Noah has had his distractors since playing on two University of Florida national title teams. Sometimes overlooked is his development as a player. And: LeBron James' effect; Bulls home; wanting calls.
Joshua Gunter, The Plain DealerJoakim Noah reacting to Cavaliers fans during warmups prior to Monday night’s game in Cleveland.Difficult as it may be to admit for Cleveland Cavaliers fans, their least-liked Chicago Bulls player — center Joakim Noah — is developing into an impact player.
The Cavs visit Chicago tonight as the teams’ Eastern Conference first-round playoff series continues. Cleveland leads the best-of-7 series, 2-0, but Noah has flourished, averaging 17.5 points and 10.5 rebounds.
Noah has always had his distractors, often for good reason. Steve Aschburner writes for NBA.com that when Noah arrived in Chicago as a rookie, Bulls center-forward Brad Miller thought he was a “goofy kid.”
Writes Aschburner:
Fast-forward to Monday night in Cleveland. Noah, having brought the wrath of Quicken Loans Arena onto himself with a flippant, off-hand jab at the local culture in northeast Ohio, shrugged off the boos for a terrific 25-point, 13-rebound performance. Coping with (and outplaying) Shaquille O’Neal, rebounding and pushing the ball upcourt, stopping Cavalier attackers at the rim, threading back-door passes to teammate Derrick Rose — it was a revelation. Worthy of some reevaluation.
Miller on Noah now: “He’s just making great progress, with his athleticism, his talent, everything. Last summer I worked with him on shooting that 15-foot shot, and now he’s taking it. It’s a lot of little things. I go slow [on moves]. I tell him, ‘You don’t have to go fast.’ He’s good at picking up that stuff.”
Watch your mouth
The Bulls believe they have played well against the Cavs since the first quarter of Game 1. Still, there are ways they can imrove their chances to win. ESPN Chicago’s Nick Friedell details five of them, including:
5. Stop talking to LeBron: It’s still unclear who on the Bulls bench was exchanging words with the reigning MVP, but whoever it was, just stop — don’t give James any more reason to beat you. He was absolutely on fire on Monday night and admitted that he used the chirping as extra motivation. He’s proven that he has the ability to take over games, but the likelihood of him making 27-footer after 27-footer, like he did during Game 2, isn’t very high. If the Bulls continue to stay in his face — stop talking — they should have a chance to scratch a victory on Thursday night.
This way, that way
The Bulls are working to contain Cavaliers forward and likely two-time MVP LeBron James, while the Cavs look to control the Bulls’ second-year star guard, Derrick Rose. Obviously, the severity of these challenges differ. And, the teams are using different tactics to meet them.
Writes Mike McGraw for suburban Chicago’s Daily Herald:
It has been an interesting contrast, though. The Bulls essentially left James alone, guarded by Luol Deng, because they were afraid the Cavs superstar would just find teammates for open 3-point shots if they sent a double team.
The Cavaliers, meanwhile, have doubled Rose relentlessly, especially when backup power forward Anderson Varejao is in the game. The Cavs send two defenders at Rose 25 feet from the basket and they generally stay there until Rose either passes the ball or tries to knife his way into the lane.
Bulls ring
The Bulls don’t think they need wholesale changes to get a win over the Cavs. They are glad, though, to play at home for the first time in the series. Writes John Jackson for the Chicago Sun-Times:
One change the Bulls hope will make a difference is location. James was in his comfort zone — Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena — for the first two games. The UC will be full of red-shirted Bulls fans — part of the team’s ”See Red” promotion — yelling for James to miss those tough jumpers.
”We’re at home, and we’re gonna come out with a lot of energy,” Del Negro said. ”Just because we’re home doesn’t mean we’re gonna play that much better, but we’re gonna have to play smarter, be efficient, and in the fourth quarter, we’re gonna have to get stops and put the ball in the basket.
”We have to shoot a little bit better and make some open shots and put pressure on them and get their field-goal percentage down a little bit. We’re in the game in the fourth quarter [Monday], and they shot over 50 percent.”
That’s what you think
The Bulls think referees are not rewarding Derrick Rose with enough trips to the foul line. Writes K.C. Johnson for the Chicago Tribune:
It’s a serious issue, though, and a season-long storyline for Rose, who has become only slightly more demonstrative about no-calls because it’s not his nature to make waves.
“We have to get to the free-throw line more and get more calls,” Del Negro said. “The aggressor usually gets the calls. Hopefully that will be the case. We have to somehow stay away from Shaquille (O Neal’s) elbows, get our head out of the way of those elbows a little bit.”
That bit of sarcasm is about as strong as Del Negro would go on the subject following Wednesday’s practice, which Rose missed to attend to a family emergency. Rose will play in Game 3.
Del Negro’s comment was in reference to Brad Miller drawing his third foul late in the first half of Game 1 for basically eating an O’Neal elbow sandwich.
