SpinninHouse wrote:
Disagree with you on the bolded sentence. I don't think he's anywhere near the person we thought he was. Some of that is on us -- as our expectations were unrealistic. The person I thought Derrick was would never be so completely apathetic about returning. Derrick told beat reporters he could care less if he sat the whole season. The Derrick that said that is way different than the Derrick that said "I would die on the court. Like die."
It's been interesting watching fans opinions of Derrick change. You have the majority of us hardcore fans who are very disturbed by this process who have major reservations about Derrick as the top dog going forward. EDIT And that's not a shot because I wished dearly I liked in a world in which I geniunely could ignore red flags and act as they never happened. I would be a lot more hopeful.
No top dog on an NBA championship has EVER missed 18 straight months for health-related reasons by age 24 and gone on to win a title. It's never happened before and the probability of it miraculously happening now is highly, highly unlikely.
Red flags are all over Derrick Rose both physically and mentally. I'm not sure Derrick will ever reach his 2011 level again -- and if he does how many seasons realistically will he be at that level?
Fair enough. I never thought Rose was the Kobe / MJ type who would rip out their grandma's heart and feed it to a dog for a playoff win.
Also, I don't believe *anything* that is a direct quote as part of a prepared media interview. I don't believe the Bulls when they say they are OK with him missing time and I don't believe Derrick when he says it. IMO, they have no choice but to spin it in the most positive light. Just think about Derrick's media options right now:
- Lie and say that he is really hurting, which is going to freak everyone out
- Tell the truth and say "I really want to play, but my brother won't let me"
- Say something awful like "I could play, but my teammates suck, so what's the point?"
- Give bland "its all in God's hands" answers.
IMO, the reason why you aren't hearing much from Rose is because he has nothing that he can say to the media. Sometimes saying nothing is better than telling the truth or lying.