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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;CHICAGO, Ill. \u2014 For the first time in more than two years, the prospect of Derrick Rose on one leg didn\u2019t seem so bad.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;At the conclusion of Team USA\u2019s scrimmage on Thursday, Rose snuck off to a faraway basket and got to work \u2014 leaners, floaters and fadeaways; two legs, one leg. A growing swath of reporters encircled the three-point arc as the point guard, long known for his freakish feats and vicious dunks more than his craft, hoisted a dizzying medley of midrange shots.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;And as shot after shot fell through the net, it was clear. The Rose who will take the floor against Brazil on Saturday \u2014 playing at the United Center for the first time since November \u2014 is a different one, a weathered one. Older and wiser than the player who lay despondent on the Chicago baseline in 2012, stronger and more skilled than the one who came up gimpy in Portland nearly nine months ago.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;As the cameras and microphones infringed on his post-workout personal space, leaving little room to breathe, gone was the shy, soft-spoken superstar of years past. Rose spoke at length, dodged no questions and even cracked a smile or two. In the city where he once cut his teeth, made his name and became the face of a proud, then-struggling franchise, he looked truly at home.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CWatching a lot of film with Thibs, watching a lot basketball with the playoffs, all last season being on the bench, I think I could become an assistant coach somewhere,\u201D Rose joked. Hearing him talk nowadays, you kind of believe it. He never had to watch much film before his legs first went, getting by on \u201Cnatural feel\u201D for the game, battling on the courts that sheltered him from the oft-unforgiving Chicago streets. And there he stood, citing acupuncture, massages and sleep as some of his off-court pastimes like a grizzled veteran (still no word on whether he\u2019s given up the Skittles yet).\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CMy game is developing into a controlled one,\u201D Rose said. \u201CI\u2019m using my speed whenever I&amp;nbsp;&lt;em&gt;need&lt;/em&gt;&amp;nbsp;to, and I\u2019m playing a more relaxed game now. I think that you\u2019ll see a mature basketball player out there whenever I play.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;His words were simply the confirmation, his play had already told the truth. The burst was there, the change of pace. He drained a corner three, his team won the scrimmage. As Rose made sure to remind the media, he had zero turnovers. However, he did provide arguably the day\u2019s biggest letdown, finding the back iron on a breakaway tomahawk dunk that would surely have triggered another viral tempest of enthusiasm across the internet.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CI think anytime you feel strong, you play strong,\u201D said Kyle Korver, Rose\u2019s Bulls teammate from 2010-2012, a firsthand witness to both Rose's MVP year and ACL tear. \u201CIt\u2019s a mental thing, [thinking] \u2018I feel big and strong in this lane, no one\u2019s gonna get my shot.\u2019 You take your time a little more, you shoot it with a little more confidence, and I sense that in Derrick. He just feels like he\u2019s in beast mode out there.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;NBA GRADES:&amp;nbsp;Atlantic&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;Central&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;Southeast&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;Pacific&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;Southwest&amp;nbsp;|&amp;nbsp;Northwest\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CHe\u2019s figured it out a little bit,\u201D said Robert Smith, Rose\u2019s high school coach at Simeon Career Academy, the man who understands his game as well as anyone. \u201CJust watching some of the games, he hasn\u2019t been going in as reckless as he was before, giving up his body like that. He\u2019s been a little more under control for those types of things, which is great for his career.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It might seem crazy now, but not long ago there was doubt about Rose\u2019s willingness to compete for his country. After seeing Paul George go down in Las Vegas, one couldn\u2019t help but wonder how Rose would proceed after two surgeries of his own. Now he\u2019s the starting point guard and a leader of a young team with relatively little international experience.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CThere was a buzz right away [at practice],\u201D USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski said in a teleconference last week. \u201CHe was basically saying, \u2018Look, I\u2019m not just back. I\u2019m back at a level that\u2019s elite.\u2019 Being with the other elite guards helps you. We could not be happier about that particular situation.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Nothing has ever come easy for Derrick Rose. Nothing but the game, at least. Perhaps just not in the way his prodigious talent promised\u2014whether a torn ACL, torn meniscus, or a stripped Final Four banner, his has been a career filled with caveats. Just think: this is the guy who in the final game of his storied high school career, leading Simeon to a second straight state championship, came in averaging more than 25 points per game but scored just two (full disclosure: he still had 7 rebounds and 8 assists).\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In true Chicago fashion, it\u2019s never been glory that\u2019s kept him coming back time and again. Playing in his embattled hometown, Rose simply means more. He\u2019s an embodiment of the grind-it-out mentality, living proof that superstars can come from anywhere, that basketball can take you places. Whether or not he stays healthy the rest of his career, one aspect of his legacy will never change: Derrick Rose provides the unassailable justification for millions of hoop dreams.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;And after two difficult years, with his formal return to the United Center as a member of Team USA imminent, he's gained no shortage of perspective.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CI appreciate it even more,\u201D Rose said. \u201CEven just being in this city, being here the entire summer. Seeing how crazy the city is right now, with all the deaths and everything, it helps me appreciate life a little bit better, knowing there\u2019s kids out there who don\u2019t give a hell about their life, acting like it\u2019s a video game. But it makes my appreciation for the game even higher, and when I step on the floor it\u2019s going to feel like a performance every time.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Saturday night against Brazil, a performance is what they'll expect, even in a friendly match. When asked his immediate thoughts on playing in front of the home crowd, he might as well have stopped early, kept his answer simple like the old days. The first word that came out of his mouth would have been more than enough.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CFun.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\r\n&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/nba/2014/08/15/team-usa-derrick-rose-ready-to-take-control>