Rose battling stomach ulcers

Derrick Rose has two stomach ulcers that caused him to miss practice again Thursday, but the Chicago Bulls guard hopes to play Friday against the Orlando Magic.

Rose returned to the Berto Center on Thursday, one day after not attending because of flu-like symptoms. Rose said the stomach condition has kept him from eating the last couple of days.

"It's real painful for me to eat, drink, swallow," Rose said. "They gave me some medication for it. .. I haven't been able to eat anything, so my energy is kind of low. But I should be all right."

Later Thursday, Rose is widely expected to be named the Bulls' first All-Star starter since Michael Jordan in 1998. TNT will announce the results of fan voting on its Thursday night broadcast.
Asked if his stomach condition will affect his diet, Rose said, "Oh, definitely. I guess it's from eating too much spicy food. I love spicy food. Other than that, I've been eating well. I'm going to have to watch what I eat. They gave me a list."

Told that he seemed downcast, Rose said, "I'm sad because I wasn't able to practice. My confidence is a little down knowing that I haven't been out here with these guys, seeing how my conditioning is. Hopefully, I'll be out here tomorrow."

Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau was uncertain of Rose's status for Friday's game.

"We'll see how he is," Thibodeau said. "He's better today than he was yesterday. If he's better tomorrow, he goes. If he's not, he doesn't. Injuries are part of it. We thought it was the flu. Hopefully, it's not anything serious."

Teammate Joakim Noah didn't seem too worried.

"He didn't look too bad," Noah said of Rose. "He's doing a photo shoot right now, so it can't be that bad."