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Hall of Fame point guard and Chicago native Isiah Thomas said Friday he plans to reach out soon to Derrick Rose as the Chicago Bulls star recovers from knee surgery.

“The best thing I can say to him is all of us Chicagoans, we have a never-say-die attitude,” Thomas said by phone. “We come on hard times, and injuries don’t stop us.”

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Chicago Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said Friday that Derrick Rose is "doing great" in his rehab from his torn ACL.

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CHICAGO -- Derrick Rose's former high school coach spoke with Rose Tuesday and said the Chicago Bulls star was in good spirits and is ready to work his way back from recent surgery to repair a torn ACL in his left knee.

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CHICAGO -- At a certain point while reporters directed questions at the orthopedic surgeon who performed Derrick Rose's reconstructive knee surgery, the medical jargon started to blur together.

All anyone wanted to know is when. And how. When will Rose be able to return full-time to the basketball court and how will he regain the form that has made him one of the best players in the NBA?

The short answer to the timetable question, said Bulls team surgeon Dr. Brian Cole, is eight to 12 months. The long answer was somewhat chilling.

"While he will hopefully be at a very high level in 12 months, it still may take slightly longer to be at his pre-injury level," Cole said. "That's not uncommon in athletes of this caliber."

And in one sentence by the medical professional best-equipped to predict, the reality of the situation set in. The next time we see the Derrick Rose we have grown so accustomed to watching on the basketball court, he will be 25 years old. Still young, likely still supremely gifted, but no longer a kid either.

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Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose will be out at least 8-12 months after undergoing surgery to repair his left ACL, said Dr. Brian Cole, who performed the surgery on Saturday.

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Coach Mike Krzyzewski said Monday that not having the injured Derrick Rose will be a "big loss" for Team USA in its defense of the gold medal at the London Games this summer.

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CHICAGO -- With the Chicago Bulls on the brink of a season-ending collapse, Luol Deng stepped up and showed he has more than enough ligaments to shoot with.

If you’re unfamiliar with the Tom Thibodeau Coaching Robot’s mantra, “We’ve got more than enough to win with,” you probably didn’t laugh at that joke. If you’re sick of hearing Thibodeau say those words after the soul-crushing loss of Derrick Rose and a mind-numbing three-game losing streak, you probably winced at it.

But ThibsBot doesn't lie. Or if he does, he believes it. The losing streak is over and despite another late Ankle Moment, the half-dead Bulls are still alive in their first-round series against the Philadelphia 76ers after a non-artful 77-69 win at the United Center on Tuesday night.

Just when everyone had finished their obituaries.

Deng, hampered for more than half of the season with a torn ligament in his left hand, has battled through pain to try and erase any lingering, if not misguided, notion that he’s a soft player. But it wasn't just about Deng's reputation. He wanted to play, rather than get surgery, because Deng knew this was going to be a special season. And it almost was. Now the O'Brien Trophy is out of reach, but the Bulls want to keep playing out of stubborn pride. Forget the beach, give them Philly and then Boston or Atlanta.

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We all look for reducing explanations, and so with the Bulls' first-round flameout against the Sixers, the explanation everyone offers is "No Rose, no Noah, no chance."

I'm not sure it's that simple. For starters, the Bulls lost Game 2 soundly even with Noah. Moreover, there's this little nugget: The Bulls, without Rose and Noah, were +210 in 1,048 minutes this season, according to NBA.com -- a shockingly good +9.6 points per 48 minutes. The Sixers, with everybody, were +3.9.

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DEERFIELD, Ill. -- Poor Rip Hamilton. He gets no burn in the fourth quarter and the Chicago Bulls make him address the media on an off-day.

A day after sitting out the majority of the fourth for the third time in four games of the most depressing series since "Twin Peaks," Hamilton was trotted out as designated veteran to appease a press corps that is ready and willing to give his team their last rites.

"Right now it's live or die," Hamilton said at the Berto Center. "It's win or go home. It makes the game more challenging. It makes it better, I think, because you're not looking to another game. This has to be the game."

Inspired yet?

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PHILADELPHIA -- Chicago Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau has never wavered in the confidence he's shown towards his team. His coaching mantra is, "We have more than enough to win with."

He said it again on Saturday afternoon just seconds after all but admitting that Joakim Noah wasn't going to play in Game 4. Thibodeau's philosophy is that no matter who steps on the floor, the Bulls can win. It goes beyond talent for the veteran coach. He believes that if he puts his team in the right position and the players follow his direction, they will find their way.

But at some point, no matter how well a team executes an offense or runs plays, talent must win out. Clutch players have to make tough shots in big situations and the Bulls found out the hard way during the fourth quarter in Game 3 that without Derrick Rose, and to a much lesser extent Noah, the Bulls have a team full of guys who are still learning how to come through with the game on the line.

The Bulls shot just 6-for-25 in the final 12 minutes and looked inept at times down the stretch. It wasn't so much that a 14-point lead evaporated, it was how it happened so quickly. The Bulls ran down the floor on certain sets and appeared to have no idea what they wanted to do. Whether it was John Lucas III dribbling around with no particular purpose or Kyle Korver missing the open looks that he did get, the Bulls had no rhythm to their game. Luol Deng and Carlos Boozer, two key offensive weapons the Bulls needed to step up in place of Rose, finished the quarter a combined 1-for-7, with Deng's only shot coming in the final seconds.

As Thibodeau watched the tape on Saturday, it's hard to believe he didn't get sick to his stomach.

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Philadelphia 76ers guard Jrue Holiday said Friday that the Chicago Bulls are "really different" without Derrick Rose, but he doesn't expect another flat effort from the Bulls in Game 3 on Friday.

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PHILADELPHIA -- Chicago Bulls forward Luol Deng has stated all season that he is going to represent Great Britain in the London Olympics this summer, and that hasn't changed despite the fact Derrick Rose tore his left ACL and may have to miss a large chunk of next season for the Chicago Bulls.

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CHICAGO -- The question posed to Luol Deng was a simple one.

"With Derrick [Rose] gone, do you feel like you have to be the guy to get to the basket more?" a reporter asked the Chicago Bulls All-Star in a subdued Bulls locker room after Tuesday’s 109-92 Game 2 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.

"Derrick is not here, so this is a different team," a frustrated Deng said.

Perhaps not getting the answer he was looking for, the reporter asked the question again.

"Derrick is not here," Deng responded. "This is a different team. We've been through it. We've played a lot of games. It's a lot of games that we won. You guys can go back and watch them, how we won them. It's not one guy that has to get out of character. We're a team and we're going to get it done together."

After watching the 76ers roll to victory, maybe Deng should go back and watch how his team played without Rose. Deng was one of many Bulls who struggled without their floor general and leader. Deng couldn't get most shots to fall and his poor performance was compounded by the fact that Carlos Boozer played poorly for the second game in a row. Boozer has been a nonfactor in this series, and that has to be very disconcerting for coach Tom Thibodeau and the Bulls' front office, especially given how poorly he played during last year's postseason. Over the first two games of this series, Boozer has just 18 points and 12 rebounds.

"I think we definitely got to try to put the ball in the paint a little bit more, try to get easy baskets," Bulls guard Rip Hamilton said. "Once we get easy baskets in the paint, it opens up the whole perimeter. It makes the guards’ jobs a lot easier when they're scoring down on the block and things like that."

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CHICAGO -- The story was going as scripted.

Halfway through the first game of the mourning-after period, the Chicago Bulls were rallying behind their limping leader and providing inspiration to a city of devastated fans holding a wake for Derrick Rose's torn ACL.

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