We know Rose was and still is capable of greatness, if his knees were as solid as his resolve to dominate the game. But has the more recent knee injury actually bought Rose the time his ACL injury needed to fully heal, and for him to evolve his game?
The Chicago Bulls organization was always going to let their franchise point guard take as long as he needed to heal, but could an NBA Championship-hungry city and a man who announced "Why can't I be MVP?" before going out and doing just that wait as patiently?
While we had to wait out another season of Championship expectations, injury, and disappointment, it must have been even harder for that man to sit and watch his team overachieve and fight so hard every night, only to have too little firepower to compete with less disciplined, less focused teams.
But with the less serious meniscus tear, Rose HAD TO sit down once again, after only 10 regular season games where he began to have issues with the left knee that had the surgically repaired Anterior Cruciate Ligament. The new injury put him out of commission, but both knees got to rest up.
And in Team USA practice, the extra rest has been showing with Rose appearing impressive and confident in both his evolved game and both of his knees. Some footage of DRose from Team USA practice can be found HERE.
Here are 5 ways that the more recent meniscus injury suffered by DRose could have saved his career and the Chicago Bulls NBA Championship hopes:
1. More Time To Heal
#theReturn of Derrick Rose Part 1 was an impressive, albeit short chapter in the whole story that will be written this season as DRose and the Chicago Bulls renew their pursuit of the NBA Championship. DRose was able to show that he could return in a dominant way, with the Chicago Bulls playing dominantly in the 2013 preseason, but #theReturn displayed signs that the knee was not fully healed.
Despite a dominant preseason, Rose got off to a slow start in the regular season and struggled with turnovers in his first few games. His game winning shot against the Knicks in New York showed that Rose could return to his old self, but issues with the knee lurked beneath the inconsistancy with Rose constantly deflecting questions about the health of his knee amidst his struggles.
It never was revealed if Rose actually suffered lingering pain and swelling due to his surgically repaired ACL, but the injury to his other knee may have given the ACL repair more time to fully heal and, more importantly, aclimate to the stresses of training, practice, and eventually, competition. With the new injury justifying his absence from the court, both injuries would be able to have ample time to heal and be built back up to optimal health, in spite of the Championship and max contract expectations that often force players to return on others' timetable rather than based on the health of the player.
For #2 through 5, read PART 2 (Available Monday, August 4th).
Do you believe that Derrick's knees were not fully healed and rehabbed when he returned in 2013? With this added time to rehab, will DRose return to his MVP form of 2011? Tell us what you think in the comments below!
