Can Noah Put Up Another 20 and 16 game?

[mlewinth]

Ok, I am STOKED at Joakim Noah. I think he looks like a completely different player than last season. Active on both ends of the court. Aggressive offensively, which has been causing teams to stay honest on him (he hit back to back hook shots last night. It anyone as stoked about Joakim Noah as I am? Anybody think he can do that against a team tat is not the Milwaukee Bucks? I see big things this year.....

 

[houheffna]

This is why I disagreed with some who thought the Bulls shouldn't go to the playoffs and just tank the second half. The players are young and I always said you have to let them get that exposure. I think Noah's confidence soared and he improved on both sides of the court in the postseason. I think he will be a decent player this year...

 

[clonetrooper264]

I don't think we'll be seeing many 20 point outings from Noah if ever this year, but 16 rebounds is a definite possibility. There will be quite a few double doubles however if he can be aggressive and play like he did yesterday all season. If that happens, the future is bright for him.

 

[pinkizdead]

i think noah was misused for much of last season. we asked him to play a role that wasnt really in tune with his skill set. up tempo handling the ball dunking and blocking shots.

 

[??? ??????]

I'm not too excited about Noah yet. If we can be in the top half of the league at both big spots, we should be able to make the playoffs, if our bigs disappoint (like they usually do), we won't make the playoffs.

Don't get me wrong, I like Noah. But I don't think he is the right guy to have in there at center. He's a power forward. He only has an 8'11.5" standing reach.

Here's a list of players with a bigger standing reach that are relevant big men in the NBA right now:

Udonis Haslem, Jason Maxiell, Darrell Arthur, Michael Beasley, Al Horford, Rudy Gay, Chris Wilcox, Reggie Evans, James Jones, Trevor Ariza, Jordan Hill, Kwame Brown, Nick Collison, Marvin Williams, Hakim Warrick, Tyrus Thomas, Julian Wright, Amare Stoudemire, Carlos Boozer, David West, Luol Deng, Aaron Gray, Brandan Wright, Taj Gibson, Malik Allen, Jared Jefferies, Nene Hilario, Chris Bosh, Charlie Villanueva, Anthony Randolph, Earl Clark, Ersan Ilyasova, DeVon Hardin, Austin Daye, Jason Collins, Tyson Chandler, Al Jefferson, Marcin Gortat, Elton Brand, Andrea Bargnani, Lamarcus Aldridge, Kevin Durant, Spencer Hawes, Chris Kamen, Emeka Okafor, Channing Frye, Andrew Bogut, BJ Mullens, Eddy Curry, Darko Milicic, Dwight Howard, Vladimir Golubovic, Hasheem Thabeet, Desagna Diop, Brook Lopez, Shaquille O'neal, Brendan Haywood, Deandre Jordan, JaVale McGee.

(Note this list is missing guys like Big Z, Gasol, Bynum, etc. who don't have measurements recorded).

What's this mean? There is almost never a moment that Noah is on the court at center, that the Bulls aren't at a size disadvantage. You don't want a small front court, and that's what you get with Noah starting at center.

 

[houheffna]

Being that the league is not deep at center, I think he could be a decent center. If those measurements were that important, they would not have him down there as much. After all, the Bulls were worried about their undersized backcourt so they do notice these things. He held his own against Perkins, who has a reach of 9'4". He doesn't do well against Howard, but reach has nothing to do with that. I believe he is going to have a pretty good year...

 

[mlewinth]

I go with what I am seeing. Noah has looked real good so far in preseason. He is ridiculously aggressive both offensively and defensively. He is learning how to be scrapy and is getting great put backs. He also learned some sort of hook shot. He has been a beast on the boards and is just being a force on both ends of te floor.

I'm telling you, this year, he will be very good. Not just good.....very good! MARK IT DOWN!

 

[houheffna]

To back your point Lewinthal....

Listening to the radio and even the eternal pessimist himself Dan Bernstein predicted Noah would have a good season...I almost fainted...but that shows how obvious the improvements have been...

 

[clonetrooper264]

Clearly the fact that Noah can have the balls to attempt a hook shot in a game without hesitation is a very good sign. Say what you want, he's definitely improved.

