Derrick Rose Out For Season

Posted by IV on April 29, 2012 // Leave Your Comment

( 4UMF NEWS ) Derrick Rose Out For Season:

Derrick Rose was playing like an MVP again, and then, he was writhing on the floor, clutching his left knee. Just like that, a big cloud formed over the Bulls.

Rose scored 23 points before being helped off the court after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee late in Chicago’s 103-91 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers in Saturday’s playoff opener.

Rose crumbled to the ground after he drove the lane with about 1:20 left and the Bulls leading by 12. He was going for a layup when he came to a jump-stop and seemed to change his mind as the 76ers’ Spencer Hawes and Lavoy Allen rotated over, passing off to a teammate before an awkward landing.

Team medical personnel immediately rushed out and tended to Rose for several minutes as he was writhing in pain near the baseline before helping him to the locker room. Rose was taken to the hospital, and coach Tom Thibodeau wasn’t sure of the extent of the injury.

Asked why Rose was still in the game, Thibodeau pointed out that Philadelphia was making a run. Rose checked back in with just under eight minutes left and the lead got as high as 20 shortly after that before the Sixers made another push.

“I don’t work backward like you guys do,” Thibodeau said. “The score was going the other way.”

Veteran guard Richard Hamilton defended the decision, saying, “Philly was making a run. In playoff basketball, you never want to give a team confidence. … When you have a team down, you have to try to keep them down. They made a little run so we needed guys that could put the ball in the basket.”

Sixers coach Doug Collins also had Thibodeau’s back.

“He knows what he’s doing coaching his team,” Collins said. “Thibs is my buddy. I have the ultimate respect for him. From his standpoint he wanted to finish that game for what he did. It’s awful that Derrick got hurt.”

Losing Rose would obviously be a huge blow for a team that made the conference finals last season and captured the top overall seed for the second straight year.

He was finally performing more like the reigning MVP after missing 27 games during the regular season with various injuries and mostly struggling the few times he did play late in the regular season.

He found his touch after a slow start in this game and also contributed nine rebounds and nine assists. Hamilton added 19 points, Luol Deng scored 17 and Joakim Noah (12 points, 13 rebounds) had a double-double for Chicago.

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