Derrick Rose On Poor Play: “Tomorrow’s Going To Be Different. You’ll See”

As Team USA prepares for its quarterfinals matchup against Slovenia tomorrow, Derrick Rose‘s poor play at the FIBA World Cup continues to be a prominent subplot. Last week, Rose remained positive about his play. Over the weekend, Team USA assistant coach and Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau defended his point guard. Today, Rose spoke a bit more about his performance at the tournament so far.

Via K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune, Rose is very confident that better things are ahead in this tournament:

On Saturday against Mexico, Rose missed all five of his field goal attempts and is now shooting just 21.6 percent from the field at the FIBA World Cup. Despite the inefficiency shooting the ball, Rose was quick to point out the differences between his role with Team USA and with the Bulls:

In 10 games last season, Rose struggled to find his rhythm and shot just 35.4 percent from the field. For his career, he’s a 46.0 percent shooter. He does make a great point about his bench role with Team USA versus his role with Chicago, where he is the starting point guard playing significant minutes as a primary option in the team’s offense.

I still think that as long as Rose makes it through the tournament without a significant injury, the experience will be positive — no matter the results. It’s a chance for him to get a head start on competitive basketball before the preseason. It seems Rose is taking the same approach:

Even Team USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski wants to see Rose be more assertive when he’s on the floor:

Team USA will face Slovenia tomorrow, and we’ll see if all of this criticism regarding Rose’s play will motivate him to come out and have his best game of the tournament so far.

What do you think?

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