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"I expect him to come back and fully recover and be better than ever." -- Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau

We all do. But at the same time, when we get down to what's really in the back of our minds, we know that thinking is extremely wishful. Hopeful. OK, I'll be the one to say it: Doubtful.

Not that we doubt Derrick Rose's ability to come back 100 percent from the ACL tear that ripped out Chicago's heart in a way not felt since Gale Sayers went down, but a simple flashback of his season this season leaves us vulnerable to levels of pessimism that usually aren't in the DNA of most Chicagoans.

In his first three NBA seasons, Rose missed five games. This year: 27 games in four months. His body breaking down in front of us. And then ... this. An athlete's worst nightmare not requiring microfracture surgery.

Can he come back? Will he come back? When will he come back? All of those questions floating around in our heads, coming out of our mouths. But stuck in our hearts, the one question that instills the most angst, anxiety and fear: Will we ever see that 2010-11, pre-lockout, pre-new contract, pre-new adidas deal, best point guard in the game, MVP Derrick Rose again?

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ESPNChicago.com writer Scoop Jackson is spending this week trying to prove that when it comes to sports, there is no city like Chicago.

Saturday

The day I decide not to go to see the Cubs is the day they decide to ball.

But when one has choices as one has today...

Option 1: Cubs vs. Reds
Option 2: Fire vs. FC (Toronto)
Option 3: White Sox vs. Mariners
Option 4: Wolves vs. Rampage
Option 5: Rush vs. Mustangs
Option 6: Bulls vs. Mavericks
Option 7: Blackhawks vs. Coyotes. Game 5

I don’t know if any other city in America can claim days like this on the calendar when it comes to professional sports. Seven teams all in action on one day.

Options.

So try doing this: Wake up at 5 a.m. to take youngest son to school on a Saturday because he’s in the band and the band is in a competition that starts at 7 a.m. Go back home. Take other son to driver’s education at another school at 10 a.m. Turn on WGN at noon to see what Cubs team is going to show up. Leave in the middle of the first inning to pick up kids. Return home, Cubs are winning 5-1. Find the Fire/Toronto match on TV. Scream “Goal!!!!!” 25 seconds into the match when the Fire score. Turn to White Sox game. Phil Humber looks good early. Go to get oil changed in the car. Come back, Humber still looks good. Leave home, head to United Center. Word is Derrick Rose might play. Get to UC, hear two words: Perfect game! Find out Rose is playing. Watch Bulls starting lineup start a game together for only the 13th time all season. Leave at halftime. Get home just in time for Game 5 puck drop. My son screams downstairs, “The Bulls are up by 10!” Go online to see Humber highlights. Text Kenny Williams. Check CN100 for Wolves update. They lost. Eat dinner. Immerse myself into overtime No. 5. Goal! Text Blackhawks media relations coordinator for possible credentials to Game 6. Begin to write blog you are currently reading. Get response from Blackhawks: “See You Monday!”

The ability to watch, pay attention to or get locked into six professional games all in the same day? Unheard of. The chances of being a part of a day where the city you live in goes 6-1? Incredible. And, in the middle of it all, the 21st perfect game pitched in Major League history? Priceless.

We live for days like this. We live in Chicago because of days like this.

Scoop's Day 5

Scoop's Day 4

Scoop's Day 3

Scoop's Day 2

Scoop's Day 1

ESPNChicago.com writer Scoop Jackson is spending this week trying to prove that when it comes to sports, there is no city like Chicago.


Day 4: Thursday A Night In Real Time.

