Derrick Rose Says His Ankle is OK

DRose scared the hell out of the any onlooking Bulls fans yesterday when he came down and looked like he seriously messed up his ankle. But he claims he’ll be just fine, CSNChicago reports: “As for Rose himself, however, he was more irritated than worried at the time of the injury, called a left-ankle sprain by both Rose and a Bulls spokesman. ‘I’m good. That’s basketball. If anything, I’m going to be able to rest in couple of days and during the game, I just wanted to keep moving. When you twist your ankle as a guard, the best thing to do is to tie up your shoes tighter and keep playing,’ said Rose, who walked up and down the Conseco Fieldhouse interview room’s podium steps with a noticeable limp. Rose finished a tough shot in traffic with 1:14 remaining in the first quarter, fell to the floor and immediately limped over to the Bulls’ sideline, unable to get back on defense. After play stopped on the other end of the court, he headed to the visiting locker room with Bulls head trainer Fred Tedeschi. ‘I really can’t explain it. Just took off wrong and all my weight just pushed over on one ankle and end up twisting it,’ said Rose, who got an X-ray after the contest. ‘I just wanted to come back out quick. I didn’t want to sit down; they [the Bulls training staff] were trying to sit me down and I was just trying to come back, and just keep playing. ‘My thing was just keep it moving and hurry up, and put me back in the game.’ Rose refused to blame his 6-for-22 shooting performance—he was 1-for-9 from three-point range and only attempted four free throws; his lack of explosiveness was most evident when Pacers point guard Darren Collison (ironically, he also suffered a sprained ankle during the series) blocked his fast-break layup—on the injury. ‘No excuses. Playoffs. I’ve sprained my ankle a million times. I just wasn’t able to hit shots,’ said Rose.”