NBA Rumors: Chicago Bulls Bench Derrick Rose; Jimmy Butler; Joakim Noah Impatient Over Leader's Injuries

By Mitch de Leon
Derrick Rose
Chicago Bulls Derrick Rose opted out of the USA Basketball Team training camp, which could have had him working with other NBA stars like LeBron James and Stephen Curry. Wikimedia Commons/Keith Allison

The Chicago Bulls are losing steam as they move forward this NBA season. With the still present injury-related issues of star player Derrick Rose, the once glorious basketball squad struggle to keep up with the Eastern Conference teams. Moreover, the problematic shooting and defense of Joakim Noah have been stunting the group's growth. Needless to say, the Chicago Bulls are in the midst of a frustrating NBA season.

"We've got to pick it up," admitted Jimmy Butler in an interview with Sam Smith of NBA.com. He added, "The way we are playing is not good enough." Butler shared his sentiments following yet another disappointing loss to the NBA team this courtesy of the Boston Celtics.

Butler went on to state, "We have to learn to build on leads. That fourth quarter is huge. We know what we have to do. As much as y'all (media) keep asking us the same questions we keep giving the same answers, so we have to make it happen?"

In the said match, it could be seen that the up and rising Chicago Bulls star attempted to save the team from yet another loss in the final quarter of the game. Despite playing almost throughout the Boston Celtics face off, Butler still stayed with the team in the fourth quarter.

He said following the heartbreaking 105-100 defeat, "Sometimes we forget how hard we have to play. Guys get it and it's contagious; go hard on both ends of the floor. Looking at the guys on our roster, on paper we are good, really good. But when we go out there and go to work that's not saying the same thing. You have to go out and make it happen. Sometimes we get caught up in the hype and the (new) offense and we have to learn to get stops, make defense lead to offense."

Butler also noted that the Chicago Bulls stars are not executing their plays properly. However, he immediately slammed questions regarding the players' chemistry in the hardwood court. Instead, Butler insisted that their losses have to do "with the way we are playing."

Meanwhile, veteran star Rose appeared to be lost this season. Following his face surgery earlier this year, the Chicago Bulls leader have been seen sporting a face mask to protect himself during games. While Rose rarely sits out a match, his injury has caused him to suffer from double visions - a colossal problem for a shooter. With the injury rendering the star ineffective during games, some sports analysts believe that Rose should just be benched. Much to the chagrin of the fans, however, Fred Hoiberg appears intent on letting an injured Rose lead the already struggling basketball team.

"I wish I could (identify the team's issue), but I really can't right now," shared Rose. He added, "This is our first time (with this group) ever really going through it. We've been together for a long time and we're just trying to figure things out. I don't think it has anything to do with fighting the system or anything. I'm gonna try my hardest to push the ball, even on dead balls just to get up quicker so we have a couple of more seconds for our offense. We're just trying to figure it out, seeing the lineups, seeing who's out the there at certain times; just trying to figure it all out."

With the current issues in the Chicago Bulls roster, it remains to be seen if the Pau Gasol squad will be able to pull themselves out of the rut. Moreover, fans of the NBA team hope that the Taj Gibson group will get back their old shine. That is, the Chicago Bulls that nearly beat the Cleveland Cavaliers for the NBA finals spot against the Golden State Warriors last season. 

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