Noah stunned by Kobe chants
Rookie Joakim Noah expects to make his NBA regular-season debut tonight against the Los Angeles Clippers at the United Center, and he'll be trying to help the Bulls snap their season-opening three-game skid.
Joakim Noah, who has missed the first three games with a left ankle sprain, was surprised to hear some in the United Center crowd chant the name of a certain Los Angeles Lakers superstar during the Bulls' loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.
''For some of the fans to go and talk about Kobe Bryant -- like screaming 'Kobe!' -- to me, that was kind of different because they wouldn't do that in college,'' Joakim Noah said Monday after participating in his first full practice since injuring his ankle Oct. 25. ''But I realize that this is the pros. We have to stick together and play hard and show the fans that we're putting it on the line.
''I understand their perspective, but it's a long season. Fans are going to be fans. They're going to have their opinion. At the same time, we're out here giving 100 percent every night. Of course, I would rather be in a place where there are expectations than a place where people expect you to lose or don't really care. But, at the same time, I think the expectations [the team] should have are the expectations we have and not the expectations others have because they don't really know what goes on. They don't know the hard work.
''I wouldn't say that we didn't play hard against Philly. We might not have played well, but we played hard as a team.''
Coach Scott Skiles will keep a close eye early tonight on how center Ben Wallace is playing. Wallace said Saturday that his sprained left ankle has kept him from being able to jump, which could account for the 3.7 rebounds per game he's averaging.
''I'm making an assumption it's injury-related,'' Skiles said when asked about Wallace's ineffectiveness. ''If he's injured and he can't get it done out there, we'll have to get him out and get other guys in there that can rebound.''
Guard Kirk Hinrich, bothered by foul trouble in all three games, doesn't think the Bulls came into the season overconfident.
''I think, for whatever reason, we were in some sort of funk here to start the season,'' Hinrich said.
''We haven't been ourselves. We just need to relax, go out there. We've got three big games [at home this week]. I don't think we're overconfident, especially not now.''
Skiles, who said the Bulls' defense was better Saturday in a 78-72 road loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, dismissed the idea that a lack of post production on offense has allowed opponents to gamble by defending the perimeter almost exclusively.
''We're still driving where we used to drive,'' Skiles said.
''We're still going where we used to go; we're going where we want to go.''
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