PANIC MONDAY FOR BULLS
While Rose undergoes surgery, Thibs must get players’ psyche strong
LOS ANGELES — Derrick Rose will have surgery to repair the torn medial meniscus in his right knee Monday afternoon in Chicago.
His timetable for a return must wait until the surgery is complete, coach Tom Thibodeau said.
As for Thibodeau fixing the psyche of his team, there is no schedule for that. And maybe there won’t be this season.
If Sunday’s 121-82 loss to the Clippers was any indication, a season that was supposed to be so special suddenly feels like it could be on a crash-course to disaster.
“I think it’s more your little brother being hurt,’’ Luol Deng said. “I think that’s why everyone’s head is down. It’s not so much the fact we don’t believe in each other or aren’t going to fight, it’s just that that’s a good kid and he worked so hard.
“We’ve seen him work hard and be the first one at practice every day and the last to leave and encouraging everybody. Coming back and making everyone believe we have the chance to do something special. When we took a hit like that, it’s hard. The people that don’t know him had a hard time hearing that. The people that know him just know how much work he put into it.’’
Rose’s comeback from his torn anterior cruciate ligament in 2012 has been well-documented. For his teammates, it was inspirational watching Rose work hard to recover.
So when Thibodeau gathered the team in the hotel on Saturday to give them the injury update, it was another punch to the gut.
“It’s got to be tough for him to go through what he went through last year and have something like this happen again,’’ Kirk Hinrich said. “As teammates and his friends, we’re here for him. But we have to find a way to get it done.’’
Allowing the Clippers to shoot 62 percent from the field in the first half, and then getting outscored 25-9 in the fourth definitely wasn’t getting it done.
And while Thibodeau was not pleased, he seemed willing to give his players a pass. A one-day pass.
“The games are going to keep coming,’’ Thibodeau said. “We have to have an edge about us, and I don’t think we had that edge. That’s on me, I’ve got to have them ready to play.’’
Next up is having them ready for the news coming Monday about how long Rose will be gone.
There are two ways to fix the meniscus: shaving or removal, which has a quicker rehab time; and reattachment, which has a rehab that could take as long as six months and cost Rose the remainder of the season.
According to the Rose camp, they will do whatever is best for Rose long-term. So if they opt for reattachment, help might not be coming later in the season.
“[Thibodeau] wrote down what we need to do on a chalkboard,’’ Taj Gibson said. “He basically said it doesn’t matter what the outside world says. He said we’ve been through a lot, achieved a lot. Even when backs were against the wall, we focused and we need to strive towards greatness. Nobody will give us a shot. We’re going to get hit. We have to keep going. That’s what happens in life.’’