 

[collisrost]

??? ?????? wrote:

I'm not too excited about Noah yet. If we can be in the top half of the league at both big spots, we should be able to make the playoffs, if our bigs disappoint (like they usually do), we won't make the playoffs.

Don't get me wrong, I like Noah. But I don't think he is the right guy to have in there at center. He's a power forward. He only has an 8'11.5" standing reach.

Here's a list of players with a bigger standing reach that are relevant big men in the NBA right now:

Udonis Haslem, Jason Maxiell, Darrell Arthur, Michael Beasley, Al Horford, Rudy Gay, Chris Wilcox, Reggie Evans, James Jones, Trevor Ariza, Jordan Hill, Kwame Brown, Nick Collison, Marvin Williams, Hakim Warrick, Tyrus Thomas, Julian Wright, Amare Stoudemire, Carlos Boozer, David West, Luol Deng, Aaron Gray, Brandan Wright, Taj Gibson, Malik Allen, Jared Jefferies, Nene Hilario, Chris Bosh, Charlie Villanueva, Anthony Randolph, Earl Clark, Ersan Ilyasova, DeVon Hardin, Austin Daye, Jason Collins, Tyson Chandler, Al Jefferson, Marcin Gortat, Elton Brand, Andrea Bargnani, Lamarcus Aldridge, Kevin Durant, Spencer Hawes, Chris Kamen, Emeka Okafor, Channing Frye, Andrew Bogut, BJ Mullens, Eddy Curry, Darko Milicic, Dwight Howard, Vladimir Golubovic, Hasheem Thabeet, Desagna Diop, Brook Lopez, Shaquille O'neal, Brendan Haywood, Deandre Jordan, JaVale McGee.

(Note this list is missing guys like Big Z, Gasol, Bynum, etc. who don't have measurements recorded).

What's this mean? There is almost never a moment that Noah is on the court at center, that the Bulls aren't at a size disadvantage. You don't want a small front court, and that's what you get with Noah starting at center.

The standing reach thing is almost certainly meaningless. Doug reported this in one of his bullsbeat podcasts and it was also in some of the scouting that went on. Noah had I believe a shoulder injury during the testing which didn't allow him to stretch his arms upwards fully, so his standing reach has probably been significantly underestimated. He certianly doesn't play like he has short arms, he blocks more than his share of shots and he pulls down rebounds on both ends of the court. His arms are long enough that he is developing an effective hook shot.

Doug, could you confirm the thing about his injury influencing his measurements?

 

[houheffna]

That is good stuff, obviously I had no clue about his medical condition when taking those measurements. But I will say that he is definitely a center in this league. As many hybrid 4/5 as there are in this league. I think it is safe to say without reservation that he could play center in the NBA.

 

[pinkizdead]

plus the guy is a beast on the offensive boards. regardless of standing reach the guy has a nose for the ball. plus he can blocks on a lot of the big men out there.

 

[jsain360]

Noah can play center in this league, there aren't a whole lot of dominant centers in this league, I see he has worked real hard of his game this offseason, hooks, post moves, drop steps, keep it up young fella!!

 

[Diddy1122]

mlewinth wrote:

I go with what I am seeing. Noah has looked real good so far in preseason. He is ridiculously aggressive both offensively and defensively. He is learning how to be scrapy and is getting great put backs. He also learned some sort of hook shot. He has been a beast on the boards and is just being a force on both ends of te floor.

I'm telling you, this year, he will be very good. Not just good.....very good! MARK IT DOWN!

This what Noah can do when he is in full game shape from the get go. Noah was not in shape for almost half of last season, thanks to various injuries during the offseason & training camp that limited his workouts. This summer, he's been working out hard & has been injury free. We are all seeing what he used to do back in Florida, all energy & hustle all the time. This is why I was happy when we drafted him 3 years ago. He leaves it all out on the floor, & absolutely HATES to lose.

I will say it again, I truly believe Noah will win Most Improved this season. I've been a big Noah supporter since day 1 & have confidence that this kid can grab 10+ boards a game & pour in 10-12pts on put backs.