What is he going to show anyone? He still refused to play when he was cleared by doctors. That happened. Nothing he does can change that. And then there's the recruiting stuff. Oh boy. Healthy knee. I'd really hope so with that much time off.
Btw, does he have another shoe coming out? Gotta build the hype!
I sincerely doubt that there will be any real hype. We're done with hype. It has been two long fucking years for Bulls fans who were really excited about the promise of the team that they had three years ago. THAT was a team that I still believe would have won a couple of championships with a healthy Rose. That didn't happen and it didn't happen because of injury. I do think that between them, Rose and the Bulls totally fucked up the last two years in how they handled the Rose injuries and that hurt their credibility. It was what I would call a clusterfuck.
Like it or not, all of the pressure is going to be on Rose. He is going to have to re-establish himself as a player let alone a super-star. He is not going to get a pass from many people or that they'll make excuses for him. He needs to perform and perform well. Pretty much he has dictated his entire two years and now it is on him to prove that he was right. The PR has been that he is working his ass off to come back. In his corner are his teammates apparently, at least in their words.
But this is on Rose. Right now he is not the leader of the team. Noah is with Gibson a close 2nd. Both of those guys have gone balls out before during and will after his absence. Rose needs to perform. Period. He can't put on that whipped dog persona that he sometimes does. He needs to get animated as much as he can.
Truth is that Rose has never been a super-star type in Chicago and/or leader. I'm not indicting him but this is his year to put up stuff. He needs to play with a chip on his shoulder and become one of five on the floor. I hope like hell that he can because if he doesn't, this is going to be a miserable year in Chicago in my view.
