Both Eastern Conference series are going to be physical as ****.

I agree. If he comes back on Monday I will lose all respect for him.

Noah and Boozer are playing better. Also, Chicago at that time relied upon Rose too much offensively. Heat put LeBron on him and they really floundered. Now that they spread the scoring out among a number of players, they may actually be better prepared to deal with the Heat.

You may be right about the over reliance on Rose, but the Heat are better now too. Much more efficient on the offensive end. I do think the series should be far more competitive than it would have been with that soft, lazy Nets team, though.

Chicago beat Miami twice this season. I don't think it's as much as him abandoning his team as getting his mind right about his knee kind of like berry and Charles for the chiefs this year. I hope he comes back. If he doesn't, oh well.

I pretty much already have.
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Heh, it almost feels like the Spurs and Heat got a 1st round bye.

OP updated

Monday night! Go bulls!

Same here. I hated him with Memphis because my Jayhawks were playing them in the title game and that he was a Calipari player which speaks for itself. Then I had to like him because my Bulls drafted him and he grew on me and now this. I should've known better than to like or trust a Calipari player. Scum.

Bill Simmons on Rose:

Q: Can you hold it against Derrick Rose for not coming back?

Absolutely not. See, Gilbert Arenas affected the NBA in four ways …

1. He's the first NBA star who tapped into the potential of connecting with fans on the Internet (with his groundbreaking Agent Zero blog). Then Twitter happened, and Facebook, and Instagram, and now we're at a point where Kobe could run for president because he's so good at social media. In fact, I think I'd vote for him in 2016. As long as he wasn't running with Dwight Howard.

2. After he bolted Golden State for the Wizards, they named a rule after him — the Gilbert Arenas provision, which makes it easier for teams to sign their own restricted free agents who were second-round picks.

3. They also named three unwritten rules after him: "Don't bet large sums of money with teammates during poker games on chartered flights," "Don't bring guns into the locker room for any reason," and "Don't give someone a massive nine-figure contract if you're not positive he's healthy."

4. He's the all-time "came back too soon" cautionary tale for anyone who suffered a major knee injury. Gilbert tore a meniscus near the tail end of the 2006-07 season, came back too soon, reinjured it in November, missed much of the season, came back too soon a second time, reinjured his knee in the playoffs, came back too soon the following fall, had a third surgery, and ended up playing 15 games total in two years. Make no mistake — he was NEVER the same.

Now? He's a cautionary tale, the name that floats through the head of any player who wants to keep pushing himself to play, feels really good … but doesn't totally trust his knee yet. Magic Johnson's biggest professional regret is coming back too soon during the 1981 season. He knew his surgically repaired knee didn't feel right, but as Magic tells it, you start feeling that pressure from every direction. Fans, teammates, coaches, the owner, you name it. And it's not even intentional. Might even be something as simple as someone saying, "How's the knee feeling?," only they make eye contact for an extra second and you start thinking, Does he not believe me? You get in your own head. You feel guilty all the time. Your confidence is shaken. You can't do the one thing that always came easiest to you. So you start pushing yourself to come back, tricking yourself, convincing yourself to feel a certain way. And that's when you can get in trouble.

As Magic put it, When you're ready, you know. If you're wondering even a little? Then you don't know. I think that's where Derrick Rose is right now. He's in his own head. He doesn't totally trust his knee yet. His hammies still hurt. And yet … he feels horrible that he can't help his team. So he's vacillating, and fortunately, GILBERT ARENAS keeps flashing through his head in all caps. Over everything else, that's Arenas's real legacy. Nobody wants to be The Next Guy Who Came Back Too Soon.

It's all mental now. Rose is ready when "he's" ready

its not all mental, its when your knee and all the ligaments around it feel healthy. If he's not feeling that its strong enough then why force it? The doctors may say, hey its healed 100 percent, but the muscles arent and it feels weak, so why push it?

I dont blame him, he's a young guy that has a bright bright future. I hope he doesnt force it back before he feels 100 percent.

I don't blame Rose at all for not playing. He'll be back next year 100% ready.

True Bulls fans in it for the long haul should be fine with his decision. Do you want a really good Rose for the next 12 years, or the next 4?