Rose on World Cup schedule: 'If I'm healthy enough to play, I'm going to play'

There would have been concerns about Derrick Rose's knees either way. But the events of this year's USA basketball camp have made the prospect of NBAers participating in international competition seem, more than ever, like playing with fire. And nobody left on Team USA's roster appears as vulnerable as Rose. 

With two major surgeries and two lost basketball seasons currently fogging his rearview, the last thing anybody (especially anybody in any way affiliated with the Chicago Bulls) wanted to hear was that Rose was being hampered by knee soreness, while playing for a team that is not the Chicago Bulls. 

For those who weren't already skeptical about the prudence of his playing in this year's World Cup, that little nugget seemed to solidify the notion that Rose's best course of action would be to follow Kevin Durant out of camp and rest up for the 2014-15 NBA season. 

But as he prepares to suit up for Team USA's exhibition game against Puerto Rico on Friday (after sitting out Wednesday with "general body fatigue"), and continues to try and lock down one of the squad's 12 final roster spots, Rose remains deaf to all the noise. 

From Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News:

The point guard also declared that the heavy schedule at the World Cup —which calls for five games in six days off the bat — is not a deterrent in his attempt to bounce back from two knee surgeries in two years.

In other words, he doesn't want to sit out tournament games just to rest.

"If I can play, I’m going to play. No matter when it is or how many games it is. If I’m healthy enough to play, I’m going to play. I’m not worried about that," he said. "I think that all the training I’ve been doing in the past, I think I’m prepared for it. It’s just that I’m getting my legs under me a little bit more right now."

The team, and head coach Mike Krzyzewski, will trim the roster - presently a 16-man outfit - down to 12 on Saturday. When asked, Coach K wouldn't say anything definitive, but he seems optimistic that Rose, if chosen, would be able to handle the rigors of the tournament. 

"I think he’s ready," Krzyzewski said. "We’re going to go and whatever. I understand what you’re asking. I’m not going to go there. I don’t like doing that. I’m thinking about him playing and being there."