Noah wants to put Memphis flap in his rearview mirror
After Monday’s game against the Lakers ended around 11 p.m., Joakim Noah talked about the incident that led to him sitting out the final 18 minutes, plus overtime, against Memphis on Saturday.
“Thibs (Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau) would never ever talk bad or say anything bad about us in the media or anything,” Noah said. “But that was all me. I think he took me out, and I was emotional about it. I was ticked off and probably said some things I shouldn’t have said.
“You learn from it and move on. That’s just the mindset I wanted to have today, move on from it. There are so many games, you don’t want it to keep lingering. I didn’t want it to linger.”
On Tuesday at the Berto Center, Thibodeau was also eager to move on and offered this response to Noah’s response:
“Ninety-five percent of what Jo does is good,” Thibodeau said. “So no one’s perfect. That’s gone. I thought he played a terrific game last night. I just want him to keep improving and doing the things he’s doing for our team.
“He’s maturing with his experience. He’s been in a lot of situations now, so he continues to grow and that’s what I want him to do. I want him to keep getting better from now until the end of his career.”
Kobe’s streak ends:Kobe Bryant finished with 16 points in Monday#146;s loss to the Bulls, ending a personal streak of 24 consecutive games scoring at least 20 points. After the contest, he credited Tom Thibodeau and Jimmy Butler for their defensive work.#147;If you look at the film, he missed some shots he normally makes,#148; Thibodeau said. #147;There were some plays in which Jimmy defended him perfectly and he made (the shot). Great players in this league have the ability to do that. Yesterday, we had some good fortune.#148;Ex-Bull becomes head coach:Richard Hamilton is one of four players from Detroit#146;s 2004 championship team to later play for the Bulls.Another who made the jump, Lindsey Hunter, was named interim coach of the Phoenix Suns this week. Hunter, 42, finished his long NBA career with the Bulls, serving as Derrick Rose#146;s mentor from 2008-10.#147;Since he left here, that was one of his aspirations to be a head coach,#148; Hamilton said. #147;I#146;m just happy for him. He worked hard and it#146;s a good situation for him.#147;We talk like once a week. All those guys #151; me, Chauncey (Billups), Rasheed (Wallace), Ben (Wallace), Lindsey #151; we talk at least once a week just to stay in contact with each other.#148;Asked if he#146;s interested in coaching, Hamilton changed the subject. But what about him, Ben and Rasheed Wallace serving as Hunter#146;s assistants someday?#147;There#146;d be a whole lot of barking, I#146;ll tell you that,#148; he said with a laugh.#148;