Chicago Bulls superstar Derrick Rose will not play against the Indiana Pacers on Sunday at United Center after sustaining another injury in their previous games.
Rose, who has been bothered by his ailing ankles this season, suffered a strained left hamstring during their 100-93 win over the Toronto Raptors on Thursday.
Rose missed the final three minutes of the match after scoring 20 points to go along with four assists and three rebounds. Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau said that Rose is feeling better, but they decided not to take risk.
The 26-year-old point guard expressed frustration after sustaining another injury just as when he is still recovering from sprained ankles he suffered in their second game this season, but the former Most Valuable Player insisted that he is not losing confidence despite experiencing setbacks.
"Just trying to do everything right, work on flexibility, eat right, stretch right, hydrate right, try to put everything on my side to get better," Rose said via ESPN. "Missing two years, you are just going to fall for no reason, I guess. Just trying to work every day. I'm not losing any confidence with these little setbacks."
Bulls fans are already growing frustrated about Rose's health with some of them questioning his commitment to the team after deciding to sit out in their previous games.
Thibodeau defended their superstar playmaker, saying that fans should be patient as he pointed out that dealing with two major knee injuries for two years is not easy.
"Look, he was out for two and a half years," Thibodeau stressed. "So you're coming back, you're playing in a physical game. So there's going to be some times where he gets banged up a little bit - sprained ankle is sprained ankle. It could happen at any time. It could have happened his MVP year, it probably did happen."
Rose has missed four of their first nine games this season. But when he is healthy, the former Memphis standout has been very productive - averaging 18.0 points to go along with 5.4 assists and 2.8 rebounds per game this season.
