Derrick Rose Stuns In Long-Awaited Return
The Bulls superstar looked like his old explosive pre-injury self with some aggressive offense and did not seem to be afraid of any hard contact. Rose scored most of his points from several fast-break layups, made three assists, grabbed a pair of steals, but committed four turnovers.
Both Rose and Thibodeau agree that it's going to take some time for the team to learn how to connect with Rose's speed and quickness again. "He's learning his teammates again, and he has some new teammates he's adjusting to," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said of Rose.
The fierce competitor he is, Rose was actually upset with how early Thibodeau took him out, despite the fact that it was just a preseason exhibition. "Yeah it's tough, especially for it to be a close game like it was," Rose said. "To be sitting out, I just wanted to test myself a little more, but I wasn't able to."
The Pacers' Danny Granger also made his return from a knee injury that kept him out of most of last season, but appeared to be a bit more rusty than Rose with six points in 29 minutes of play.
With Joakim Noah out with a groin injury, the Bulls will face a tougher challenge against the new and improved Grizzlies tonight.
Reach Staff Reporter Nicole Kim here.