Rose On His Back: "Everyday It's Improving"
By Nick Shepkowski-
(CBS) Despite not being able to return to the lineup against the Sacramento Kings Tuesday, Derrick Rose claims to be on the road to recovery with his recent back issue.
"Everyday it's improving," Rose said before Tuesday night's game. "I saw someone yesterday that stretched me out and every day I get better."
As often the case with smaller injuries leading to more serious ones, Rose believes his toe injury earlier in the season could be the reason for his current back spasms.
"I'm relieved it's not worse but my toe could be the effect on the back," he said.
The Bulls All-Star point guard went on to say his toe currently has no pain.
Surprising to most Bulls fans, Rose has no regrets about playing last Wednesday in New Orleans despite sitting out his third game in a row on Tuesday.
"I feel all right right now, not sorry I played in New Orleans. If I was just feeling bad, if my back was killing me, I would have been mad then but right now I'm trying to stay positive"
When asked if he would be able to return to the lineup later this week against the Celtics, Rose gave far from a strong endorsement.
"I can't give a certain date or tell you when I'll be back but it should be shortly."
With games against the Celtics (15-12), Nets (8-21), Hawks (18-10), Bucks (12-16) and Hornets (5-23) in the next two weeks, Bulls fans most likely wouldn't want to see the league's reigning-MVP rushed back to the court. Rose praised his teammate's efforts while he's been sidelined this year.
"My team is doing very good. We lost the last game but I'm not worried about that."
In recovering from the back pain, Rose denied having to take any painkilling shots but didn't avoid mentioning how debilitating back pain can be for an NBA point guard.
"Having back problems you can't do anything. You can't jump, run. Games out there I can't attack and get to the hole. "
Rose still feels this current back issue shouldn't be a long-term issue and said sitting during the games won't be an issue because of his "Phil Jackson chair".
With no guarantee of a return date of yet, Rose did make it clear that it was still too early to make any decisions on whether or not he would play in the NBA All-Star Game.
In addition to covering the Bulls for 670TheScore.com, Nick Shepkowski is the associate producer on the McNeil and Spiegel Show, weekdays 9am-1pm on 670 The Score. You can follow Nick on Twitter at @Shep670.
