Poke in the eye a minor setback compared to Noah's rookie season
This was something of a rough summer for Bulls center Joakim Noah.
He had some minor legal trouble during a visit to Gainesville, Fla., then suffered a sprained ankle while attending a camp run by longtime NBA assistant coach Tim Grgurich in Las Vegas.
"I actually got off the plane, went straight to the camp and first play, I landed on somebody's foot," Noah said.
Now he's sidelined during the first week of training camp after being accidentally poked in the left eye by Thabo Sefolosha, one of his best friends on the team. Noah and Sefolosha usually converse in French, so no doubt there was some interesting language floating around the Berto Center on Wednesday night.
Noah is expected to miss about five days of practice because blood has accumulated in the anterior chamber of the eye. A bright red streak was visible at the bottom of his left eye.
Despite the latest setback, Noah seemed as content and comfortable Friday as he's been since first being drafted by the Bulls in June, 2007.
Back then, Noah was coming off consecutive national championships with Florida and was overjoyed at the thought of joining a Bulls team expected to contend for an Eastern Conference title. Things didn't quite work out as planned.
While the Bulls sputtered to a 33-49 record, Noah was stung by critical words early last season from coach Scott Skiles, was suspended for a verbal altercation with assistant coach Ron Adams and got into a postgame confrontation with his mentor Ben Wallace. The suspension made even bigger news when Noah's teammates voted to increase the punishment from 1 to 2 games.
Those incidents were quickly forgotten, however, and Noah appreciates the chance to start new with a revamped coaching staff. The Bulls billed first-time head coach Vinny Del Negro as a strong communicator and so far Noah is impressed.
"It's unbelievable, in this first month here I've probably spent more time with him than I did with Skiles in the first six months," Noah said. "He took me out to dinner. One time, I was at a restaurant and he was there and he actually paid for my tab. I thought that was pretty cool for a coach that just got here to do that."
Noah actually got to know Del Negro before the 2007 draft when he visited Phoenix for a workout. Del Negro was in the Suns' scouting department at the time.
"He's definitely a players coach," Noah said. "I remember one time I thought I got fouled in practice and I got kind of emotional. He told me to calm down. He said, 'Who cares if you got fouled? Just get back on defense.' It made sense, so I just got back on defense.
"Something he emphasizes a lot is knowing your role on the team. Sometimes as a player, it's important for a coach to explain that to you, what he wants you to do and not be confused out there. He's definitely someone who lets you know what he wants you to do."
Overall, the Bulls were satisfied with Noah's rookie-season production of 6.6 points and 5.6 rebounds. While nursing the sprained ankle this summer, Noah spent time in the weight room and added 10 pounds to his thin frame.
"He wants to get better," Del Negro said. "He's putting in the time and it's just a matter of time before he makes an impact. You want to root for guys like that."