A healthy Derrick Rose can make all the difference in the world-a fact the Chicago Bulls are painfully aware of.
As they wait for their best player and leader to return from his ACL tear that he suffered in the opening round of the playoffs this past spring, the Bulls have been trying to find a way to keep their season going in order to make a push for the playoffs this season.
However, at a record of 5-5, it's been easier said than done, with the Bulls on a two-game losing streak after falling to rookie phenom, Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers 102-94 Sunday.
So far, there has been no word yet on whether Rose is any closer to scheduling a return date, but he did encourage Bulls fans last week when team officials announced that he was able to begin cutting on his knee, a major milestone in his recovery.
Rose has stayed away from the team throughout most of training camp and into the regular season in order to focus on his rehabilitation, Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said Saturday prior to the Bulls 101-80 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.
"He may [be visiting his teammates],'' Thibodeau told the Chicago Sun-Times. "The main focus for [Rose] is his rehab. We felt it was best for him to be here in one place doing his rehab. As I mentioned the other day, he's started cutting, so he's doing fine. Everything is going according to plan. He just has to keep doing what he's doing.
"All I want him to focus on is his rehab. I don't want him concerned with where we are with the team or anything like that. He's doing fine, and I want our guys here to be focused on improvement and our next opponents," he added.
Part of that focus will involve a renewed emphasis on Chicago's defense. Long a staple for the Bulls, Chicago has given up more than 100 points in the last four games. After Sunday's loss to Portland, Thibodeau told ESPN that Chicago had to improve their intensity in making crucial stops in order to win games down the road.
"The defense right now, the intensity, we got to get that part right," a frustrated Thibodeau said. "We got to get that right. The rebounding's not good, the turnovers ... so the defense the rebounding and the turnovers, all three are a problem right now so we got to correct that. Those three things put you in position to win. Then the inside out and sharing the ball. So we got to correct that."
Bulls forwad Luol Deng echoed those sentiments.
"We got to learn to put stops together," Deng said. "I don't like comparing teams but that's what we did well last year. The second unit just came in and got stops in a row. Everyone talks about offense, but it's the defense and the stops we got. That's how we win games, that's what we got to get back to."