PHILADELPHIA – According to Derrick Rose, his double-vision problems are still alive and well, but improving. And the same could be said about his leadership skills.
The Bulls point guard had a candid talk about leadership following the Monday morning shoot-around, specifically his lack of it, and blamed it on not being on the court because of injuries, as well as insisting, “I’m dealing with my own problems too.’’
Rose was asked if being considered the most accomplished guy on the roster should put the responsibility of having the loudest voice on his shoulders, and replied, “I mean I would, yeah, but at the same time I’m dealing with my own problems too, so it’s all about finding that balance, and like I said getting everybody on the same page.’’
The “own problems’’ comment was vague, so the logical follow up was for him to clarify if he meant the injury problems. It then became classic Rose.
“No, it’s about catching up,’’ Rose said. “These guys have been playing for a long time. When I was out I tend to just watch and see what’s going, and when you’re not playing you can’t voice your opinion like that. I don’t care who you are.
“With me being on the court, me getting back into a rhythm and just playing, I think that I should be able to voice my opinion a little bit more, and it’s slowly coming.’’
The question of leadership has been a growing one with this team, even going back to last season when they displayed a nasty habit of mailing it in against lesser opponents.
Jimmy Butler obviously identified that weakness, and came into this season beating his chest about being the leader, but the same habits keep presenting themselves.
So who can be that guy – other than the head coach – to get into faces and demand a better effort?
“I mean it’s everybody,’’ Rose said. “It’s everybody. You got a young unit, you got veterans on the team, but that comes along with the work you put in. If we see you’re putting your work in you can voice your opinion, and it’s up to everybody else to take it upon themselves to take it in or voice their opinion back to you.
“I mean we talk to each other. Every team is different. Every leader is different. And they handle it in their own little way. I think with the team, I think we talked about it as far as making sure everyone is on the same page and making sure we give all our effort, I mean our best effort every night. And it’s something coach or you all shouldn’t know nothing about, but we talked about it as a team and we’re going to fix it.’’
