INDIANAPOLIS – Derrick Rose had been courageous in his attacks to the basket, ceding the punishment to the blows that Roy Hibbert delivered, and he wanted more and more. For one of the most graceful, athletic point guards in the sport’s history, this was a test of his left knee, his body, and his ability to will past defenders and into the paint, in a reintroduction to the NBA after tearing his left anterior cruciate ligament on April 28, 2012.

As Rose went further and further into his comeback on Saturday night against the Pacers, his defender – George Hill, Indiana’s tenacious guard – had grasped an unmistakable trend with what was transpiring between his team’s defense and the 2011 MVP. No matter the scheme, Rose was determined to dismantle it, drive into the defense’s core, and absorb the contact. In many ways, he sought the collisions and knockdowns to reassert that there will be no change in his fearless driving style.

By the time Tom Thibodeau hollered for a timeout in the third quarter, Rose already watched Kirk Hinrich run to the scorer’s table to replace him for good. Rose was dribbling to the frontcourt now, signaling toward an official for time out, and walked to the bench in conversation with Hill.

As a division and conference rival’s best player made a complete return from a season’s absence, a strange thing happened: Hill gave one last well wish.

“I told D. Rose, ‘Welcome back,” Hill told RealGM. “He told me to keep striving to get better. It’s good to have him back out there, and it’s especially great for the league.”

After the Bulls finished an 82-76 preseason win over the Pacers, Rose admitted the next step in the process is his jumper. He missed all four of his shot attempts outside the paint on Saturday. Yet, Rose blurred into the paint over and over, scoring 13 points on five finishes in 20 minutes, unafraid of the contact and unabashed about possible turnovers.

All around, there was approval for the aggressive approach Rose took. He needed to hit the sturdy wall of a defending Hibbert, and then fall on his back. He had to play through tightness at times, stretching muscles that hadn’t been activated in an NBA game in well over a year. Mostly, Rose had to reinstill the fear in opposing big men that he’ll keep coming to the paint, initiating and accepting contact. “I’m not slowing down,” he said. “I don’t care who’s in the hole.”

Rose used the offseason to polish the range on his jumper and perfect a left-handed floater, and he recently measured his vertical leap at a Los Angeles practice facility. From 37 a season ago, Rose believes he added five inches to his leap. He’s enjoyed the new offensive plays that Thibodeau’s installed, a read-react system Rose compared to the San Antonio Spurs.

“I love it, I love it,” Rose said. “We’re getting the ball moving, where guys aren’t thinking.”

Rose makes anything possible for the Bulls, and he greatly enhances the NBA with the athleticism, the fearless attack at his position. As former NBA big man Antonio Davis marveled inside the Bulls’ locker room, “[Rose] brings back something that was really missing in the league when he was injured.” Nevertheless, this reckless style takes a toll on the body, and Rose knows he’ll have to rely on his jumper and floater far more than he did on Saturday.

There’s strong confidence within the Bulls that Rose has returned to them better, that he’ll make the game easier than ever for everyone. Hill guarded him all night, and he rejected any notion that Rose had lost part of his game with the devastating knee injury.

“D. Rose ain’t miss a beat,” Hill told RealGM. “He ain’t miss a beat. Same athleticism, same driving. If anything, he got a beat.

“He was testing that knee out. The only way you can test it out is if you go at it 100 percent in a game situation. He was testing it out to see if he can still be the same D. Rose before he injured it.”

George Hill welcomed back Derrick Rose to the court one last time on Saturday, and soon Rose would be icing his knees on the sideline and walking out of Bankers Life Fieldhouse in his Bulls sweatshirt and sweatpants. There isn’t a single player like him in the NBA, Thibodeau said. And still, Rose had to return reaffirming all – and perhaps even himself – that he’s the same bold star.