Bulls did go 18-9 during the regular season without Rose. OK, this is the postseason. That brightness isn’t glimmering much. Yet winning the series vs. the 76ers, the No. 8 seed, does not seem unreasonable. Making it to the Eastern Conference finals, where the Bulls presumably again would face the Miami Heat, and reaching the NBA Finals seems far less reasonable.
“I think we all feel awful for him,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said after practice Sunday. “Derrick’s not only a great player, he’s a great teammate, he’s a great person, but it’s not a death sentence. It’s not a death sentence for him, it’s not a death sentence for our team. He’s going to come back. He’ll come back better than ever. It’s just the way it is and we’ve got to deal with.”
“We’re not going to let anybody paint the picture for us,” center Joakim Noah said. “Obviously, it’s tough losing Derrick. I feel for him, but we can’t feel sorry for ourselves.
“Our margin for error is a lot smaller with Derrick out. Can you replace a guy like Derrick? No. But it’s on us to step up as much as possible. Just cause Derrick’s not on the court, there’s still a game to be played on Tuesday and we’re going to fight as hard as we can and make the city proud.”
If nothing else, Thibodeau has the chance to show his coaching genius by having the team advance this season without Rose as it did last season with him.
As a consolation prize of sorts, here is some video from Saturday’s game of the Luvabulls dance team. On the bright side, the Luvabulls appear to be in great postseason shape.
For those of you mourning the end of Rose’s season, here is video from the Bulls’ lineup introduction by public-address announcer Tommie Edwards for the series opener vs. the 76ers:
As promised (OK, so it was promised for Sunday; better late than never), here is some video from the recent C2E2 2012 (Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo). It features model Charlie Mancini at the Shh3D.com booth that prominently displayed photos of legendary model Bettie Page. If none of this helps the despondent Bulls fan feel better, then perhaps it just might be time for a little therapy.
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