5:54 p.m.: Tribune reporter KC Johnson tweets Luol Deng will play.
5:58 p.m.: ESPN Chicago's Nick Friedell announces Derrick Rose is out.
6:00 p.m.: I pull up to Nike's new L210 Chicago Lounge.
6:25 p.m.: The Blackhawks take the ice.
6:27 p.m.: Jabari Parker and the Simeon High School basketball team enter L210.
6:30-7:00 p.m.: Nike in a private event honors Simeon for winning their third straight state championship. Exclusive three-peat championship jackets, music, food, NBA2K12 on one flatscreen, Bulls/Heat on another, special video presentation of their championship run, etc. I give an impromptu speech to the team.
7:12 p.m.: I walk into Union Park Bar. With the Hawks and Bulls both playing at the exact same time, this is the best place in the city to watch two big games simultaneously.
7:20 p.m.: Hawks' Brandon Bollig and Coyotes' Paul Bissonnette get into a fight. Both get five-minute major penalties. Bissonnette gets game misconduct for not having jersey strapped.
7:56 p.m.: Omer Asik misses two free throws but the Bulls get the offensive rebound. Sums up their entire season.
8:00 p.m.: Miami Heat forward James Jones puts a forearm into Joakim Noah's neck. Flagrant Foul. Penalty 2. Ejected.
8:15 p.m.: Bartender recognizes me. Gives love. The guy next to me, not so much. "You work for ESPN. I've read the (stuff) you write."
8:17 p.m.: Phoenix's goalie Mike Smith stops Andrew Brunette on breakaway.
8:18 p.m.: Dwyane Wade makes a sick reverse lay-up. Heat take 41-40 lead.
8:26 p.m.: Jonathan Toews' "One Goal" commercial airs to the response of "Wish he'd (expletive) score one!"
8:27 p.m.: Smith stops one again.
8:28 p.m.: ... and again (and 30 seconds later another.)
8:40 p.m.: First play of the second half, LeBron left hand layup in the lane.
8:41 p.m.:Regina Taylor takes celebrity shot from center ice between second and third period.
8:46 p.m.: D-Wade gives Rip Hamilton a shot in the ribs. Rip and Wade get into an argument.
8:52 p.m.: Taj Gibson enters the game. (Someone screams, "Here he comes to save the day!")
9:01 p.m.: LBJ lays John Lucas III out with a pick.
9:02 p.m.: Shane Doan scores: PHX 1, CHI 0
9:06 p.m.: Taylor Pyatt scores: PHX 2, CHI 0
9:06 p.m.: Taj Gibson 3-point play. Here he comes...
9:07 p.m.: LeBron. Another left hand lay-up in the lane.
9:08 p.m.: The guy next to me in the Toews jersey says to no one in particular, "It's over."
9:10 p.m.: Brendan Morrison powers one from 40 feet out. Scores. PHX 2, CHI 1.
9:19 p.m.: Patrick Sharp goes out for tripping (2 minutes).
9:19:25 p.m.: Third quarter ends: Miami 66, Bulls 61
9:25 p.m.: Michael Frolik scores!!!!!! PHX 2, CHI 2 (The bar erupts!)
9:27 p.m.: Taj Gibson hits another jump shot. Miami 68 Bulls 65. (Here he comes...)
9:29 p.m.: OT for the fourth straight game in the series.
9:41 p.m.: Heat go up by 10. Tom Thibodeau looks confused, lost. They turn on the lights in Union Park.
9:44 p.m.: OT starts.
9:47 p.m.: OT ends. Series: Coyotes 3, Blackhawks 1.
9:49 p.m.: Thibs has the same look on his face.
9:52 p.m.: Mario Chalmers puts a nail in the Bulls' coffin with a 3.
10:01: Samuel Jackson is on all TVs talking to Siri.

Scoop's Day 3

Scoop's Day 2

Scoop's Day 1

Sometimes it's appropriate to speak when not spoken to. Sometimes -- again, not all of the time, just sometimes -- it's appropriate to pound your chest, pop your collar, find the mountain top and let the rest of the world know the truth. As unconventional and inconvenient as it sometimes can be. Sometimes you gotta go Kanye.

"Chicago is the basketball capital of the world!"

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ESPN.com recently named its top 25 NBA players under the age of 25, and a certain Chicago Bulls guard wasn't at the top. Does he belong?

Our panel weighs in on that and whether Richard Hamilton's sore groin is a problem that will linger all season.

Those are two of the topics our panel tackles in 3-on-3.

1. Fact or Fiction: As ESPN.com stated, Kevin Durant is the NBA's top player under 25, ahead of Derrick Rose.

Scoop Jackson: Fact. But not by much. Maybe KD is 1 and Pooh is 1A. The only reason at this point is due to the fact that we've seen Rose has a defensive nemesis: LeBron. In the Eastern Conference finals -- and in the one game that they've faced one another this year -- Rose has allowed LeBron to bring his game down a notch and Rose hasn't figured out how to escape that ... yet. With Durant, that one person or team hasn't stopped him yet. With the exception of his own teammate (Russell Westbrook) there has really been no one player or team that has made life miserable for Durant on the court ... yet. But keep in mind who originated the list: ESPN.com. The same place/site/people that ranked Kobe Bryant No.7 on the current "Best Players" list. I'm just saying.

Jon Greenberg: Fact, but not by much. I feel like I'm cheating on Rose as his hagiographer for answering this honestly. But as the saying goes, you don't trade big for small in the NBA. And with that in mind, you'd probably have to say Durant, a 6-foot-9 small forward, is the top player under 25. But again, not by much. Rose trumps Durant as my "guy I want with the ball with the game on the line," and that doesn't just mean the final shot. After all, Durant needs someone to get him the ball. Hopefully these two will be in the same orbit for the next 10 years.

