Noah frustrated by minutes restrictions
Joakim Noah often talks about his belief the Bulls can do something special in the playoffs if they're healthy at the end of the season.
So he shouldn't mind being kept on a limit of 32 minutes per game. After all, the practice was adopted at the start of the season to help ease Noah's return from arthroscopic surgery on his left knee.
Noah talked about the minutes limit at Wednesday's shootaround. It became a topic of discussion after coach Tom Thibodeau said Noah “ran out of minutes” in the fourth quarter of Sunday's loss at Oklahoma City.
“It's frustrating,” Noah said. “But I think I'm not the only one who's frustrated sometimes. I think it's part of the grind. But I'm just trying to stay focused on what's important: trying to win basketball games. I'm not trying to get caught up in any noise or anything like that. I don't want to be a distraction.”
Noah's minutes started to creep higher after the all-star break, when he produced nine straight double-digit rebounding games. Noah sat out last week's game at Philadelphia, though, because of soreness in the knee.
“I think right now I'm feeling more and more healthy,” Noah said. “I know I still have another gear I've got to get to. But I think the reason for this minutes restriction is to try to protect me, too. It's not to point any fingers or anything like that.
“We've just got to keep building, keep fighting. I think we have great talent on this team. I think that we've just got to get the highest seed possible because I think we'll be very tough to play in a seven-game series and I'm really excited about that.”
Jordan memories:
Michael Jordan officially unretired from basketball on March 18, 1995 with his classic “I'm back” news release. Thursday is the 20-year anniversary of his first game after the baseball break.
Jordan scored 19 points on 7-of-28 shooting in a 103-96 overtime loss to Indiana at Market Square Arena. Jordan played 43 minutes that day, his first official NBA game in nearly two years. No minutes limit for Air Jordan.
Bull horns:
Joakim Noah received February's NBA Community Assist Award before Wednesday's game. Noah's foundation introduced the “Rock Your Drop” anti-violence initiative and helped produce the documentary, “You're Not Alone,” which told the stories of people who have lost loved ones to gun violence. … The Bulls held a moment of silence Wednesday for Jack Haley, who died Monday of heart disease at 51. Haley had two stints with the Bulls and might be best remembered for being the No. 1 cheerleader on the 1995-96 squad while winning 72 games.