CHICAGO -- The old Derrick Rose is back.

Chicago Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said Rose's speed and explosiveness are back to where the former MVP feels like himself again.

"I worked him out about a week ago," Thibodeau said in a phone conversation Thursday. "It was great."

Rose missed the entire season rehabbing from a torn ACL in his left knee suffered during last year's playoffs. His longer-than-expected absence, and the ensuing debate about it, was the overwhelming storyline during a challenging Bulls season that ended in a second-round loss to the Miami Heat.

Last season is over, and Thibodeau is looking to the future.

"Watching the way he's moving now, there's a confidence," Thibodeau said. "[Reporters] may not have been able to see the total work he was putting in. But he was putting in an enormous amount of work each and every day. He just never got to the explosiveness he was comfortable with. I think he's there now. He feels great, and that's the most important thing."

He said Rose is "running, lifting, playing and shooting. His day is full."

Rose was medically cleared and started practicing in five-on-five situations in mid-February, and his ensuing pregame workouts were covered as intensely as the games.

There was talk he would return in mid-March, but that came and went. Rose, and Thibodeau, refused to rule him out even during the team's playoff run, which infuriated many in the team's rabid fan base and led to criticism from NBA announcers during the Bulls' postseason run.