| 20 January 2012
So the Bulls suit up against the Cavs tonight on the road. Every game that we've lost so far has been on the road and tonight we're like to be without Derrick Rose for the 3rd game in a row. He's a game-time decision, but I see him erring on the side of caution at this point.
Looks like some news leaked today where Derrick actually said that he regrets playing in the back to back games last weekend against Toronto and Boston.
"The swelling went down. The pain is there a little bit, but it's a game-time decision. I definitely want to be out there to play, especially today. But I've got to make the smartest decision not only for me, but for my teammates. I wasn't able to bend my toe in like three years so when [the injury] happened, it bent it and it aggravated it ... I forgot when I played on it again. I played on it sooner than when I was supposed to play on it and it was real bad. Yeah, knowing that right when it starts feeling good, it could go right back to zero. I definitely want to be out there playing, but I got to make the smartest decision."
So what do we ascertain from this? Basically, that Derrick can't be trusted to make a sound decision on his own when it comes to his health. This is kind of worrisome. True, he is the ultimate competitor and wants to play no matter what, but you can't be selfish. You have to look at the big picture. He just doesn't want to let anyone down and doesn't trust his teammates enough to close out games without him. And he worries fans will turn on him if the team starts to falter in his absence. I don't blame him. But you have to be mature and realize that if you push it and make the injury worse, you're only hurting the team more in the long-run. Looks like he's learning this the hard way.
You also have to fault the Bulls' staff for letting him play instead of just sitting him. It shouldn't just be up to Derrick and the philosophy shouldn't be, "if he can go, he'll go." No. The staff needs to look at the injury, and decide if he should be held back. He needs to be protected from himself. I don't really like Thibs' philosophy of, "it's his call, if he feels good, he'll play." How do you know he's going to be honest with you about how he feels? You decide whether he should play or not.
Anyway, the Bulls face a below average Cavs team tonight. They do have a dynamic young point guard in Kyrie Irving who leads them in scoring. They also have the immortal and always dangerous Antawn Jamison who always kills the Bulls. But other than that, it's pretty much it. If Boozer and Noah can keep their hot streak going, this should be a relatively easy one. If not, then hopefully, Taj and Omer can just pick up the slack. Don't you love being 10-deep?
We need another big night from CJ. He's been on fire lately and I think he's averaging somewhere around 20 since coming back. I'd like to see him come out and be aggressive again, as the Bulls need that scoring punch from him without Derrick. Look for CJ and Liutenant Deng to come out aggressive early.
Then again, who knows...maybe Derrick will decide he can go, and maybe he'll leave Cleveland in a cast.
