If seeing is believing, then Derrick Rose could be back sooner than we think.
Rose, who traveled with the Chicago Bulls to Boston for their Friday game against the surging Boston Celtics, was seen taking jump shots in practice.
Considering that only eight months ago, Rose was limping off the court in Chicago after tearing his ACL during Game 1 of the first round of the NBA Playoffs, that seems to mark a major step in Rose's road to returning to Chicago.
Without Rose, the Bulls have managed a winning record at 22-15 for the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference, and only a game behind Indiana for the best record in the Central Division.
Still, there is no timetable yet on exactly when Rose will return; or at least, not one that Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau is willing to publicly put out there.
"The big thing for us is you could never replace Derrick individually, and we understood that from the start,'' head coach Tom Thibodeau told the Chicago Sun-Times.
"So for us it was to do it collectively. Everyone would have to step up, do their job and put a lot into it, and that's our only chance. For the most part we've done that. Hopefully we'll be playing our best basketball down the stretch at the end of the season, and then at some point Derrick will join us, but you can't replace a guy like Derrick individually,'' he added.
A video of Rose shooting can be seen at the Chicago Tribune site via a link here.