Tom Thibodeau has a solution for the suddenly highly-publicized Derrick Rose rest debate: “Gotta get out there and play.’’
It was well documented through the first eight games of the playoffs of how much better the Bulls point guard looked on two-days of rest compared to just one-day of rest.
On one day of rest, Rose entered tonight’s Game 3 against the Cavs averaging just 14 points a game, shooting 29.9 percent from the field, 27.3 percent from the beyond the arc and has a 1.4 assist to turnover ratio.
On two days of rest it’s been like a different guy, averaging 24.3 points, shooting 48.1 percent from the field, shooting 48.3 percent from beyond the arc and has a 2.5 assist to turnover ratio.
Numbers that Rose didn’t want to acknowledge the other day.
“I can’t think about that,’’ Rose said. “That’s something that I think you all made up or something. But I can’t think about that at all. When I play, I try to go out there and play my hardest and that’s about it.’’
Thibodeau had been dealing with the question the last 24 hours leading into the series coming to Chicago, and on Friday was very honest about his feelings.
Does Derrick Rose need a rest? Giving Rose extra rest in between games or changing his routine? That’s not happening. Even with Game 3 through Game 6 each having only one day of rest between them, Thibodeau sees it as a trend that Rose just has to push through.
“He has missed a lot of time,’’ Thibodeau said. “He’s working his way back. He had surgery again this year. It’s not only three years of rust but he played a good chunk the first half of the season and then missed a good chunk the second half. Each day, he’s feeling better and better. It’ll come around.
“What you have to be able to count on are things you can control – your energy, your concentration, how you run the team, go out there and do your job. Not to just measure a guy by how he shoots or how many points he scores. But how are you doing all the other things? The energy part, you control that. The concentration part, you control that. The shot is not going down for you. Do a lot of other things that help the team win. Help someone else play great. He has shown that. I’m concerned with how our team performs when he’s on the floor. When you’re a point guard, that’s how you measure.’’
