Paxson: No Thoughts Of Shutting Rose Down – For Now
By Cody Westerlund-
(CBS) Several days after Bulls guard Derrick Rose sat out the second half of a loss to the Nuggets with what the team announced as "hamstring tightness" but what was revealed to be more of a coach's decision and non-health issue afterward, Bulls vice president of basketball operations John Paxson told the Mully and Hanley Show that the organization isn't discussing shutting Rose down for a time.
For now, at least.
"Shutting him down right now was not a discussion," Paxson said of Rose, who has played in seven of Chicago's 15 games this season as he's dealt with ankle and hamstring injuries. "I'm not sure that that would solve anything. Look, there's no guarantee … There's no guarantee if we do that that come Christmas time, he's going to be fine. It's frustrating for everybody. It's most frustrating for Derrick … We all want a healthy Derrick Rose, a healthy team.
"We all think that him playing is important.
"If this hamstring after today continues to be a nagging problem, then yes, we're going to have to shut him down. But you have to give the athlete an opportunity to heal and then try it again."
Paxson expects Rose to play this afternoon when the Bulls visit the Celtics. After logging just short of 10 minutes of playing time in the first half Tuesday in a loss at Denver, Rose stayed in the locker room to get treatment on his left hamstring and didn't play in the second half. That was the idea of Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau after seeing Rose look a step slow and fatigued on the second night of a back-to-back. Thibodeau explained that he didn't want to take any chances.
As for who is making the decision on Rose playing – it's widely assumed that Rose decides in conjunction with Bulls director of sports performance Jen Swanson, perhaps along with his camp too – Paxson said, "We're all kind of making the decision."
Also asked if Rose is listening to "too many voices" outside of the organization, Paxson said, "I don't know."
What's most important, Paxson said, is that the organization keeps the big picture in mind.
"We're all in this together," Paxson said. "Yes, Derrick has to play, as do some of our other guys. But not to the point where we're overloading them. Here's the thing I think you have to remember about Derrick. He spent two very difficult years with the two knees. It's not just a physical thing. Yes, there's a mental component to it. I think Derrick over the last two years has become very sensitive to his body, and he knows his body now better than he ever has. He's trying to pay attention to that, and we are too.
"We're involved in this as well.
"We feel like we've got a deep enough team."
Rose is averaging 15.7 points per game on 43 percent shooting and adding 5.0 assists.
Paxson admitted it's "hard" for everyone involved – the front office, the coaching staff, Rose, his teammates and the fans.
"We would like to be heathier at the end of this year than we have been the last three or four years," Paxson said. "If that happens, we put the balls out there, let Tom coach them up and we go see and what we got. Hopefully that's an Eastern Conference Finals team, a championship team."
"We know we're a good basketball team. We know we're well-coached. We know we have depth.
"It's been disjointed. That's probably the best word you can use to this point."
Cody Westerlund is a sports editor for CBSChicago.com and covers the Bulls. Follow him on Twitter @CodyWesterlund.