April 7, 2015: Noah’s Ark

After watching the Bulls Cavs game on Sunday, I was reminded of one thing.  I was reminded whose team this is.  I was reminded who the leader of the Bulls is.  It´s not like I needed a reminder, but I got one anyways, and that guy, is Joakim Noah.

I remember when the Bulls drafted him; I was not happy.  We just got done with the Ben Wallace experiment, and now, we were getting somebody else who could not score.  Here is this clown, who wore a bow tie to the draft, looking like Bozo, who could only rebound.  Yeah, I was wrong.  If there is anybody who has proved me wrong, it´s Noah.

His first year wasn´t spectacular by any means, but his improvement every year since then, has been every bit the spectacular.  He´s worked on every aspect of his game.  He´s improved in every aspect of his game;  OK, his jumper isn´t that pretty, but hey, his free throw percentage has even increased.  He showed everybody last year how far he has come winning defensive player of the year in the NBA.  He also showed how to run an offense through the point-center; his passing skills are phenomenal.  But with Noah, it´s about much more than all that…

He is the leader of this Bulls team… hands down, no question about it.  He goes at it with Thibs.  He said if he wasn´t his coach, he would hate him.  Yet, he respects the hell out of him, and gets that same amount of respect right back from Thibs.  He is the perfect Thibs guy.  He works his butt off, plays hard all the time, and plays great defense.  He leads by this example.  He´s played through injuries, including a foot injury that hampered him all year.  He is the physical leader of this team, not afraid to talk some crap to both the officials and other players, including the Queen himself.  He fears nobody.  He is the emotional leader.  He wears all his feelings on his sleeve.  You always know how Noah is feeling.  If he makes a big bucket, he´s pumped.  If he gets fouled hard in a big moment, you could see him biting his tongue…. pissed.  He dishes out hard fouls like Sunday on LBJ, and then runs his mouth afterwards.  He knows who the Bulls will have to go through.  He knows they have never beat him.  He knows that it´s important to show everybody that he´s not afraid; that this Bulls team is not afraid.  I think everybody knows that… it´s time to get the results now.

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Oh yeah, and off the court he´s doing some pretty impressive stuff too.  He has his own foundation where he´s trying to get kids off the streets and stop the violence.  Not one person can accomplish this, but he sure is trying to set the example, and do everything he can do.  He´s trying to do this right here in Chicago, his adopted home town.

There are many things to like about Joakim, including the fact that he IS a champion, a two time NCAA champion, who is all about winning.  THAT comes above everything.  How about how he seems uncomfortable playing in the all star game along side the guy I generally believe he dislikes in LBJ… I like that.  That´s some old school rivalry stuff.  Noah isn´t about the bling bling either, unlike so many of these guys today.  I read an article recently about this, and how Noah was born rich, with his 2 famous parents, Ms. Sweden and Tennis superstar.  He´s always had money, and knows how to act with it.  I guess that makes him different from a lot of guys in the NBA today, and I like that about him too.

Noah has earned all of my respect, and I´m sure most fans could say the same.  I think I would put him on that all time Bulls team, right next to MJ, Pippen, and Rodman.  He has become one of my favorite players, and has a VIP pass for the Players Club.  Welcome Joakim, you´re right where you belong.