I was talking to a source inside the Bulls organization, and I was told Joakim Noah is living at the Berto Center this summer. He's had an outstanding off-season, and we can expect him to come out really strong this year. He's still throwing up the sidewinder, but he's knocking it down at an excellent rate, and it may be more of a weapon this year than in the past. We had started to see Noah knock down this mid range jumpers last year, and if he can take one more step forward with it this season then he'll become much more deadly on the court. More from Thonus: http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/chi...-improving-jumper-and-other-random-notes.html
I've always thought that stardom was kind of there for the taking for centers in the NBA. I think that a reason for the poor center play is that they just aren't as committed to the game of basketball as a lot of the smaller players, and that a lot of them are only in the whole basketball thing because they were tall and people told them they should be playing it. I felt that with a strong commitment, that a big man could become a star, as scoring in the low post is largely a matter of good skills, rather than pure athleticism that can get a slasher by. Noah seems to have gotten this commitment, and I don't see any reason why he can't be the second best center in the league. Yahoo Sports ranked Dwight Howard, Andrew Bogut, Brook Lopez, Al Horford, Andrew Bynum, and Chris Kaman. Bogut averaged 15.9 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks last season. He wasn't exactly that great of a scorer at 54.0 ts%, but his defense was better than anyone not named Dwight Howard. Noah averaged 10.7 points, 11.0 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks last season. Noah scored at a better efficiency at 55.7 ts% last season. I think as of last season it was a push scoring wise, a push passing wise, Noah was a better rebounder, and Bogut was a better shotblocker and overall defender. With some more time working on his post moves, I think Noah will be clear cut better than Bogut on the offensive end, and with Thibodeau coming in, I think that should help Noah become a better defender. (The gap wasn't exactly huge last season, Noah had a 101 d-rtg, Bogut 98). Brook Lopez is the other guy who I think would be in discussion for second best center behind Dwight Howard. Lopez scored 18.8 points on 57.0 ts%, 8.6 rebounds, and 2.3 assists, and 1.7 blocks. Lopez is clearly a better scorer than Bogut and Noah, but the gap isn't so big that it can't be closed by next season. Lopez clearly lags behind Bogut and Noah rebounding wise, and overall defensively (110 d-rtg). In the playoffs, Joakim Noah stepped it up further, averaging 14.8 points on 60.3 ts%, 13.0 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.4 blocks. If rumors are true about how much desire Noah has going into this summer, I don't see why he can't average something like 18.0 points on 58 ts%, 12.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 2 blocks. I think that would make Noah clearly the second best center in the game. But we'll have to wait and see whether all of Noah's offseason work pays off. But I think the center position is the one spot in the league where a big jump in production can be seen if the player is really committed to getting better.
Noah showed a knack for grabbing offensive rebounds last season, which was great since our perimeter players threw up so many bricks. It's not surprising that his ts% or efficiency would be good, considering how many put back opportunities he had. To consider him as an offensive player among Dwight Howard, Andrew Bogut, Brook Lopez, Al Horford, Andrew Bynum, and Chris Kaman is a stretch at this point. Those are guys you pass to in the post or even on the perimeter with the expectation they can create a quality shot for themselves. Give the ball to Noah at the FT line and teams sagged off him right away. But Noah got his points anyway, and played the rest of the game pretty darned well.
