Derrick Rose

Kirk Hinrich may not like those protective glasses he has to wear on the court, but here at RedEye, we feel they could be the making of something great. Take a piece of protective wear here and another piece there from a Bulls teammate and you could create a Voltron-like creature of power! Were he to be set loose, he could rule the NBA with a plastic fist of fury. Or, ahem, something like that. . Take Hinrich's glasses and make them impervious to tear gas. . Add Rip Hamilton's face mask, in a UV-filtering material that deflects gamma rays.

So what if Derrick Rose wasn't in uniform for the Bulls on Wednesday? As any Cubs fan will tell you, season openers are all about optimism, no matter who's playing or what the long-term expectations are. Even without their best player, that first smell of sweaty 7-footers is intoxicating. Er, not so much that, we guess, but there were plenty of firsts worth mentioning as the Bulls beat Sacramento. . FIRST QUARTER First Luvabulls sighting We get a glimpse of the cheerleaders as the Bulls lineups are announced.

The Bulls are back in action Wednesday, and while they await Derrick Rose's return, their competition got stiffer. Defending champion Miami added two former All-Stars in the offseason, bringing its total to five. The L.A. Lakers employ six All-Stars with a total of three MVP awards and five Defensive Player of the Year awards. New York has four players with Olympic experience and two defensive Players of the Year. Boston lost an All-Star but added the second leading scorer of the 2011 NBA champs.

What hurricane? Huh? How does this effect the Brooklyn Nets? Yes, the long slog of a basketball-less year finally comes to an end this week, and unlike last year when I was having a verifiable meltdown over the NBA player's strike, this season will start on schedule with as much intrigue built up as I can ever remember. After all, I'm the guy who, during the St. Louis Cardinals' historic playoff comeback was sitting in the bar mostly watching a pre-season Milwaukee Bucks game. I'm also well aware that if I was watching Google Analytics, I'd understand that Off the Markley readers pretty much revolt any time I take to writing about basketball, but you know what?

Wanna know what it's like to be Derrick Rose right about now? Northwestern running back Mike Trumpy knows better than just about anyone.   "Oh man, it sucks," the redshirt junior said, his voice growing weary.   Chicago Fire defender Dan Gargan knows too.   "It's a daily, minute-to-minute, hour-to-hour, week-to-week thing that doesn't go away until you're far down the road and you're like 'I feel great,' " Gargan said.   They're not talking about owning a condo in Trump Tower or earning tens of millions of dollars a year, but rather the grueling rehab process the Bulls star is going through as he works his way back into playing shape after tearing his left ACL in the playoffs in April.

It would be easy for Dwyane Wade to forecast a second straight NBA title in 2013 for his Miami Heat. After all, the ballyhooed Big Three of him, LeBron James and Chris Bosh are coming off a season that saw them advance to their second Finals in as many seasons together before knocking off Oklahoma City. However, when RedEye offered him that bait, Wade refused to take it. "I'm not a predictor because you never know what's gonna go from one day to the next," he said, shaking his head.

Last week, Bulls superstar point guard Derrick Rose shed a much-publicized round of tears during the unveiling of his new Adidas shoe . On the mend from a season-ending knee injury, his return not scheduled until late in the 2012-13 NBA season, with know-nothing douche bags like me speculating that he will not be the same player, Rose said this during his highly emotional press conference: “It's truly a blessing. With all of the stuff that's going on in this city, a kid from Englewood has got something positive going on. That makes me feel so good.

Watching the new Adidas video featuring Derrick Rose (see it here ), it's hard to believe he's still months away from playing for the Bulls again. The way he's powering through exercises in the clips, you'd think he'd be good to go by Friday. Alas, it's merely a small glimpse into his rehab from a major knee injury. From what we can tell, these are his inspirations as he gets back on track.   Beach volleyball players We know he's got the hops for volleyball, and at one point Rose is shown throwing a ball against a wall in rapid succession.

There hasn't been much to say about how Derrick Rose's knee has been healing lately, so Bulls fans will have to settle for … well, not much, even with the NBA draft taking place Thursday. Barring a last-minute trade, the Bulls have only one pick in the draft: No. 29 in the first round. And team management has closed workouts to reporters and canceled its customary pre-draft news conference with the general manager. On the other hand, it's no secret the Bulls are looking to supply Rose with better backcourt running mates.

EA Sports may have found the best time to put a player on a video game cover. The company announced Tuesday that Derrick Rose, who is recovering from knee surgery and may not play until the middle of next season, will be on the cover of "NBA 2K13. " Does that mean the Bulls superstar will be immune to the "cover curse" that seems to befall so many athletes? Bulls fans can only hope so. As for the L.A. Clippers' Blake Griffin and Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant, who share the "2K13" cover with Rose, they're probably crossing their fingers as we speak.