Noah at center of crazy night in Cleveland
Here's a quick rundown of what happened to the Bulls on Wednesday night.
They were run over by LeBron James and the Cavaliers. Joakim Noah got into a spat with a Cavs fan and somehow ended up in a Twitter feud with Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones. Then the Cavaliers apologized for an in-game video for its depiction of violence against a woman wearing a Bulls T-shirt.
Just another case study of what's cool about Cleveland - from the Bulls' perspective, anyway. The Bulls-Cavs series is 1-1 as the scene shifts to the United Center for Friday's Game 3.
On Thursday afternoon at the Advocate Center, Noah was all smiles as reporters tried to sort out a strange night at Quicken Loans Arena.
A video making the rounds on the Internet showed Noah walking off the floor at halftime and having a brief altercation with a fan. The fan turned his head toward Noah, then the Bulls center stopped and gave a light shove to the man's shoulder. It was probably more of a tap than a shove. A security guard standing nearby didn't move.
"I was just saying hello," Noah said Thursday with a grin
CSN Chicago's Chuck Garfien reported via Twitter that Noah told a security guard he was spit on by a fan. The video of the halftime incident is inconclusive.
"I don't want to talk about that," Noah said. "It's unnecessary."
Then there were two bizarre tweets from Jones, the Ohio State QB. The first one mentioned Noah and read, "watch yo mouth before I give you these hands chump." The second one expanded on that topic, reading, "I'm at @joakimnoah neck the rest of the series for that comment."
What comment? Some Ohio State football players were introduced on the court and mugged for cameras during a timeout, but there was never any visible interaction with Bulls players.
Apparently, Jones became angry at Noah based on a tweet from a Cleveland radio reporter, which claimed while the Buckeyes were on the video board, Noah mouthed, "You ain't in the SEC." Noah played college basketball at Florida, which is in the SEC.
On Thursday, Noah and Bulls staff members insisted the story was complete fiction, but Noah wasn't ready to extend the battle of angry tweets. Coincidentally, in his college years, Noah was close with current Ohio State and former Florida coach Urban Meyer.
"I didn't know who (Jones) was until this morning," Noah said. "I wish him nothing but the best. I like Urban Meyer, I guess."
A more tangible problem for the Bulls is Noah's production in this series. He was relatively quiet during the first two games against the Cavaliers, averaging 2 points, 4 assists and 8 rebounds. He's also shooting a dismal 1-for-14 from the foul line during the playoffs.
"It's disappointing," Noah said. "I've just got to keep working and make them tomorrow."
The Bulls held a film session on Thursday at the Advocate Center, then did some shooting. Noah went 1-on-1 against Pau Gasol for a while and was eventually the last player to leave the floor.
"Right now he's going through a rough period with his free throws, but it will come around," said Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau. "Sometimes you just have to work your way through it. Last year, he shot his free throws great and he'll find his rhythm, he'll get back to it."
From the Bulls' side, this series has a simple explanation. They brought a great effort to Game 1 and never trailed. They didn't bring much intensity to Game 2 and fell behind by 22 points in the first quarter. Game 3 will provide a chance for one side to gain the upper hand.
"Could have been better, could have been worse," Noah said of the two games in Cleveland. "We're excited about this Game 3. That's all that matters."
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