Bulls put their foot down; give Noah three weeks off
The Bulls placed an approximate time frame on Joakim Noah's indefinite absence.
The third-year center will be shut down for three weeks in the hope that the plantar fasciitis in his left foot will feel good enough to make a push for the playoffs.
Of course, the Bulls (31-29) still have to make the playoffs. They are one of five teams scrambling for the bottom four slots in the Eastern Conference. As of Wednesday morning, they were a half-game behind fifth-place Toronto, but just two games ahead of ninth-place Charlotte.
"There's no time to be down," coach Vinny Del Negro said following Wednesday's practice at the Berto Center. "We're in a tight race right now. We can't use any excuses. We have to still play who's healthy and find ways to get some wins. We're playing some tough teams now and it's a difficult time to lose anybody, especially your starting center."
Noah had already missed nine of the last 12 games because of the sore foot. The Bulls are 6-4 this season when he's not in the lineup.
To help shore up the inside game, the Bulls brought back 6-9 power forward Chris Richard on Wednesday. He spent preseason with the team and appeared in five games last month, but was released when the Feb. 18 trades left one too many players on the roster.
"I don't know if you do replace (Noah)," Del Negro said. "He was the second-leading rebounder in the whole NBA and brings a lot of energy. He brings spirit to the game for us; gets us possessions, gets us out on the break. His offense has been developing all year.
"It's a big loss, but other guys have to step up. The biggest concern is rebounding the basketball," Del Negro said. "Not having his length back there is an issue."
It would certainly help the Bulls' cause against Memphis Thursday if Derrick Rose and Luol Deng are able to play. They skipped the last two days of practice with knee injuries, but are hoping to be available.
Del Negro said both players still had swelling in their knees on Wednesday. Rose was hurt when he crashed into Atlanta's Mike Bibby early in Monday's loss, but returned to finish the game. Deng banged his knee last week against Indiana, played in the next two games, then sat out against the Hawks.
"I'm going to try to go to tomorrow," Deng said. "It's painful. It's right above my knee and it's really stiff. I'm not getting the range of motion, especially trying to explode on it."
If he play, Deng would have to guard Grizzlies forward Rudy Gay, one of the quickest small forwards in the league.
Three weeks from now, the Bulls will have 12 games remaining in the regular season. Noah has mentioned in recent interviews that his plan is to be as healthy as possible for the playoffs.
But the Bulls won't really know anything until Noah gets back on the floor and tries to play again. Most estimates suggest it would take 6-8 weeks of rest for it to heal.
"Rest will help, usually. No question," Del Negro said. "He's got to come back, fight through the pain. We'll give him a few weeks and hopefully he reacts better to that. That's the plan right now."
Bulls vs. MemphisTime: 7 p.m. ThursdayTV: Comcast SportsNetRadio: WMVP 1000-AMUpdate: The Grizzlies have had a season of runs. They started out 1-8, then went 24-11 from Nov. 11 to Jan. 27, peaking at 6 games above .500. Since then, however, Memphis lost 11 of 16 games heading into Wednesday's contest at New Orleans. PF Zach Randolph (20.7 points, 11.8 rebounds) made the all-star game last month. SF Rudy Gay is averaging 20.1 points, with SG O.J. Mayo at 17.6. This is the first meeting of the season between these teams. The Bulls are 12-2 all-time at the United Center against the Grizzlies.Next: Saturday vs. Dallas Mavericks at the United Center, 7 p.m.