Noah standing tall for Bulls

Whether the Bulls' player-imposed punishment of rookie Joakim Noah becomes a positive team-building experience remains to be seen.

The Bulls have gone 3-4 since the Jan. 12 players-only meeting in Atlanta.

But Noah has pulled it together very well.

In the six games since serving his two-game suspension for mouthing off to assistant coach Ron Adams, Noah's playing time has nearly doubled while he averaged 8.8 rebounds and 6.5 points.

During his first 27 games of the season, Noah averaged 3.1 rebounds and 4.2 points.

The 6-foot-11 center might have played his best game as a pro Wednesday when he collected 15 boards and 14 points in a 108-95 victory over Indiana. In the Bulls' 2 most recent victories, over the Pacers and the Detroit Pistons, Noah has played the entire fourth quarter.

"He's rebounding the ball, playing with his energy," coach Jim Boylan said. "That's what he does. I don't think any sort of controversy is going to affect that.

"I think the controversy maybe motivated him a little bit, spurred him on. Sometimes when you go through those things, when you get through it, you get out the other side of it, you're a little bit better than when you went in."

Thabo Sefolosha probably understood what Noah went through as well as anyone. Nearly every day in the locker room, Noah and Sefolosha can be heard holding conversations in French.

"When he steps on the floor, you don't think about that suspension," Sefolosha said. "He's part of the team and we all like him. He brings positive energy in the locker room and on the floor, which is great."

One of Noah's early-season weakness was defensive rebounding. After the first 11 games played, Noah's offensive boards outnumbered his defensive rebounds 22-16. Now he's cleaning the glass on both ends.

Noah also thinks he's starting to understand the Bulls' system after some early struggles. He's still not a consistent scorer and can get pushed around by heftier players, but his presence seems to help the Bulls on defense.

Noah has been especially valuable against teams that use smaller lineups -- like Indiana and tonight's opponent, Charlotte -- because he has the lateral quickness to guard shorter players.

"The thing about the NBA is you play so many different games and everybody's different," Noah said. "So I don't want to say, 'Yeah, I feel confident.' Then the next thing you know I'm playing against a smaller guy that scores 40 points on me.

"I'm a big believer in not taking anything for granted … and karma, too."

Noah hasn't found instant karma in the NBA, but Boylan does appreciate how the outgoing rookie manages to inject enthusiasm into practice. Even Thursday, when the Bulls had just 10 players available and kept things in the half-court, Noah made his presence felt.

"He's one of those guys that's constantly high energy," Boylan said. "He plays at one speed, and it's going to help his development. He's working hard before games, after practices and so forth. It's nice to see someone like that who does put the time in and reap the rewards that he has the last couple of games."

After the Bulls beat the Pacers without top scorers Ben Gordon and Luol Deng, Boylan's message to his players was to keep the same urgency they felt Wednesday.

"Given the circumstances, that sense of desperation was pretty easy to find, because we were missing so many people," Boylan said. "The key for us is to keep that same intensity when we do start getting a couple of guys back."

Tonight's tipoff

Bulls vs. Charlotte Bobcats at the United Center, 7:30 p.m.

TV: Comcast SportsNet

Radio: WMVP 1000-AM

Update: The Bulls are 3-0 against Charlotte this season, but the Bobcats (16-26) had a sudden burst of improvement recently. Charlotte won at Boston on Jan. 9 and went 5-3 over an eight-game stretch, which included overtime losses to the Cavs and the Pistons, before dropping its last two games against Dallas and San Antonio.

Players to watch: The Bobcats' new lineup is starting to click. In January, SF Gerald Wallace is averaging 24.2 ppg, with SG Jason Richardson at 23.5 ppg. Richardson is tied with Orlando's Rashard Lewis for the league lead in 3-pointers made (118).

Next: Phoenix Suns at the United Center, noon Sunday

-- Mike McGraw

No sulking for Noah

Bulls rookie Joakim Noah's contributions have increased since he sat out two games for verbal abuse of an assistant coach:

Before suspension

G Min. FG% Reb. Pts.

27 12.3 .550 3.1 4.2

Since suspension

G Min. FG% Reb. Pts.

6 22.7 .576 8.8 6.5