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Joakim Noah was a great college basketball player.
He was a high energy, ball-hawking, crowd favorite who always brought his best in big games. Not only did he and University of Florida teammates Al Horford, Corey Brewer, and Taurean Green win the championship in 2006, they surpassed high draft statuses (Noah most notably) to come back and repeat in '07.
Still, for every Tim Duncan and Dwyane Wade, there's an Adam Morrison and Sean May. And even though many experts believed that Noah could've been the top overall pick in the 2006 NBA draft, Bulls GM John Paxson was criticized from the beginning for picking him with the ninth pick in the 2007 draft over players such as Thaddeus Young (12th pick) and Al Thornton (14).
After two full seasons of averaging just over six points and six rebounds per game, the once charismatic and energetic hoopster looked like another "What if?" in the list of Paxson draft picks.
That was, until Noah found himself in the spotlight once again.
Last year's NBA playoffs started off with one of the greatest non-finals series ever played between the seventh-seeded Bulls and the second-seeded Boston Celtics.
In seven games, Noah averaged a double-double, scoring 10 points and pulling down 13 rebounds a game. The newly-found post presence helped the Bulls take the heavily favored Celtics to seven games, four of which went to at least one overtime period.
So, one of the big questions in the offseason was, "Can Noah carry his postseason success over to the 2009-10 season?"
The answer so far is a resounding yes.
Not only did he lead the Bulls in scoring in their second game of the season, a 118-90 loss to the aforementioned Celtics, but he's nearly back to averaging a double-double through Chicago's first four games (12 points, 9 rebounds).
Noah's performance was no coincidence, though. It stems from his newly-found maturity and composure, attributes that would've been far from seen in any of his college bios.
His first two seasons in the league could be summed up in one word: sloppy. In fact, people would react to Noah's professional skill set in the same way that he would end most drives to the lane: hands raised in the air.
Very rarely would he ever take a ball up strong, instead relying on throwing the ball towards the rim and grunting so as to try to get a free trip to the charity stripe, a technique more suited for someone who doesn't have a career free-throw percentage under 70.
His frustration would often show in his defense, when his out-of-control style caused unnecessary fouls, many of which turned into three-point plays.
However, with the big stage came the big change.
He finally learned how to use his aggressive nature and big body to pull down rebounds in a sea of seven-footers. Most importantly came the rebounds on the offensive side of the ball, which in turn has created more inside-scoring opportunities.
No longer does he flail his arms around underneath the basket and whine and cry to the refs. He keeps the ball close to his body and has clearly worked on his low-post moves.
Oh, and did I mention the mid-range jumper he's pulled off a couple of times this season?
All I know is that in a world where double-double candidates such as Dwight Howard and Chris Bosh show their value day in and day out, Noah may slowly be molding himself into a pretty good professional basketball player, too.
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