Players stand behind coaches, penalize Noah

ATLANTA -- Animosity between players and coaches is fairly common in the NBA. Just ask Ben Wallace.

But it's not often that players band together to punish one of their own in support of a coach.

Consider these Bulls a rare breed then. During a players-only meeting Saturday, veterans Wallace and Adrian Griffin recommended to extend the original punishment given to rookie Joakim Noah.

The 6-foot-11 center was inactive for Friday's victory at Philadelphia after getting into a verbal altercation with assistant coach Ron Adams at the morning shootaround. Noah sat out a second game Sunday afternoon in Atlanta.

Some of the Bulls suggested this kind of move would help bring the team together. The only thing that happened Sunday, though, was the Bulls standing together to watch the Atlanta Hawks run and dunk all over them in an embarrassing 105-84 blowout loss at Philips Arena.

"From the opening tip, we were too casual with everything, especially defensively," said Luol Deng, who returned from an Achilles injury to lead the Bulls with 28 points. "We were just going through the motions."

Even before the tipoff of Friday's game in Philadelphia, Wallace and Griffin talked about taking further action against Noah. It was put to a team vote following Saturday's practice at Georgia Tech. Noah was present during the meeting and, obviously, the motion passed.

"It was a situation that we thought got a little out of hand," Wallace said prior to Sunday's game. "You should always have respect for the fact that it's a grown man that you were talking to, and you always should respect that fact.

"I think the coaches and players relationships sometimes are built to get a little volatile, a little hostile, but I don't ever think it should go to that level."

Wallace has experienced his share of run-ins with head coaches. He feuded with Flip Saunders in Detroit and challenged Scott Skiles' no-headband rule after joining the Bulls.

"We've all had our differences with coaches," Wallace said. "I understand frustration with coaches, but you just can never take it to that level. I might not like you as a coach, but I've got to respect you for the fact that you are a man."

Head coach Jim Boylan stressed that this incident shouldn't reflect on Noah's character or his popularity among teammates.

"The players like Joakim," Boylan said. "I think Joakim is a great kid. He's got a good heart and he means well. It just that this is a different setting. It's not college anymore. It's the NBA. It's professional sports. You're dealing with different types of people. More mature, older people."

Boylan thought the extended punishment was based on more than just the argument in Philadelphia. Noah also has been late a few times to team functions.

"I think it's been building during the course of the season," Boylan said. "Jo's had a couple of situations where he's been late and not doing what the Chicago Bulls do. I think the cumulative aspect of this is definitely part of the reasoning for the players doing what they did."

Noah was subdued in the locker room Sunday morning and didn't seem comfortable talking about the message delivered by his teammates.

"Do I agree with it? It doesn't matter," Noah said. "It doesn't make a difference. I respect my teammates and I respect their opinions and stuff like that. I've just got to deal with it and move on."

Adams, the oldest member of the Bulls' coaching staff, declined to comment on the situation. Wallace suggested one of the reasons to take action against Noah was because the Bulls have a new head coach. Boylan officially replaced Skiles on Dec. 27.

"We just got a new coach, so to speak, and now we're trying to move in the right direction," Wallace said. "So we want to get all the negative energy and try to get that out and try to move forward."

Boylan appreciated that sentiment coming from one of the team's elder statesmen.

"It makes me feel great," he said. "I feel like my players are behind me. Anything I've asked of them, they've done for me."

Griffin, meanwhile, tried to stress that the Bulls still are behind Noah but want everyone focused on the task at hand, which is to turn around what has so far been a disappointing season.

"The players are supportive of each other, supportive of Joakim," Griffin said. "We're just waiting for him to come back. To me, we have a chance to salvage the season and we just need everybody on page with us and it was one of those things that I believe is going to bring us closer."