Hoiberg: Rose uncertain for opening night; not subject to playing restrictions
Chicago Bulls rookie head coach Fred Hoiberg is still unsure if Derrick Rose will be able to play on opening night against the Cleveland Cavaliers next Tuesday, but he says there will be no restrictions placed on the point guard going into this season.
"It's still too early to tell I think, as far as opening night is concerned," Hoiberg told ESPN's Nick Friedell, echoing the Bulls' statement last week regarding Rose's recovery from a broken facial bone. "I know Derrick wants to be out there, but it's a long season, it's an 82-game season."
In terms of that 82-game, six-month grind, however, Hoiberg said there will be no limit for Rose in terms of minutes or back-to-backs.
"There's no restrictions. Again, (Rose) had a great offseason," Hoiberg said. "When I went out to see him in L.A. after the summer league he looked great. He looked explosive. Watching all the games from a year ago, watching how he finished in the playoffs, I thought he had his explosiveness back. He was getting in the lane, making plays for himself and others. So he came into this (season) with no minutes restrictions, anything like that.
"We'll be a little bit careful. Again, it's a long season. We've got depth, we've got a lot of guys who can go out there and get minutes. We've got good veterans so we'll be a little careful with it, but no, there's no restrictions on Derrick right now."
Rose played on a minutes restriction when he returned late last season from a torn meniscus, but it was removed once the Bulls reached the playoffs. The issue of such player restrictions was known to be a factor in tension between the Bulls organization and former coach Tom Thibodeau over the years.
Rose, who only just turned 27, has undergone surgeries on both knees and has missed 228 of a possible 328 regular-season games in the last four years. Here's his breakdown of games played with and without rest last season - the first campaign in which he played more than 41 contests since his MVP season of 2010-11 - via Basketball-Reference.
| Derrick Rose 2014-15 | PTS | AST | FG% | USG% | ORtg | DRtg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 days rest | 14.9 | 5.4 | 35.5 | 31.8 | 90 | 108 |
| 1 or more days rest | 18.5 | 4.7 | 43.9 | 30.7 | 103 | 108 |
Another single-game advanced metric, DRE, courtesy of Nylon Calculus' Kevin Ferrigan, is even less forgiving to Rose in those circumstances.
The Bulls play 17 back-to-backs this season and one stretch of four games in five nights.