With his confidence brimming from a productive seven-game series against the Boston Celtics, Joakim Noah carried that over to the offseason by adding about 15 pounds of muscle.
This helped him rewrite his image from one of the softer players coming out of college into one of the league's more rugged, scrappier players.
The offseason work has paid off with Noah anchoring the Bulls' interior defense, helping Chicago rank second in opponent free-throws made and field-goal percentage, third in the Eastern Conference in blocked shots, and ninth in points allowed.
Noah's also seventh in rebounding and in blocks (second among Eastern Conference Centers) but more importantly he's been able to stay on the floor and become a quintessential asset to his team.
Noah's only committed 13 fouls in six games, the lowest among all players in the top 15 in shot-blocking and the lowest among all players with three years of NBA service or less.
As for individual stats, Noah is averaging 11.3 points, 11 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks per contest in only 30 minutes per game, giving him a PER of 23, ranking above the likes of Steve Nash, Paul Pierce, and Tony Parker among others.
Noah grabbed 21 reboun ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NBA
Article written by Sean Stancill
Joakim Noah Bulling His Way into a Promising Future
November 11th, 2009 by Sean Stancill Leave a reply »
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