Since he came back from his injury, the Bulls are 14-4. However, the first two games back, he was really rusty and it took a while for the team to get used to having him on the court. We lost those first two games, against a couple of good teams - Boston and Orlando. Basically, since then, we're 12-2. And that's with Noah missing some games. Last year we went 0-10 in games Noah missed. The Bulls have been desperate for a big man like him since at least Elton Brand. Though I think Boozer already looks like the best big man since HoGrant and Cartwright or maybe even since Artis Gilmore.
boozer is very good. His averages are starting to come back up to 20 and 10. And I'll join you in saying that he may be the best big man (as an clear offensive threat) since Artis Gilmore. Now I'm 20, and I know I was a month old when we won our first title, but I'm sure that Cartwright and Grant werent offensive threats like Boozer. Ppl dont say that Joran won 6 rings w/o a real big man for no reason.
Horace Grant was so good he was signed to a MAX contract by Orlando. He had PER over 20 in two of his three championship seasons with the Bulls (Boozer has PER over 20, too). Cartwright is seriously undervalued as a great player. He was a 20/9 guy on 56% shooting as a C and leading scorer on a Knicks team with Michael Ray Richardson and Ray Williams (great scorers in their own right). He moved to PF when Ewing was drafted and they had twin towers and were really good together (the Knicks sucked tho). He suffered a serious foot injury and was never the same after that, though he ended up playing 16 seasons. When he was with the Bulls, he was a consistent post threat. The Bulls didn't need him to score. The Bulls won 3 titles with him as their starting C at the age of 34, 35, and 36 at a time when there were some seriously good big men like Hakeem, Kareem, Ewing, Shaq, Mourning, Robinson, Mutombo, Dougherty, Seikiay, Smits, etc.
Boozer looks good offensively against today's NBA big men. His defensive rotations are still slow sometimes though and he gets caught with his head turned the wrong way. But the bulls are playing him as the primary offensive player right now and running a lot of their offense through him, and they never did that with Grant or Cartwright. So I'd say he's the best offensive big man they've had since Gilmore.
Hes a very good scorer and rebounder. His two biggest knocks have been defense and post season play against big front lines- Spurs, Lakers, etc. I think both of those weaknesses are greatly helped by having Noah alongside him down low as opposed to Okur/Millsap who are neither tall, overly athletic, or known for being good defenders at all. Sloan's got a great system but its very liberal with giving fouls and requires few talented defenders. In Chicago with Thibodeau I think his defense won't be as much of an issue.
Oh ok then. Were either our primary post scores? We didnt need either of them to score like we do with Boozer. So I'll still give him the best big man title since Gilmore
An update. Bulls are now 22-7 in Boozer's starts. Not counting the 2 losses in his first two games where he was getting into playing shape, 22-5. 22-7 is a .759 clip. The Bulls overall are playing at a .702 clip. 22-5 is .815. Boston is playing .766 ball, and San Antonio is playing .851 ball. Bulls are 10-10 on the road. With Boozer, they're 5-5. But they're 5-3 since those first two losses his first two games back. Bulls are 16-8 with Noah starting.
Forgot to add this. In the games Boozer hasn't played, the Bulls are 11-7. They're 18-6 in games Noah's missed. Last season they were 0-10 in games Noah missed.
Horace Grant never really impressed me, but I haven't gone back and looked at early championship season's in a very long time. I'll absolutely agree with you about Cartwright. He had all kinds of moves and played brilliantly within team schemes. But that was also a different time, when you fed your lumbering center at the beginning of games. I think Boozer is the most well-rounded offensive player I've seen in red and white. I underestimated how smart he is on the offensive end. He doesn't really take bad shots, he draws fouls and he passes the ball. There are post players who have a much bigger reputation who don't play have his complete game, at least on offense.
Boozer's very good. We all know he can score and do it in a variety of ways. He's said to be a bad defender. While he ain't real good at several defensive aspects, I find it tough to slap the "bad" tag on any player that pulls down 8+ defensive rebounds a game. He's the best Bulls big man since Brand. That's as far back as I'm willing to go.
We know the strength of schedule was more difficult at the beginning of the season than in the stretch where Booz has played. That needs to be taken into acount somewhat. That being said, what has impressed me so much about Boozer is how good of a post player he has been. There was a lot of "well, he doesn't really play in the post that much, just high pick and roll and a good jumper" talk before the season. It's been a real relief that Rose can actually feed the post and let the Booz take the pressure off of him by manufacturing easy shots. That being said, Boozer and Noah are going to be a staggeringly perfect fit together when both are healthy. This is why I hope we make some kind of sizable upgrade at SG before the trade deadline: I'm starting to feel that we have the pieces and the chemistry to beat anyone, but that might not be true after next offseason if the Heat reload with more quality bench and role players willing to sign for under market value to ring chase.
So far Boozer has been injury prone, a very good scorer, a very good rebounder, and a bad defender. In short, I'd say he's come exactly as advertised. With that said, he's probably a little better on offense than I realized and a little worse on defense. With that said, his bad defense has never prevented him from being a marquee player on very good defensive teams, so maybe it's not the end of the world. When you think about it, it's a shame Cleveland didn't make him play out his rookie contract and then sign him to a large deal since they had his bird rights. Lebron probably would've had a title before he left Cleveland and the whole Miami fiasco may have never happened.
FWIW The Bulls were 7-2 (.777) with Noah and Boozer. The Bulls are 24-6 without Noah (.800). No doubt having an additional NBA starting quality player on the team is going to help going forward.
