The Chicago Bulls under the reign of Derrick Rose have been a very successful team. With the former MVP, Joakim Noah, Carlos Boozer, and Luol Deng on the floor, they’ve won an impressive 85 percent of their games. They’re certainly a capable team without him, as last season showed, but the 2012 first-round series with the 76ers also revealed that they drop a few notches in lethality without the superstar.
That has made their health woes the more disheartening as this has been a team primed to make it to consecutive Eastern Conference Finals for three years now. And with Rose healthy again, they have the goods to contend in the perpetual chase for a trophy.
That is why Jen Swanson, the team’s newest addition, is so important.
Swanson previously worked at Athletes’ Performance in Los Angeles―the very place Rose underwent his knee rehab. She must have made quite an impression on the young star, and by association the Bulls, because she is now Chicago’s Director of Sports Performance.
In her new duty, she has customized training programs according to each individual player. Just as no two bodies are the same, neither are two body regiments.
Bulls General Manager Gar Forman explains, “The training program will consist of a basketball and athlete specific prescription, integrating rehabilitation, performance training, skill development, nutrition and recovery.” Swanson will also oversee auxiliary programs like chiropractic care, nutrition, and massage therapy.
Her watchful eye should help guide Derrick Rose back into form. Word is, he already looks better than he ever did pre-injury. Though Swanson’s acquisition will benefit the team as a whole it will be especially crucial for a player with Rose’s dynamism. It’s not unprecedented for a point guard with his explosiveness to make a full recovery, as Baron Davis and Kyle Lowry show, but under Swanson’s wing Rose can breathe a little easier.
