Players, coaches and friends all impressed with Rose in training this week…
Derrick Rose’s college coach, John Calipari, has insisted that the injuries his former star has suffered have made him a stronger person.
The 25-year-old has participated in Team USA’s training camp this past week and has impressed onlookers despite being out of competitive action since November.
Rose has played just 10 games in the past two seasons after suffering a torn ACL in 2012 and then a torn meniscus last year, but having worked hard in the gym and looked after his body, he revealed that his confidence is “through the roof” earlier this week.
Nevertheless, there are still those who doubt whether or not he is capable of returning to the level that he performed at prior to the injuries, and he will have to prove that he has overcome his woes later this summer ahead of the new NBA season.
“Injuries, no one wants to go through that, but they do one of two things,” Calipari told ESPNChicago.com.
“They make you stronger or they break you down, and it’s pretty obvious what it’s done to him. … I said (to him), ‘You look great. Your explosiveness is even maybe beyond where it was, which is scary.’ And I said, ‘You’re doing great.’
“He said: ‘I’m on a mission.'”
Indiana Pacers star Paul George was the latest high profile name to admit that Rose “looks like he’s coming off the MVP year”, and he believes it comes down to the fact that he now feels healthy and is body is feeling good.
Rose has been seen smiling with reporters and insists that he perhaps pushed too hard in his previous comeback which ultimately led to the meniscus tear in November last year.
However, this time round, he has been more patient and let the game come to him as opposed to chasing it, and having taking a small bit of inspiration from Russell Westbrook and his return from injury, it appears as though the Bulls point guard is ready to make a legitimate return in the coming months.
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