Some of the things Derrick Rose says make you shake your head. They’re not nefarious, but they are an indication that he just doesn’t get it.
His should be an offseason spent wondering how things went so wrong for the Bulls and how he can help make them better. But, no. It will be spent preparing for free agency that’s a year away, he said last week.
Rose also mentioned that if the Bulls don’t make the playoffs, he’ll have more time to spend with his son. That’s the kind of thing you don’t say out loud, not when you’re making $20 million and certainly not when fans are still paying a premium to watch a mediocre basketball team.
We’ve spent most of the season trying to figure out who the Bulls’ on-court leader is, which is like trying to figure out how to get a rock to dispense water. Rose and Jimmy Butler frequently say nice things about the importance of meshing, but they don’t play well together. Sometimes they look like AAU teammates who take turns shooting, which is to say they look like all AAU teammates. That’s not what leaders are supposed to look like.
Butler says things that would seem to indicate he’s trying to be a leader, but just because he talks like one doesn’t mean anyone is following him. It could be that this is a team of me-first players. More likely, it’s a team that hasn’t bought what he’s selling. He might want to ask himself why that is.
The Bulls don’t know whom they can count on when times get tough. Injuries have been an issue all season, but they don’t explain why the team plays down to its competition so often. Over and over, media members have asked the players about an absence of heart, toughness and character. Rather than be insulted by such pointed questions, they shrug. After how they’ve played this season, who are they to argue?
