The Chicago Bulls had an impressive win on opening night against the Cleveland Cavaliers but since then they have been just OK through eight games as they are 5-3. One of the big reasons the Bulls haven't been as good as many people had hoped is because Derrick Rose isn't playing all that well. When trying to figure out why he hasn't been playing well one of the first things you can point to is the mask he's been wearing but he says that he might wear it for the entire season, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Rose was elbowed in the face on the first day of training camp about a month ago and suffered a fractured orbital bone. Because of the fractured orbital bone Rose was expected to wear the mask until it fully healed but it is apparently fully healed now, yet he still does not intend to stop wearing the mask. Rose says that he will probably wear it as a precaution because the injury was extremely painful and he doesn't want to have to go through it again.
Rose is off to a rough start to this season as he is fourth on the team in scoring with just 12.9 points per game and he is shooting just 37 percent from the field and six percent from three. Despite the slow start Rose refuses to blame the mask for his struggles he instead has said that his vision is still not fully right which could be a big reason why his shooting has been so off. After a game this season Rose told a reporter that he was seeing two of everything and if that's the case you could imagine how hard it must be to make shots.
The Bulls have enough talent on their roster that they should be able to make the playoffs regardless of whether Rose steps up his game but if they want to compete for an Eastern Conference Championship they will need their point guard back in MVP form. Rose is convinced that everything will eventually fall into place for him and while it may sound concerning that he is resigned to the idea of wearing the mask all season he insists the mask doesn't affect his play. The bigger concern is getting his vision right so that he can see the basket much more clearly.
