Everyone remembers the old, MVP-version of Derrick Rose. The unreal athleticism, the ability to stop on a dime, the ability to get to the rack virtually at will. The one who was quite literally unguardable. That Derrick Rose is long gone. Over the course of the past three seasons, injuries have derailed what was once one of the most promising careers in the NBA. He just couldn’t stay on the court and over the summer he couldn’t work on his craft since he was always so caught up with rehab instead of improving his game.
After staying relatively healthy this past season, Rose is using this offseason to sharpen his skills and what better way to do that than with the best players in the world at Team USA Mini-Camp. According to many people attending the camp, most notably Russell Westbrook, Rose is back to looking like his old self. Following from Vincent Goodwill of CSNChicago:
Russell Westbrook said Derrick Rose looks like "the old Derrick Rose". Trainer Rob McClanaghan said Rose and RW are "neck and neck again"
— Vincent Goodwill (@vgoodwill) August 11, 2015
I don’t see why what Westbrook is trying to say can’t be the truth. This is the first time in years Rose has had anytime to actually improve his game. He probably also is feeling more confident knowing that he finally went through a complete season without any major setbacks. Moving forward from here, DRose could potentially be the only thing that separates the Cleveland Cavaliers from another NBA Finals berth. Chicago and Cleveland are undoubtedly the two best teams in the Eastern Conference but many believe Chicago lacks the offensive firepower to hang with LeBron James and Co. If Rose is truly back to being his old self, you can forget about all that, the Bulls would be even more of a legitimate threat than they already are and a team no one would want to see come their way in the postseason.
