<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>And now, the first unit for the first drill in the first practice of the Bulls' 2007-08 season: Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, Ben Wallace and—drum roll please—Joakim Noah.</p> Call Noah the super sponge. "I feel real fortunate," he said after his first NBA practice. "This is all a learning process for me. It's really different. You're used to being that guy to tell the rookies how to do it. And now you're just thrown into a situation where you have no idea what's going on, and it's a whole different speed. But I accept it, and I'm real excited to be in this position." Work habits and basketball IQ don't even make the list of management's concerns for Noah. Keeping his right shoulder healthy and making his jumper look less sickly do rank high. Along those lines, Noah is wearing a contraption assistant coach Ron Adams devised to attempt to alter the spin on his release. And Noah arrived at the Berto Center shortly after 7 a.m. for the 8:45 a.m. practice, all to continue his daily rehabilitation on the rotator cuff. "I don't think it will be 100 percent all year," Noah said. "But I'm happy that I didn't have to get surgery. I think it's just a question of repetition and doing rehab. If I don't do the rehab, I can definitely feel the difference in the practice." The Bulls have the luxury of bringing along Noah at whatever pace his play dictates because they also have Smith and Thomas in a suddenly sizable frontcourt. But management likes what it saw in the off-season. "He runs the floor very well," Skiles said. "He has good hands. He's an excellent passer. He can handle the ball like a small forward. He can guard two or three positions. He's got a relentless style that we like. Depending on how quickly he can get acclimated to the pro game, he should help." Noah is confident enough to feel he belongs and humble enough to appreciate his situation. "The game is definitely faster," he said. "It's also weird when you catch the ball in the post and turn around and see Ben Wallace. It's a different animal. "But it's basketball at the same time. It felt good at one point because we ran a play called 'Through,' and we ran the exact same play in college. So I was happy I knew the play for once." Apparently, Noah does self-deprecation as well as self-motivation.</div></p> LINK</p> Whether he starts or not in the end, it seems like minutes will not be sparingly for Noah. Management and the coaching staff seem to love him.</p>
Kind of funny since there was an article implying Joe Smith was "promised" the job at least to start.</p> I'm still not sure it's not Skiles just messing with Joe and Ty's heads. And of course, there's always the curse of high expectations from Skiles... offseasons management favorites have sometimes ended up riding the pine quickly and permanently when the rubber meets the road.</p> Not saying Noah's gonna suck... I just don't know what to make of it and won't draw many conclusions as of yet.</p>
I'm having trouble quoting the article... but it also says the significance of that was "Zero" and it was only to let Smith and Ty teach him the system.</p> BG7...did you leave that part out because the ad was getting in the way?</p>
I thought Noah was recovering from an injury? This has to be a motivation tactic by Skiles and also a way for him to figure out how Noah will handle the pressure. This will be heated competition for those minutes. You have Thomas, Noah, Smith, and Noc all capable of earning the starting spot and playing a majority of the minutes at the 4.</p>
Noah may well be an impact rookie. That is, a rookie who plays starter's type minutes and plays like a 3rd year player right away.</p> My scouting report on him would read that he's NBA ready, comes from a big-time winning program, fits the Bulls' biggest glaring hole, has a real basketball IQ, and does most of the fundamental things well.</p> </p>
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'></p> <p class="News">Thomas keeps working: Asked Tuesday whether Tyrus Thomas has improved his jump shot during the summer, coach Scott Skiles replied, "You mean the supposed 700-800 shots he was taking a day?</p> <p class="News">"It would be nice if he can make perimeter shots. But he's got to be able to sustain effort first through a quarter, a game or even a practice, for that matter. He's improving. But when you see a guy's athleticism like that, you always want more. So we're just trying to nudge him in the right direction."</div></p> <p class="News">http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=49806&src=150</p> <p class="News">Tyrus not working out in the offseason?...sounds like Noah might be getting the starting spot because he deserves it. Looks like Tyrus might not have put in the work to improve enough to start.</p>
