NBA: Derrick Rose Pressuring Himself But Still Unlikely To Start For Pistons Soon

Derrick Rose is working to still improve this season but he might be coming off the bench for a little longer.

The Detroit Pistons has been impressive in the early going despite the absence of the team’s star power forward Blake Griffin due to injury. Although Pistons are 1-2 in their first three games, former MVP “D-Rose” has managed to keep a hot start.

After putting up terrific numbers, fans are now rooting for Rose to play more minutes and even start for the Pistons. However, Pistons head coach Dwane Casey doesn’t want to make careless mistakes on Rose this season knowing that the 2011 MVP has had a series of major injuries in the past, Detroit News reported.

“I understand the frustration of fans – and I’d be frustrated too if I saw this dynamic player who’s getting everything done going off the floor. But he’s not a machine; he’s a human being,” Casey recently said of Rose.

Through the team’s first three games of the 2019-20 regular season, the 31-year-old Rose is averaging 25.3 points points and 26.3 minutes per contest. Nonetheless, Rose understands that monitoring his minutes could be essential in prolonging a healthy season.

“Not this soon,” Rose said about idea of playing 40 minutes.

“It plays a part in playing through fatigue. It’s still early. I’m in shape but to actually be in and doing all that I’m doing and having the same mindset to play while I’m fatigued, it takes some time to adjust to that.” Rose said via Beard.

After playing well for a consistent three-game streak, Rose still thinks that he has been playing “terribly.” Evidently, he is not expected to quickly return to his MVP form. However, Rose kind of pressure himself to play even better this season.

“I think I’ve been playing terrible. Just my turnovers have been (bad), having 4 or 5 a game. I just look at that differently, especially being a PG and being back in that position,” Rose told The Detroit News.

The idea of Rose being a starter for the Pistons is unlikely to happen soon. But looking at the team’s roster at this point, it appears that starting point guard Reggie Jackson could end up missing some time due to a back injury. Casey knows Rose is the best guard on the roster and is also aware that putting Rose in the starting 5 could help the team significantly.