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It would seem Derrick Rose is far from a shoo-in to play in Saturday night’s game. The Chicago Bulls star guard and reigning NBA Most Valuable Player sat out the team’s contest Friday (March 16) with a groin injury. He has missed two consecutive contests.
If the shoe fits (especially the green one), it just might be Derrick Rose's.
Rose was in street clothes for Wednesday’s game; he was in warmups for Friday’s, which the Bulls lost 100-89 to the Portland Trail Blazers. An indication he is getting closer to being ready for the Bulls’ game Saturday against the Philadelphia 76ers? That is less clear than the Chicago River on St. Patrick’s Day.
This much is certain: Rose has his sneakers set for the St. Patrick’s Day game. He is scheduled to debut a green adizero Rose 2.5 from adidas. The shoes should go nicely with the green uniforms the Bulls will wear for the contest. Rose’s sneakers ($100) are available at Foot Locker, Eastbay and adidas.com.
Rose and teammate Joakim Noah will have green adidas St. Patrick’s Day jerseys on sale at Bull Market, the team’s in-stadium store. Fans also can shop for Bulls St. Patrick’s Day gear at Bulls.com/StPats.
Speaking of green sneakers, your humble correspondent saw some in the lockers of >strong>Kyle Korver and Jimmy Butler as well as Rose’s, so there may be some festive footwear on the court even if Rose does not play.
The Bulls didn’t exactly put their best foot or feet forward in Friday’s 100-89 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. The Blazers outscored them 22-10 in the last quarter, as the Bulls went 3-for-23 from the field in the final 12 minutes.
“We were settling and not executing, taking shortcuts and not putting work into it,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said.
The Luvabulls might be more colorful than this for the Bulls' St. Patrick's Day game vs. Philadelphia.
“They just out-competed us,” Bulls forward Taj Gibson said.
“Tonight we just made baskets,” Blazers interim coach Kaleb Canales said after his NBA debut in that capacity. “What we talked about this morning and before the game was competing and playing together. Tonight the guys just got that done.”
Case in point: guard Wesley Matthews, who had nine fourth-quarter points on 3-of-3 shooting from the field, including two three-points, and a free throw. For the game, Matthews had 18 points and was 4-of-5 from three-point range.
“I just got the ball in the right spots,” he said. “We were playing with confidence out there. When you do that, its just fun.”
“Winning was great tonight,” Blazers guard and former Bull Jamal Crawford said. [Canales] is always giving positive reinforcement. He was the same as an assistant.”
“Give them a lot of credit,” Thibodeau said of the Blazers. “They came out and played with a lot of intensity and energy. If you don’t put the work into it, the results are not going to be good.”
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