Dollars to doughnuts, Noah learning
Bulls rookie Joakim Noah was in a surprisingly good mood following Monday's practice, considering he'd just had his lunch money stolen.
"I got my per diem taken from me today," Noah told reporters at the Berto Center. "I did something I shouldn't have done on the court, started talking trash a little bit."
Of course, the NBA per diem of approximately $105 per day might as well be Monopoly money, considering the league's pay scale. But having it confiscated by one of the Bulls' veterans wasn't Noah's only problem.
There also was trouble with the doughnuts one of the rookies delivered to the locker room Monday morning.
"I keep telling him, 'No Dunkin' Donuts. We need Krispy Kreme every day,' " Ben Gordon said with a smirk. "Jo's been doing a good job, but today I saw some Dunkin' Donuts in there. I don't know who did that. I'm going to have to take their per diem. You've got to teach these guys the hard way."
Reminded that Dunkin' Donuts is a team sponsor, Gordon insisted the quality of doughnuts has nothing to do with the rookies' morning ritual. There happens to be a Dunkin' Donuts less than a mile from the Berto Center. The nearest Krispy Kreme is eight miles away in Mundelein.
Noah said he's often told, "We don't do Dunkin' around here."
Anything to make a rookie's life more difficult.
"Everybody on the team, the majority, prefers Krispy Kreme for some reason," Gordon said. "It's not even about the taste. It's just further away, so it gives the rookies more trouble."
Today, Noah can focus on the dunking instead of the doughnuts as the Bulls open the preseason against the Milwaukee Bucks in LaCrosse, Wis.
The Bulls are counting on the 6-foot-11 rookie from Florida to join the regular rotation this season, but Noah admitted that learning the schemes -- the basketball plays, not the breakfast pastry preference -- has been the most difficult part of training camp
"Right now it's not a question of playing with the starters or playing with the second team, it's about learning the plays," he said. "I'm having a hard time with that. There's a lot of information thrown at you in the last 10 days.
"I don't know what's going to happen (in tonight's game). All I know is I'm going to work hard when my name is called and learn and become the best player I can. That's the only expectation I put on myself."
On Sunday at the Bulls' annual free scrimmage, Noah was on a team with the four regular starters. Coach Scott Skiles said that decision was made a month ago and doesn't mean anything.
The power-forward job is up for grabs. Veteran Joe Smith is not expected to play tonight as he rests a sore right knee. Noah figures to be in the mix with Tyrus Thomas and Andres Nocioni, but the ninth overall draft pick isn't concerned with being a starter.
"I think Tyrus has been playing great, too," Noah said. "To me, it's not about starting or being the first person off the bench. I just want to work as hard as I can and help this team win basketball games."