It’s been almost 18 months since we’ve gotten a look at the speed, athleticism, and overall explosiveness that Derrick Rose is uniquely able to showcase on the basketball court.
His comeback is upon us, however, with training camp now open and Chicago’s first preseason game set for Oct. 5 in Indiana against the Pacers. And based on how’s he’s felt in workouts, Rose isn’t expecting to alter his style of play once he officially returns to action.
From Sean Highkin of USA Today:
Rose went into further detail about his training at the launch event for his latest signature shoe from adidas, explaining how important it’s become to him, while pointing out it’s not something that’s valued by all players.
“First is diet,” Rose said to a small group of reporters last weekend at the United Center. “Don’t get me wrong, I probably do the 80-20 rule, with maybe 20 percent bad food. I wouldn’t say like, I totally went vegan or anything. But I try to eat healthy. Training-wise, I try to push myself every day. Every day I go into training, it’s a day I can get better. And I take it seriously. NBA players, I’ve seen it. A lot of NBA players don’t take training seriously because you’re already talented, you’re already making millions of dollars, you have your own ego -- you’re there.
“For me, it really starts from the beginning to really take training seriously and still have that talent. It’s my first time really working hard like this off the court with training and lifting. I know I’m going to be a better player, but I don’t know how I’m going to be really because I’ve never been this strong. I’ve never been this mentally prepared in my life.”
We obviously won’t know what version of Rose we’ll see until he gets back on the court playing full speed against other NBA-level talent. But it’s good to know that the training he’s done has him as fully prepared as possible.
