Noah Eager To Get On With His Game
MAITLAND - When Joakim Noah stood, he resisted the urge to pace. When he sat, he gave in to the urge to fidget. Finally, with 5 minutes, 32 seconds remaining in the second quarter of Monday's summer league game between the Chicago Bulls and Indiana Pacers, Joakim Noah couldn't take it anymore.
Banished to the row of seats behind the Bulls' bench because of a shoulder injury, the former University of Florida standout grabbed his chair and moved it to the front row, just to the left of the scorer's table.
"It's hard," Joakim Noah said later, "to sit there and not contribute."
It seems especially hard for Joakim Noah, whom the Bulls chose with the No. 9 pick in last month's draft, because while he only wants to prove his worth as a player, all anyone seems to care about are his bushy hair, his lineage and whether he possibly can blend in with scrappy Bulls coach Scott Skiles. Absent an opportunity to see him play, many have reduced Joakim Noah to a 7-foot, chest-thumping, cheerleader-baiting cartoon character with a former tennis pro-turned-pop star for a father and a model-turned-sculptor for a mother.
Had Joakim Noah left college after his sophomore season, that characterization might have bothered him more. But, as he helped the Gators last season to a second consecutive national title, Joakim Noah learned something valuable. He can't agonize about every word written about him. He can't worry about what each talking head says.
"You really have to know who you are, because everybody forms an opinion," Joakim Noah said. "Everybody's going to write about you - especially at this level. There's so much more media, and there's so much more opinion because you're always out there. That's what I realized, and I'm happy. My college experience helped me in the long run."
After another series of questions Monday about the injury - a slight tear with his rotator cuff that he suffered Feb. 21 against South Carolina - his outspoken ways and how he feels he will fit in with the Bulls, the clutch of reporters dispersed. Joakim Noah spotted a familiar face and cracked that gap-toothed grin Florida fans remember so fondly.
"Things could be worse, right?" he asked.
That Joakim Noah smiles so readily, given his current situation, proves he does know who he is. Will he fit in with Skiles? Probably. Anyone who watched Skiles play point guard for the Orlando Magic and Joakim Noah play power forward for the Gators knows Joakim Noah plays the same hustling, hard-nosed game Skiles did - only with more height, more hair and more flair.
Will he mesh with his new teammates? Who knows? The Bulls took former LSU star Tyrus Thomas with the No. 4 pick in the 2006 draft and made him a role player as a rookie. Thomas, who averaged 5.2 points and 13.4 minutes a game last season, already has passed along what he learned to Joakim Noah.
"You've just got to do what you do," Thomas said. "I told him already that you can't worry about what other people say. The people that make expectations are the people that don't really matter."
Monday, Joakim Noah watched as Thomas filled up the box score with 17 points, seven rebounds, five blocks and two steals. Joakim Noah expects himself to make that kind of contribution eventually, but he must sit for now and allow his shoulder to heal. The Bulls' rehabilitation plan does not include surgery, and Joakim Noah is expected to be ready for training camp in October.
"Injuries," he said, "[stink]."
When the shoulder heals, Joakim Noah will have his chance to prove to the Bulls he is the hustling, driven competitor the Gators fell in love with. Or maybe the Bulls don't need to see Joakim Noah play to understand his competitive fire. Maybe they only need watch him fidgeting on the bench, itching for a chance to take the court again.
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