Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose showed he's back in dominant form in the USA Basketball showcase, which ended with a gruesome leg injury to Indiana Pacers forward Paul George.
Coming off an MCL injury, the 25-year old Rose showcased to the basketball world that he's still a force to be reckoned with as his speed and athleticism were at the forefront of the exhibition game.
It has been a tough past couple of seasons for Rose, who suffered a serious ACL injury in his left knee in a playoff game against the Philadelphia 76ers and sustained a MCL injury in his right in a regular-season game against the Portland Trail Blazers.
However, the former NBA MVP shut up all his critics on Friday with high-flying dunks and explosive fast break points that electrified the crowd at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Syracuse head coach and Team USA assistant Jim Boehim lauded Rose, who underwent major surgeries in both knee, for what has been a spectacular week with USA Basketball since helping the Americans reclaim the FIBA World Championship in Turkey four years ago.
"That's my biggest surprise coming in here," Syracuse coach and Team USA assistant Jim Boeheim told ESPNChicago.com, in reference to Rose's performance. "The one thing I was worried about is whether he would be able to step in after so much time [off]. He looks, to me, as good as when we had him in the world championship in '10, when he was at full strength coming [into] an MVP year.
"He looks very, very good. Obviously, [when] he gets in some games, it will be a little different, but it's not like he hasn't had success in games. He had a lot of success."
Veteran Bulls beat writer Sam Smith was also amazed by what he sees from Rose during the exhibition game, believing the Chicago-born guard never lost the speed and explosiveness he had pre-injury.
"The remarkable thing with Rose is despite two major knee surgeries it doesn't appear he's lost any explosion or quickness," Smith posted on his Twitter account.
Head coach Tom Thibodeau called Rose's participation as the next step towards his second comeback.
"This is the next step," said Tom Thibodeau. "Derrick has handled every step to this point the right way. The last time he participated in USA Basketball, he followed that with his MVP season (in 2010-11). So we're hoping he can use this time productively."
Rose - MVP Contender Next Season?
While it's early to speculate what will happen next season, it's easy to point out that Rose is going to be among the favourites along with LeBron James and Kevin Durant to win next year MVP.
If he continues to show the kind of explosiveness fans raved about him early in his career and produce solid stats for a sure-fire championship contender Bulls, Rose might have a solid chance to bag his second MVP on a strength of his epic comeback from two major surgeries.
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