Blurred vision continues to plague Bulls' Rose
CHICAGO — Derrick Rose says he is feeling more comfortable on the floor as he continues to recover from a left orbital fracture, but Chicago Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg acknowledged Sunday that Rose may be dealing with blurred vision for another couple months.
Rose suffered the fracture during the Bulls’ first training camp practice Sept. 29. He’s admitted there has been problems with double vision since having surgery Sept. 30.
“[The doctors] said it could be as long as three months,” Hoiberg said. “But [the vision] has continued to improve and that’s obviously a positive.”
Rose has struggled to find a rhythm early in the season, averaging just 12.6 points — down almost eight points a game from his career average.
“This is my first time hearing about it,” Rose said of the possible three-month timeline. “But you kind of have that hope in your mind that it gets well a lot quicker. But for this to be seven or eight [weeks] out and still the same way, I can’t do nothing but live with it. Get the most out of every day, keep putting my deposits in and keep working on my game until my eye gets better.
“But I’m loving the way that I’m working out, I’m loving the way that we’re playing. We’re winning games so that’s the only thing that I’m worried about. Everything else will come.”
Rose said after the first game of the season that he was playing with one eye closed, but said he’s now able to keep both eyes open on the floor as he gets more comfortable with the protective mask.
“I’m playing with both of them open now,” Rose said. “But [my vision] is still blurry when I look certain ways. But that’s part of [the recovery] I guess.”
Rose acknowledged being a little frustrated during games because of the ongoing issues, but he didn’t want to use that as an excuse.
“I’m missing a lot of shots where I normally hit,” Rose said. “Floaters or layups I normally hit, but everything else will come. Just getting my legs under me. It’s still preseason for me. … I’m still warming up.”
The noticeable difference in Rose’s game to this point is his long-range shooting. He’s just 1-for-18 from beyond the arc, but remains confident that his shot is rounding into form.
“All of it is going to come,” Rose said. “It’s all about putting your game back together, too. It’s the first time I had surgery on my face so that’s something different. The depth perception of the rim is a little bit thrown off, so I’m dealing with that. It’s all going to come to me.”
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