Nick Friedell: Fiction. They're both great players, but if I had to start a team with just one -- give me Rose. His will to win is unlike anything I've seen before and he makes the players around him better. He wants to be the guy with the ball in his hands late and he wants the pressure on his shoulders that comes with being the face of a franchise, especially one searching for its seventh title. Rose is also going to turn into an even better defender over time because he knows that's the next phase of his game he must conquer.

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2. Fact or Fiction: Pushing his banged-up stars now will cost Tom Thibodeau and the Bulls in the playoffs.

Scoop Jackson:
Fiction. Players need to play. Period. Every team has to push every player. Period. Any team looking for an advantage come playoff time because their “superstars” got more rest during the shortened regular season will be the teams that will be watching the playoffs from the 300 level seats or on flat screens like the rest of us. The only exception to this is Rose. And that’s not because of time on the court, it’s about how much he has to do for this team to win when he’s out there. Every team in the league needs to find its rhythm. So far, that has not happened. That’s why you see some teams beating the Heat one night and losing to the Wizards the next. The Bulls are no different. The “stars” -- again, not including Rose -- will have play through the small bang-ups. They along with Thibs know unless the injury is miss-the-season threatening, there's no time to shut down.

Jon Greenberg: Fiction. I reject the premise. I don't think Thibodeau is really pushing the Bulls, who like every team has dealt with nagging injuries. Yes, Luol Deng played 41 minutes after missing a few weeks, but it's his wrist that's injured, not his knee or ankle. And for all the concern about Rose, he has missed games, so it's not like he's playing through every bump. I side with Thibodeau because he's coaching a team of men. Professionals. They do this for a living. Part of the deal is playing the season like it matters. Muscle memory and all that. The players get their loads lightened with the absence of practice and skipped shoot-arounds. There is no easy way to make it through this season. Just luck.

Nick Friedell: Fact. Everybody around the Bulls trusts Tom Thibodeau, but at some point the extra minutes are going to catch up with his team. It's been well documented how the likes of Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen played heavy minutes during the championship years, but the issue with Thibodeau is that unlike most coaches, he doesn't pull his players until the bitter end of games. All it takes is for one injury to torch that line of thinking. The Bulls, especially Rose, were worn down during last season's playoffs. They appear to be on the same path right now unless something changes.

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3. Fact or Fiction: Richard Hamilton's injury problem will prove costly during the postseason.

Scoop Jackson:Fiction (?): The words "reoccurrence" and "re-aggravated" that are being used when anyone mentions Rip's groin and thigh injuries bother me. That's why the question mark, the hesitation, the non-commit. If it were 2002 and Rip had his braids, no face mask and was doing his reincarnation of Reggie Miller curling around screens dropping buckets like C-Listers do names at club entrances, then I wouldn't be concerned. But Rip's not 24 anymore. The recovery time ain't the same, the recoveries themselves are not the same. Which is why those words -- "reoccurrence" and "re-aggravated"-- bother me so. But the optimistic side of me has to out-believe my pessimistic nature on this. I have to (even if forced, even through lies) follow the path of "better to deal with these injuries now than later" when it comes to Rip. Here's the way I look at it: The basketball gods could not be that cruel that they'd let the once best backcourt tandem of this generation (Hamilton and Chauncey Billups) go their separate ways, to teams with championship aspirations, only to have them both watch everything unfold from the bench. I can't believe Billups might not be back for the Clippers, I can't force myself to believe that "DNP due to injury" is how Rip coming here is supposed to end.

Jon Greenberg: Fact. Hamilton is almost unbelievably skinny, none of that mid-30s flab like this writer, and he can still run the break -- he noted when he got to Chicago that he finally had someone who could keep up with him in Rose -- but it looks like he's got too much mileage. I don't feel good about him at all, and why should I? Thibodeau never sells out his players, but he made a pretty telling comment the other day when he noted that Hamilton has missed more games than he's played. I guess all you can do is rest him now, acknowledge he's going to miss more time, and just hope that he's healthy for at least the Eastern Conference finals, if the Bulls get there, that is. When he plays, I think Hamilton really is the missing link the Bulls were looking for. Too bad they got him this season, of all seasons.

Nick Friedell: Fact. Hamilton's groin injury has been lingering all year. Even if he comes back healthy in a week or two, it's going to continue to be an issue. He's going to be 34 years old in a week. Injuries like that (and his thigh bruise) don't just go away with time. They linger. Once Hamilton starts playing 40 minutes again during the postseason, his health is going to be an even bigger factor than usual.

Everything -- they say -- happens for a reason. The quest for all of us is to discover that reason. Find out the answer to the question: Why?

In the case of Luol Deng, the why can range from "Why isn't he living up to certain people's expectations?" to "Why is he still in a Bulls uniform?"

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