Now Would Be A Great Time For Derrick Rose To Suit Up

For the Bulls, it's do-or-die tomorrow.  Win, and your reward is LeBron and Co. in Miami.  Lose, and you can make tee times for Monday morning in the Bahamas.  Ah, that sounds good...

Wait a minute.  They can win this series and advance.  Maybe.  With this banged up band of basketball misfits, with Kirk Hinrich hobbled by a bad calf, Taj Gibson battling through a bum knee, Joakim Noah struggling with plantar fascitis, Nate Robinson battling a virus, and Luol Deng battling a mysterious and crippling illness, now is the time for #1.  What better way to transfix the fanbase, what better way to stem the pressing tide of anti-love towards our favorite son, then by riding in tomorrow and playing against the goofy and schizophrenic Brooklyn Nets?

D Rose has a great opportunity to save his image and his team from the brink of seasonal extinction.  He should stop listening to the terrible advice he is getting, and lace up his shoes and play tomorrow, giving whatever he has.  Yes, he's rusty.  Yes, he's tentative.  Word on the street has been that he has dominated practice. He should play.  My best guess is, he won't.  And that's a shame.

Question I would have for Derrick, watching this round of the playoffs: how can you look your teammates in the eye during timeouts?  This team gets by most nights on sheer guts and determination, and the best coaching job I have ever seen of a professional basketball team.  Coach Thibs' mantra "DO YOUR JOB" rings through their heads, strengthens their resolve, and allows them to push through when others would sit down and quit, succumbing to more talented teams.  I don't even know how Hinrich and Noah are walking right now much less playing 40 minutes a night in the NBA.  I know, I know.  I am melodramatic.  If I were one of his teammates, I'd be glaring at him in timeouts.  I am out here killing myself and you're yukking it up on the sidelines when you could be helping us win.  I'd be furious.  My thought is, if you're feeling well enough to goof off and shoot around before games, how about putting on a uniform and joining your team in the real fight?  

You know this guy is listening to his brother, Reggie, and a team of shoe company advisers right now telling him NOT to play.  They whisper, "They haven't surrounded you with talent."  They say, "There's no other scorer on this team."  They whisper, "They can't win so sit and relax."   

How about thinking for yourself, D Rose?  You're a man of 24 years old.  You've played basketball since you could walk.  This is nothing new you would be doing. How about seeing your teammates fight for every possession, for every loose ball, and play suffocating defense every trip down the court?  I for one am proud of these Bulls no matter the outcome tomorrow.

See, this is what nobody states about this whole will he or won't he conundrum.  People keep comparing this situation to the Jay Cutler fiasco of two years ago when he sat out after injuring his knee.  People feel that Rose is being held to a different standard.  The joke has been that Cutler would have been run out of town if he was "pulling" what Derrick is pulling now.

Here's the rub, though: Cutler is from southern Indiana.  D Rose is one of "us."  He's a Chicagoan.  No matter if you live in Oswego or Orland Park, or Batavia or Beverly, or Back of the Yards or the North Shore, he is one of ours.  And we pride ourselves on toughness.  On playing hurt, on working dinged up.  On showing up to work on time, every day. Working until the job is done.  Getting dirty, pushing through the aches and pains of life.  That's how we are.  And we fans want Derrick to embody the things we value, so we can hang our compliments and hopes on him, as a true representative of what we are.  His teammates are doing it.  This town loves Taj and Joakim because of how they play.  Maximum effort.   That's all I ask for in the teams I love, the kids I teach, my own children: effort.   

Yes, I realize he had a serious injury.  Yes, I know none of us are elite athletes playing at the highest level of their games struggling to make it all work again.  Yet we want Derrick to be out there, to be one of us, to represent us. We expect effort.  And we're disappointed because we're not getting it right now.

I tell you as sure as I am writing these words that will soon be forgotten, he needs to play.  Tomorrow.  I am begging.  Look your teammates in the eye.  Tell them you're back. Get us back on your side again.  The outcome of the game matters little, in my opinion.  Seeing our leader make the maximum effort would make the last few months go away.  His public image would be restored to God-like status.

We'll see what happens in less than 24 hours.  As always, thanks for reading, and I welcome your comments back.