Patience is the right arm of Derrick Rose

Derrick Rose says he's patient -- but that has its limits (image via Getty Images).

The concept of patience may not cut to the very soul of Derrick Rose — but it’s there, nevertheless, tattooed on his right forearm as a convenient reminder of a good philosophy.

During a quiet moment in the Chicago Bulls’ locker room an hour before a recent game, with Rose only one of a couple of players present, he talked about the future and how he could face it and all the expectations head-on. When the word “patience” in connection with the achievement of where he wants to go was brought up, he simply pointed to several contrasting tattoos on the arm.

One is a cross, signifying his faith. Another are several Chinese letters.

“I’ve got it right here,” Rose said. ” Patience. Right now I’m patient, learning from veterans and watching video and taking my time. Patience and God. It’s (letters) Chinese for patience.  I got the tattoo a year ago.

“I just want to be the best player at my position. Whatever it takes. Whatever it takes.  Hopefully I’ll be an All-Star and be a winner.”

The key question is not whether Rose can exercise patience, but whether everyone who sang the praises to heaven that the Bulls took him as the NBA’s No. 1 pick in 2008 will wait the requisite time for Rose to be all-world.

Maybe he won’t achieve that level.  He was very, very good as the NBA’s rookie of the year last season. But he wasn’t great from Day One, akin to Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, et. al. They all hit the court running and never stopped.

“They just pushed,” Rose said of the Hall of Famers.  “They wanted to be the greatest. They had talent and pushed harder.”

They were naturals who only had to tinker with their games, such as Jordan developing a deadly jumper later in his career. But he could still average 33 points and play lock-down defense before finding such range.

How much an NBA player can further develop himself isn’t known. And questionable is how much difference a point guard can make. The Bulls still are short on big, banging bodies to match their opponents. There are too many iffy, developmental parts and not enough sure things. The worst outcome would be to put all the pressure to carry the team on Rose.  Jordan, the player to whom he’ll be naturally compared, could put the Bulls on his back when necessary, but even he needed plenty of supporting cast before he won it all.

Of course, there’s a limit to patience.

“I really don’t know how many years it’s going to take,” Rose said.  “It’s definitely mental. Physically you can lift weights and work on your game, but you have to be comfortable mentally and confident.

“It’s going to take awhile. At point guard, you have to learn all the offensive sets. You’re going to have the ball the majority of the time. Making mistakes is the only way you can learn.”

And by doing it. The encouraging factor is Rose not being afraid to penetrate and finish at crunch time. He’s shown the ability to turn it up in the fourth quarter. If he becomes the most adept player at having the defense collapse on him, inevitably that will leave one or two shooters open to whom he can kick the ball out.

“Derrick is a great penetrator and finishes so well in the lane. That gives you wide-open shots in the corner or on the perimeter,”  said guard Jannero Pargo, like Rose a Chicago native. Pargo also has shown flashes of filling part of the fourth-quarter, hot-hand shooting role vacated by Ben Gordon’s departure.

At some point, though, impatience will take over. Serving as a great point guard on an average or mediocre team loses its luster quickly. In the NBA, it’s all about the fourth quarter, then the playoffs. The judgment will be quicker than the 21-year-old Rose realizes, and harsh.