Knee soreness kept Derrick Rose out of practice Tuesday, making it the third straight day he has not played any basketball. And that left Team USA officials wondering whether Rose will be capable of handling the rigorous World Cup schedule.
Also, DeMarcus Cousins practiced Tuesday but listed himself as 50-50 for Wednesday night’s exhibition game against the Dominican Republic, an assessment that appeared to catch Mike Krzyzewski by surprise when the comment was relayed to the coach.
It was a day of on-court and off-court developments for Team USA, and Wednesday’s friendly at Madison Square Garden promised to bring more of the same.
Rose is unlikely to start, a team source told SheridanHoops.com. Kyrie Irving could move into the starting five after playing exceptionally well in a sixth man role Saturday night against Brazil, and the federation was expecting Rose to be able to contribute off the bench.
But if Rose’s knees remain sore – officially, the team said he was held out for “precautionary reasons – and he does not play, the makeup of the final roster will be much more uncertain than it appeared it would be when this week began. If Rose cannot handle the workload of playing three games in three nights and five games in six nights when pool play begins in Bilbao, Spain, the roster would effectively be reduced to 11 1/2 players.
Several of the players who were benched or saw very limited minutes against Brazil were expected to get much more playing time Wednesday. So for Gordon Hayward, DeMar DeRozan, Chandler Parsons, Kyle Korver, Damian Lillard and Andre Drummond, it will be the closest thing to a tryout any of them have experienced since they played Pee-Wee ball.