Derrick Rose to unveil shooting tweak
BARCELONA, Spain -- Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose is vowing to break out of his shooting slump Tuesday when Team USA meets Slovenia in the quarterfinals of the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup.
Rose shot 21.6 percent from the field through Team USA's first six games of the tournament, connecting on just eight of his 37 attempts from the field as he shakes off the rust from two lost seasons.
But Rose, who has repeatedly struggled to finish drives to the rim, was noticeably upbeat Monday when he met with American reporters after practice and a lengthy shooting session with Bulls coach and Team USA assistant Tom Thibodeau, spotting a few familiar faces and vowing: "Tomorrow is going to be a different game. I think I found it now. Just changed one little thing."
Pressed to reveal the change in his shooting approach, Rose said with a smile: "You'll see tomorrow. You'll see tomorrow."
One team source told ESPN.com that Rose appeared to modify the amount of lift he had been taking previously on his jump shot in Monday's shooting session to guard against getting too high in the air before his release. With more modest spring off the floor, Rose looked comfortable from all shooting ranges.
Rose has been saying for days that pushing the pace offensively, pressuring the ball defensively, avoiding turnovers and fine-tuning his conditioning were his only individual goals in this summer stint with the national team after well-chronicled knee woes limited the NBA's most valuable player in 2010-11 to just 10 games with the Bulls over the past two seasons.
Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski has likewise praised Rose repeatedly for his unselfishness and dedication to defense, but the staff has begun urging Rose to be more aggressive.
"I'd like to see [Rose] go off," Krzyzewski acknowledged Monday.
The push coming now from team officials is for Rose to be more attack-minded as the tournament wears on, knowing that guard play figures to be critical in the widely expected potential showdown with Spain in the Sept. 14 title game in Madrid. Given the size and reputation of Spanish big men Pau and Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka, Team USA is bound to counter with the speed and skill of guards such as Kyrie Irving, Steph Curry, James Harden and, if he's up to it, Rose.
"He's trying to get everyone involved," Krzyzewski said. "He looks for his stuff not just fifth sometimes, but sixth or seventh. And we need him to look like he's 1 or 2 when he's out on the court. Look to make plays for people, but try to make plays for yourself, too. He's being very unselfish and trying to be a great teammate. It all comes from a good place. [But] we would like for him to look for his stuff.
"His play is very important for us. ... Derrick is obviously a great guy, [but] we need him to be Derrick, the player. His focus isn't on him offensively. And I don't think he became the great player he was having that mindset. So hopefully he'll have the mindset that we want him to. ... We've been winning big, so our argument might fall on deaf ears a little bit. But we need him to do it."
Said Rose: "Everybody is getting mad because I'm not shooting the ball more. That's strange. I'm not gonna change my game just because people want me to shoot more. I'm gonna do exactly what the game tells me to do. This is my role on this team. With the Bulls, of course I'm going to get up 20, 25 shots. [This role is] not going to change anything."
Thibodeau, meanwhile, continues to insist that launching his comeback as a role player on a deep squad is an ideal way for Rose to start working himself back to full speed before Bulls training camp begins at month's end.
"He'll be fine," Thibodeau said Monday.
Then Thibodeau began listing Rose's responsibilities under Krzyzewski, saying: "Play great defense. Push the ball up the floor. Attack. Get us easy baskets. Know what the strengths and weaknesses [are] of the players you're on the floor with. Doing [all] those things, but also finding yourself."
"I think there's been some good and bad in every game for him," Thibodeau said. "When you haven't played in two years, that's to be expected."
