Tom Thibodeau Says it’s ‘Unlikely’ Derrick Rose Plays Tonight

Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau was asked about Derrick Rose after practice on Thursday — which is of course, a daily occurrence — and after leaving the door slightly open about his superstar point guard making his season debut Friday night against the Golden State Warriors, Thibodeau backtracked and said it’s not likely to happen. Per the Chicago Sun-Times: “We’ll see [Friday],’ Thibodeau said. ‘With him, it’s just day-to-day. He had a good day [Thursday], went hard, did a lot of stuff, but we’ll see.’ Thibodeau was asked if it was as simple as Rose letting him know, ‘OK, I’m good, I can go,’ and he said, “Well, we’ll have a better idea as we go along. The big thing is his improvement and how he feels the next day, so as long as he keeps making progress. We went pretty hard [Thursday], so we’ll see where he is [Friday].’ […] When warned that his open-ended answers would ignite a fuse of speculation, Thibodeau tried to clear things up. ‘It hasn’t changed,’ Thibodeau said. ‘It could be in a couple of days; it could be in a week. I don’t know when it is; he doesn’t know when it is. As I said to you guys [Wednesday], I think he was very forthcoming with [the media]. That’s where he is. He’s got to feel real comfortable; he’s got to feel the explosion is there. He’s made great progress, and we don’t know when that time is. I think we’ll have a better idea the more we see him go. Like [Thursday], he was good, but it doesn’t mean he’s playing [Friday]. It doesn’t mean he’s not playing [Friday]. We just have to keep being patient, let him work through it. Each day he feels a little better, and that’s all we’re worried about. He’s controlled everything he can. He puts everything he has into each and every day, and when he’s ready, he’ll let us know.’ […] ‘As he told [the media in Los Angeles], he doesn’t know. I think he’s got to have a few days where he feels really good about where he is, and it’s not that he doesn’t feel really good, but he’s not quite there yet. We’ll know when he gets there. I will say this: It’s unlikely that he plays [Friday]. Just so we clear that up. Nothing has changed.'”