Joakim Noah Eyes Early Return, Hopes To Be Back Before All-Star Game
In yesterday's win over the Milwaukee Bucks, Joakim Noah took a turn at the announcers' table during the third quarter. Aside from delighting the announcers by using Stacey King's preferred nickname for Kurt Thomas, "Big Sexy," he also delighted them and Bulls fans by stating he hopes to be back before the All-Star game.
The pin came out today and the next step just seems to be getting the strength and movement back in his hand, although it sounds like he wants to be "100 percent" before he returns. That's preferable to coming back too soon and reinjuring himself.
Previously the best hopes were that he would be back at the soonest by the February 24 matchup with Miami Heat. Before the All-Star break could potentially mean that Noah would be back for the rematch with the San Antonio Spurs. It would certainly be nice to have him in that game.
The surgery came on Dec 16, ironically 40 days ago today. At the time they projected anywhere from eight to 10 weeks for a recovery time, and most of the speculation has been that he would be closer to the 10-week time frame. The eight week mark would be Feb 10.
It is possible that he could be back some time during the road trip prior to the All-Star game. It would be opportune timing, as the Bulls soft schedule through January is about to come to a screeching halt. In three of their last four games before the All-Star game, they face some of the toughest teams in the league, Utah, New Orleans and the previously mentioned Spurs. Obviously, having Noah for those games would serve as both a practical and emotional boon to the Chicago Bulls.
In other news, Charles Barkley appeared on the "The Waddle & Silvey Show" on WMVP-AM 1000 and had some nice things to say about Derrick Rose, Coach Tom Thibodeau and the team in general.
Concerning Rose he said, "Derrick Rose has passed (Utah's) Deron Williams as the best point guard in the NBA, and right now he's got to be the front-runner for MVP. He's been fantastic."
Concerning Thibodeau, "The coach has done a fantastic job, too—he's probably the front-runner for Coach of the Year...
"...He holds them accountable. He's benched some of his best players because they weren't playing well or they weren't playing great defense. That's one reason a lot of teams in the NBA struggle—Coaches ain't coaching their teams. They're intimidated by their players. You've got to coach your players, because the coach gets fired if they don't do their job."
And concerning the team, "When you look at the Eastern Conference, the Chicago Bulls are the most dangerous team if they get everybody healthy. ...They can be flat-out scary."
Here's to hoping they get Noah back sooner rather than later and get "flat out scary."
