Turns out Derrick Rose isn’t going through a short experience of blurred vision. The Chicago Bulls point guard may be some months away from seeing clearly, which explains why he’s been playing so inconsistently, not to say poorly since the start of the season.
Recovering from a left orbital fracture, Rose isn’t shying away from the floor in a fear of getting injured again, playing with a transparent mask. But he’s averaging just 12.6 points per game while shooting 35.9% from the field, which is on pace to being the worst season of his career in which he actually played more than a handful of games. It could be two more months before his vision is back to normal, something Rose seems to have been unaware of previously.
This is my first time hearing about it. But you kind of have that hope in your mind that it gets well a lot quicker. But for this to be seven or eight weeks out and still the same way, I can’t do nothing but live with it. Get the most out of every day, keep putting my deposits in and keep working on my game until my eye gets better. But I’m loving the way that I’m working out, I’m loving the way that we’re playing. We’re winning games, so that’s the only thing that I’m worried about. Everything else will come.
Rose played the first game of the season with one eye closed, and has since gotten more and more used to his protective mask, although it hasn’t shown on the floor. He’s had just one game of more than 20 points this season (29 in the win over the Thunder, shooting 12-of-25 from the field) and has made only one three pointer in nine games, making 5.6% of his shots. He’s had 16 assists over the last two wins, and maybe trying to shoot less and playing the facilitator more (although seeing open teammates is also an issue) will help him be more efficient during his struggles with the blurred vision.
He doesn’t seem to be worried.
All of it is going to come. It’s all about putting your game back together, too. It’s the first time I had surgery on my face, so that’s something different. The depth perception of the rim is a little bit thrown off, so I’m dealing with that. It’s all going to come to me.
His head coach, Fred Hoiberg, into his first season as an HC in the NBA (Bulls are 6-3 so far), doesn’t seem to be worried either.
The Doctors said it could be as long as three month, but the vision has continued to improve, and that’s obviously a positive.