Hoiberg looks ahead without Noah
The main topic of discussion was obvious Sunday at the Advocate Center. The Bulls have to deal with losing center Joakim Noah to a left-shoulder injury, most likely for the season.
Not only does this take away perhaps the team's best rebounder and defender, Noah also is very popular with his teammates, and everyone felt some of his pain.
“It's tough. Jo is such a passionate kid. A big-time leader of this team. So much energy,” coach Fred Hoiberg said. “Even when he wasn't playing, he was always keeping guys' spirits up, and I know he'll continue to do that.
“I really feel bad for the fact that he's going to have a surgical procedure to fix this, but at the end of the day I know that Jo is going to be fine.”
Hoiberg said Noah is still getting opinions on which doctor should perform the surgery. So a date hasn't been set, but the team's medical staff is confident Noah will make a full recovery.
“It's a tough one to swallow,” Pau Gasol said. “Jo brings a lot to our team, a lot of energy, great spirit, great competitiveness, intensity. It's hard to accept the news. But in sports, these things happen. It's unfortunate. It can happen to anyone. I'm sorry it happened to him.”
Noah suffered a recurrence of the shoulder problem that originally knocked him out on Dec. 21. After missing nine games over three weeks, Noah returned last Monday against Washington.
In the second quarter of Friday's loss to Dallas at the United Center, Noah was trying to box out JaVale McGee and had both hands locked onto the Mavericks center when he spun away in pain. Noah ran straight to the tunnel with his left arm hanging limp.
After the game, Noah's teammates didn't know full details of the injury, but everyone knew he would be out awhile. The prognosis of a 4-6 month recovery was announced Saturday evening.
“I texted him last night and talked to him a little bit after the game,” Gasol said. “Injuries are probably the worst moment for an athlete, because it stops you from doing what you love to do. You become sad and bitter. At least that's what I feel. It's the toughest.”
Noah will be a free agent this summer. Whether he has played his last game for the Bulls remains to be seen.
For now, the Bulls have to figure out how to replace him.
They have a tough week ahead, beginning with a road game in Detroit on Monday afternoon. Golden State visits the United Center on Wednesday, and the Bulls finish the week with back-to-back road dates in Boston and Cleveland.
“We had a little experience when Jo missed some time the first time,” Hoiberg aid. “Obviously Bobby (Portis), I thought filled in well. He's going to have to go out and perform.
“Obviously now it's different — we always knew Jo was going to come back. This time it doesn't appear that will be the case. We've got to have everybody ready. Cam Bairstow has to be ready to go. Cris Felicio has to be ready to go.
“Everybody's just got to be prepared to fill in for what Jo gave us, which was a lot. He's our best low-post defender, one of our best playmakers on the team. A guy who always generates ball movement when he's on the floor, and just passion and energy.
“That's going to have to be picked up by the group collectively. That's not just one guy.”
During the nine games Noah missed after the first injury, Taj Gibson's minutes grew to 32 per game and he averaged 8.9 rebounds, second on the team to Gasol's 10.8. Portis averaged 7.7 points and 7.0 rebounds in 20 minutes during Noah's absence.
“We had some (emotional hangover). You could see it in the second half (against Dallas),” Hoiberg said. “(Noah) was obviously very down. Our guys, each one, went in and talked to him.
“You get that out of the way, and you focus on the task at hand, which is to play a very good Detroit team that blitzed Golden State (on Saturday).”
Kirk Hinrich did not travel with the team to Detroit because of a left-quad contusion.
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