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John Calipari on Derrick Rose: “He doesn’t have a real high pain threshold”

Derrick Rose

Derrick Rose

AP

More than much of the rest of the country has realized, Chicago has turned on Derrick Rose. It’s a city that prides itself on its blue collar toughness, and after a long list of injuries and comments about putting himself first Bulls fans have been turned off and moved on. This is Jimmy Butler’s team now, as we discuss on the PBT Podcast.

John Calipari — now at Kentucky who coached Rose at Memphis — was asked about the Bulls’ point guard by Colin Cowherd at Fox Sports Radio (transcription via the Chicago Tribune). His answer was enlightening,

“I coached Derrick, so here’s what I know. He will defer to his team. Now I will say this, and he knows this, he doesn’t have a real high pain threshold,” Calipari said. “He’s one of those guys, and while he’s getting injured, he knows ‘I gotta be right.’

“When you’re an athlete like Derrick Rose, it is really important that you’re healthy. He’s beating you with speed, with explosiveness. And if I’m the Bulls, I don’t want him at 70 percent. We gotta get him at a 100. But it was a freak hit to his eye.”


This couldn’t be more perfect for the legions lined up against Rose.

It was a freak hit to his eye, but that’s not what is holding him back at this point. That is live. Rose is not nearly as explosive as he once had been, the multiple knee injuries have robbed us of MVP Rose. The problem is he has not accepted this. Rose is convinced he is about to be that Rose again, even though is shooting just 37.5 percent on shots inside eight feet of the rim, and is hitting 18.8 percent from three. It’s nic

The Bulls are in an awkward transition from the Derrick Rose Bulls to the Jimmy Butler Bulls, and it’s not always smooth. Next summer there could be a lot of player changeover in Chicago.

How Rose fits in with all of that remains to be seen.

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