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Bulls Tue Oct 05 2010
As The Bulls Turn: Preseason Edition, Noah And Boozer
Boozer's Broken Hand ≠ Broken Dreamz
Some NBAers really just need to come with a caveat emptor. That being said, Boozer is always injured -in the past five seasons with the Jazz he missed a full 25% of the games due to injury and whatnot. And the Bulls still got him for a steal and Bulls fans should still be very pumped to have him on the squad. With Boozer every single fan should know what to expect by this point: injuries, averages of about 20 points and 10 boards per and a wilting (though not necessarily caustic) locker room presence. Boozer's value is decidedly left on the court. But he does add such a dimension to this Bulls offense and, let ye forget, this offense was stagnant and terrible for most of the past two seasons.
So Boozer's getting his injury bug (fingers crossed, Bulls fans) out of the way early this season and should be gelling with the squad by the end of December or start of the new year at the latest. Pick and rolls and comfortable, difficult to defend jumpers are sure to follow from the Booze-man. In the meantime, Taj Gibson is afforded more starting time at the 4, a spot he flourished at last season during his rookie campaign. Intriguingly with Gibson and Noah at the starting big spots, Chicago's interior defense should be forecast as "rugged and nasty" for the first month of the season.
JoNo Gots Paid (And That's Great News)
Tailgate has always been a staunch supporter of Joakim Noah and this contract renewal is huge for the Bulls and Noah. $60 million over five years starting in 2011 with some incentives and bonus cash that could push everything a few mil. higher. Noah's defensive presence alone is worth that contract. With defensive specialist Tom Thibodeau rolling into town as the new coach, his system calls for an anchoring big man (think 2008 iteration of Kevin Garnett in Boston) to neutralize other bigs and to clean up on the weakside. Now consider the fact that Noah is an emerging talent at center who hasn't tapped his full potential yet, notice he's not yet 25 and relish the fact that the Bulls locked him up until he's 29. Joakim Noah is entering his prime as a center, he's a defensive MasterLock, his scoring is up, his blocks are up, his boards are up and, o!, he's one of the more intelligent defenders in the league. You know the type, the motoring, confounding, ceaselessly chatty guy in rec leagues who you love to have on your team and hate to play against. That's JoNo and he's on the Bulls for five more years.
