Yesterday, Team USA practiced for the first time since witnessing Paul George‘s horrific injury in an intrasquad scrimmage on the first of August. After practice, Derrick Rose spoke about his own health, and why he has no concerns going forward.
Via K.C. Johnson of Chicago Tribune, Rose is not deterred by George’s injury and is confident he will not suffer another injury setback moving forward:
“I have no fears, I have faith,” Rose said. “I know that I’m going to be fine. I know that I busted my ass the entire two summers — you can say two seasons — to get back to where I am right now. Just try to keep it moving, stay positive every day, do everything consistent like I’ve been doing.
“I think everything will go my way.”
That comfort level changes when Rose is asked about George’s injury. Again, after successive season-ending knee injuries, he knows.
“You wish that on no one,” Rose said. “The only thing we can do is pray for him. During the season, when everything is still going, I’m going to try to hit him up as much as possible and just let him know I’m thinking about him.”
At Team USA’s first practice last month, Rose wasted no time showing off his explosiveness. During the scrimmage where George got injured, Rose looked like the best player on the floor and threw down a vintage slam in the first quarter.
With George’s injury and Kevin Durant‘s withdrawal from the team, Rose will be expected to handle more responsibility especially on the offensive end. Because of his recent injury history, some Bulls fans were skeptical about whether participating in the FIBA World Cup was a good idea for Rose. It appears that this will be a positive experience for Rose — barring, of course, any injury — because it will allow him to play competitive games before he heads into training camp to prepare for the upcoming season.
Rose has worked very hard these last two seasons to recover from injuries, and we hope to see him return to the form that earned him the Most Valuable Player award in 2011.
This highlight package will give you a reminder of how great Rose was that season:
What do you think?
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