Taj Gibson gives a thumbs up to Derrick Rose’s recovery; Vows the team will step up without him – NBA Update
Derrick Rose and his rehabilitation from a torn ACL in left knee which the star point guard suffered in the game 1 of the first round of playoffs against the Philadelphia 76ers is about the hottest issue in NBA, barring the on court activates.
Rose has surgical procedure carried out on May 12 to repair the torn ligament and it is expected that he will be out of action for 8-10 months.
About a week back Richard Hamilton gave an insight about the quick recovery Rose is making and now Taj Gibson, the Bulls big who has his best season with franchise last year, has opened up about the good progress D-Rose is making;
“I think he’s doing great,” said Gibson of Rose. “I think he’s improving quicker than people have expected him to improve. He’s in there every day and he’s pushing it to the limits every time I see him. I think he’ll come back even better than he was before.”
Rose absence in nearly the first three months of the next season will be a real test of character for Tom Thibodeau’s team. The point guard missed 24 game of the regular season because of various injuries and the side did very well without him, but lacked the pedigree in the playoffs.
Gibson was however confident that his side would do well, especially after the bitter disappointment of a first round exit;
“We just have to have guys step up a little more,” said on the matter. “Seeing that we ended the [Philadelphia] series on a bad note, I feel like we can take a lot of positives [from it]. We can take a lot of the negatives, switch them around and do better things. I felt we learned a lot from that series and you never want to feel bad for yourselves. We have to keep pushing and keep playing; just try to get back to where we were last year.”
The picture for the Bulls also looks grim because of the lingering wrist injury to Luol Deng.
Under ideal conditions, the Bulls would have wanted Deng to have undergone the procedure by now, but with the London Olympics in his sight, the small forward is unwilling to do so. This has put the Bulls in a spot of bother.
If Deng undergoes the procedure after the Olympics, he will have to miss at least a month of regular season action, depriving his club of their second most reliable scoring option. The situation gets worse if Deng aggravates the injury.
But, these are the realities; Chicago have to move forward with. They are a tough side and take pride in grinding their way to success. The mentality has been inculcated in them by their coach, and one thing is for sure that Bulls won’t die wandering under him.
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