Anyone who tells you they know what lies in store for Derrick Rose this season is a liar, a fool, or both. Even Derrick Rose isn’t sure what to expect. Sure, he shook off some rust during the FIBA World Cup, but he shot the ball like he couldn’t hit the water if he fell out of a boat. Still, it was pretty fun to see him at full-throttle in tonight’s preseason game against Washington when he started the contest by knocking down four of his first five shots. One finish, in particular, made us jump up like it was 2011 again.
His first bucket of the preseason was a high-arcing leaner he banked in over the the ‘hawked “Sexy White Chocolate” Marcin Gortat after dribbling lengthwise through the lane. Quality stuff and a high degree of difficulty; he was missing much easier shots in Spain.
Then came this explosion from his own backcourt where he dribbles all the way to the hoop and tucks the ball in the cup of his right hand before switching to his left mid-air to finish. Keep in mind, this maneuver came at full velocity:
That’s some vintage D-Rose pyrotechnics.
Rose even found time to work a little two-man game with Pau Gasol on the block:
For the game, Rose had 11 points (4/7), including hitting 1-of-2 from deep, an assist, a turnover and four rebounds in almost 14 minutes of action.
It’s way, way too soon to take anything away from this other than Rose seems healthy. Whether he stays that way will go a long way towards how the Bulls fare this season with some high expectations to get back to the Conference Finals and beyond. Let’s just temper the hyperbolic enthusiasm until Rose has finished a regular season for the first time in two years. We’re always going to be wondering, so it’s on him to just stay the course.
(first and last GIFs via @_MarcusD_; video via NBA Daily)
What do you think?
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