Since posting articles on Noah seems to be the popular thing to do, here is a great article by Katz. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Noah not letting shoulder injury slow him down Katz By Andy Katz ESPN.com WALTHAM, Mass. -- Joakim Noah took an entry pass, planted and scored on Michigan's Courtney Sims. He held up his hands during defense and on a defensive slide drill across the lane. He bench pressed. He did everything he was asked to do during Monday's NBA draft workout for the Boston Celtics. It was no different for the Florida junior forward when he went through workouts for Chicago, Charlotte and Minnesota last week. It won't be any different when he works out for Memphis, Sacramento or Atlanta in the next two weeks. After watching Noah's hour-long workout, there was no reason to think he was hurting. But he was. "Right now I'm at 75 percent," Noah said. "I was playing at 75 percent during the season. I don't feel like I'm getting the proper height on my hook shot, and it did bother me a bit but I don't have any regrets." Yet all of the teams know about his shoulder injury. They know because they have seen the MRI of a slight tear in his right rotator cuff. But you can't even begin to suggest that it is affecting him. He won't let it. "It's something that has been bothering me for a while," said Noah. He said he first suffered the injury in mid-February when the Gators clinched the SEC against South Carolina. "I was getting a lot of [pain relieving] shots in my butt and when you're playing in a game, all of the adrenaline was pumping at that time of the year and I didn't think there was time to sit out." Noah said he got the MRI after the season and his doctors at Florida told him that surgery wasn't necessary. He said even if they had told him it was, he wasn't going to go through with it now because he has a draft to prepare for and a career to begin. So he began to rehab after the season. But that didn't stop Noah from pushing his shoulder. "He's a highly competitive kid, and there was never a time during the year that he wanted to be held out of practice," Florida coach Billy Donovan said Tuesday. Donovan said he worked out the other Florida draft hopefuls -- Al Horford, Corey Brewer and Taurean Green -- after the season ended. Noah wanted to work out as well, but the team doctors and trainers told Donovan that Noah should rest his shoulder. "But Jo came to me and said, 'Coach, work me out.' I said 'I couldn't.' He said, 'How about stuff with my left hand?' So we worked on his left-handed jump hooks and ballhandling without raising his shoulder," Donovan said. "But then he wanted to go with this right. I just walked off the court. Jo is his own man and if some guy says don't work out, he's going to work out. He's his own man. He did have problems with it, but it didn't prevent him from practicing or playing." </div> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> But what Noah is doing should make NBA teams take notice. He's playing through discomfort. Granted, every injury is different and so is pain tolerance. But it's normal for players to not work out during an injury prior to the draft. Duke's J.J. Redick did it last year when he had a back injury. "I'm going through the workouts and taking contact," Noah said. "I don't feel 100 percent, and if I don't get picked where I think I should, it won't be because I didn't try. I understand this is a business. But give me four or five weeks with my new team and I'll do the rehab and be fine. It could be a lot worse. I could have broken my leg." </div> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Meanwhile, North Carolina's Brandan Wright didn't work out against Noah or Sims. He shot by himself at one end of the court. Noah and Sims did the Celtics' infamous three-minute run (up and back for three minutes) against one another. Wright did it later by himself. Noah didn't want to get into Wright's not working out but basically didn't understand why someone wouldn't want the competition. He said he understood if the player was advised not to. It's not abnormal to do the one-on-one workouts. It does happen. It's just not a decision made by the majority of players. Wright and China's Yi Jianlian are the only two players who aren't working out against anyone else. So too is Georgetown's Jeff Green, although that may change if Green stays in the draft after the withdrawal deadline on June 18. Wright said he and his agent (Jim Tanner) talked about it and decided he was used to working out by himself so he could show all his fundamentals. </div> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The Celtics' staff also got a chance to interview Wright. But what Rivers didn't see with Wright was the competitive fire and basketball IQ that Noah displayed. "I love his energy," Doc Rivers said of Noah. "He's so verbal and that is so overlooked. He instinctively talks [on defense]. You can't teach that. It's an innate act. He has a high basketball IQ. That's important." And Noah has a high tolerance for pain. That's something that will give Noah more points than any negativity that might emerge from an MRI. </div> Read the rest: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/stor...andy&id=2901852
I think Noah, while being a hard working player, is delicate. He needs a special coach, like he had in Florida. He is the type of player that can become great or another Hafa. I think he will be a solid 20 PPG 9 REB guy, who can run the court. I just think that Brewer and Al will be better, becuase they can play with any coach (assume) and I think will be greater for their team.
<div class="quote_poster">Ford_11 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I think Noah, while being a hard working player, is delicate. He needs a special coach, like he had in Florida. He is the type of player that can become great or another Hafa. I think he will be a solid 20 PPG 9 REB guy, who can run the court. I just think that Brewer and Al will be better, becuase they can play with any coach (assume) and I think will be greater for their team.</div> 20 points and 9 rebounds? Hell, in college he was only good for 12 points and 8 rebounds! I don't see where you get the Hafa comparison either. If anything, he's like a big, goofy Tyrus Thomas (and that's a bad thing). Call me biased, Brett, and I am, because I hate the Gators and hate Noah, but all bias aside, Joakim Noah will be a bust in the NBA. He thrived at Florida because he played off of opportunities created for him by his great supporting cast and took advantage of his height and length to block shots against much smaller opponents. He also took advantage of the up-tempo style of play which SEC teams are playing more and more these days. What's he going to do in the NBA though? He has no legitimate half-court moves. He can't post up anyone worth a damn defensively, and he sure as hell can't play defense on anyone bigger or more skilled than he is (Greg Oden, and others, have showed us that one). Really, he's just overblown as a prospect because of his flamboyant, charismatic personality, and the fact that he played on a back-to-back title team. If he were a straight-faced white kid from a mediocre program, he'd be touted as the next Rick Rickert, not the next Boris Diaw (or whatever decent player he's being compared to these days).
<div class="quote_poster">Voodoo Child Wrote</div><div class="quote_post"> If he were a straight-faced white kid from a mediocre program, he'd be touted as the next Rick Rickert, not the next Boris Diaw (or whatever decent player he's being compared to these days).</div> <div class="quote_poster">Quoting NBADraft.net:</div><div class="quote_post">NBA Comparison: Tyson Chandler (higher basketball IQ)</div>
