Derrick Rose will miss his fifth straight game on Wednesday against the Raptors with a strained groin, K.C. Johnson is reporting, despite Tom Thibodeau saying he will be a "gametime decision".
"Injuries are part of the game," Thibs said. "If someone is injured, regardless of where we are, who we're playing against, we don't want him to play. If somebody is hurting and they can play, that's a different story. We want Derrick to be completely healthy. And when he is, he will play.
On the concept of over-resting players, though, he added: "Somehow this notion that you can miss the entire season and come back in the playoffs and play well, I haven't seen that. So I don't know what people are talking about. You have to build the right habits so you can perform well when it matters most."
The Bulls have won three of four in this stint without Rose, 10-4 this season without the reigning MVP on the floor. [And thanks to John Schuhmann (via Tim S.), we know that the Bulls are a league-best 8-1 when they're on no rest and their opponent has a day or more rest -yfbb]
The Raptors suck, so no problem. The real toughy will be the Bulls' next game on Saturday against.... never mind, that's against the Raptors again.
Still no clue when Richard Hamilton is returning or when I'll care again.
- Brad Miller is retiring after this, his 14th season in the NBA. Miller is currently far on the end of the Timberwolves bench after a pretty good season with the Rockets and career worthy of pride that included a good stint with the Bulls and a really good one with the Kings. Trey Kerby, self-acclaimed biggest fan of Miller, put together a gem in which he reminds us of Miller's cornrows and how often the slowest pump fake in the world fooled the league for way too long. I disagree that Miller was "just a dude", considering his position. Look at the list of centers who've started games over the last 14 years. That's a list of a lot of bums and Miller has the 17th highest PER of any of them over the span of his career. It's statue time, right, guys?!?