Derrick Rose vowed to prove his doubters wrong and the Chicago Bulls superstar backed up his words with an impressive performance in the first of day of USA Basketball minicamp in Las Vegas on Monday.
Rose, who has missed all but 10 games over the last two seasons because of an ACL tear in his left knee in 2012 and a torn meniscus in right knee last year, turned heads in his first public practice since undergoing a second major knee surgery.
In an interview after the first of the five-day minicamp, Rose said that he is getting closer to reaching his old form, insisting that his confidence level is through the roof at this point.
"I'm there, man," Rose said via ESPN Chicago. "I'm not worried about that. My confidence is very high, and that's the only thing you might see this year - that my confidence level is through the roof."
USA Basketball executive director Jerry Colangelo was impressed with Rose's showing and he feels that the former Most Valuable Player has a good chance of making the final roster for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup that is scheduled to start on Aug. 30 in Spain.
"It's a glowing report for a great player and a great young man," Colangelo said of Rose's performance. "I'm excited for him. We will keep our fingers crossed for people to stay healthy and continue to move on. But we're talking about a former MVP in the league. If he's healthy, he's got a great chance to be on this team."
USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski also felt ecstatic after watching Rose on Monday, saying that the 25-year-old point guard is a much better player today compared to his previous stint with the national team in 2010.
"I was ecstatic about watching him today," Krzyzewski said on Monday via Yahoo Sports. "He's better than four years ago. Four years ago, he was 21, and he was just on the verge of becoming who he was going to be. But he had a great practice today. You don't practice like this [every day]. He hasn't been in practices like this. Now [we'll] watch what he does for the next few days."
Rose is tipped to get one of the point guard spots in the team, but Stephen Curry, Kyrie Irving, Damian Lillard, and John Wall are expected to give him a run for his money.
