Joakim Noah
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Haven't seen much of him, but depending on where we pick, he could be a very nice pick. I think he has more upside than people give him credit for. Last year, I heard people talking about him as if he would have been a sure-fire no.1 in last years draft. Just goes to show how good he is (although obviously this draft is alot better).
Thats a really stupid reason to hate Noah. He hasn't done anything to indicate that he's a "punk" or that Florida is somehow so much more arrogant than the rest of the country. And truth be told, they are national champs, a number 1 seed, and have nearly the entire team back this year so it's not like its totally unjustified.
Noah plays with the type of heart and desire that we wish most NBA athletes would play with.
That being said, he's still a rich man's Anderson Varajao at this point. Unless he develops a true offensive game, he'll always be that great role player instead of an actual star.
Noah plays with the type of heart and desire that we wish most NBA athletes would play with.
That being said, he's still a rich man's Anderson Varajao at this point. Unless he develops a true offensive game, he'll always be that great role player instead of an actual star.
Like his spirit, not so sold on his upside. If we were a team on the brink of something looking for a great roleplaying backup PF/C, he'd be great. Team in need of a stud? Not so sold. Has a lot of skills, but can he dominate? if we end up picking 10th or whatever he and Splitter are solid picks. If we get higher, I want somebody with more star potential.
Think he might be a helluva pcikup by Phoenix with that Atlanta pick. Bring him in to replace Kurt Thomas and they are going to be even more set (until Nash starts slowing).
Think he might be a helluva pcikup by Phoenix with that Atlanta pick. Bring him in to replace Kurt Thomas and they are going to be even more set (until Nash starts slowing).
I like him too, he's a winner. He could be a more skilled Verejao or a taller David Lee, and that's quite a lot of upside. But you're not going to get any offense, and you're going to need a big center beside him. I think a Noah/Brad Miller tandem could actually do quite well. I would be excited if they picked him, but at the same time, I fear that there's not enough offensive upside there to pick him that high in a deep draft.
I'll echo what I said before in that his game is predicated on that energy, and when he does not have it he is not effective. He has a limited offensive game and a slight build for an NBA PF/C. He was bandied about as a possible #1 last year only because the draft was so bad. I agree with Brick. He would be a nice pick for the Suns, but not for us.
I will also reiterate that he will be one of the most contraversial figures in the league. He will say alot of political, inflammable stuff and I question whether his focus will stay on basketball. I question his focus anyway because of the up and down play of Florida. It is not good to see a group of college kids flicking the switch on and off at that level. Their season is not long enough for that approach to the game to be defensible, and I would be leery of any Florida players, and Billy Donovan as a coach should the Maloofs interview him in the offseason.
I will also reiterate that he will be one of the most contraversial figures in the league. He will say alot of political, inflammable stuff and I question whether his focus will stay on basketball. I question his focus anyway because of the up and down play of Florida. It is not good to see a group of college kids flicking the switch on and off at that level. Their season is not long enough for that approach to the game to be defensible, and I would be leery of any Florida players, and Billy Donovan as a coach should the Maloofs interview him in the offseason.
Considering what possible draft pick we'll have (say 6-12) and the average draft number that Noah will be chosen from what I've seen from all the prognosticators (5th to 7th) leads me to think that if Noah is still around when we pick, it'd be silly not to.
If he's still around for our pick it'll most likely mean he's the best big man left.
And Petrie better be looking for a big man this draft because if we get another undersized swingman or combo guard I just might lose my cool a little.
If he's still around for our pick it'll most likely mean he's the best big man left.
And Petrie better be looking for a big man this draft because if we get another undersized swingman or combo guard I just might lose my cool a little.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQ3y5hTHuP4
I don't like him. This is 1 of the reasons why. I guess he was trying to be funny but I find it very hard to like the guy. I wish he would shut up after every small play, but that's just me.
Honestly, I'd rather have Horford on the Kings then Noah, but that's just me.
I'd also rather have Hibbert, and I don't like slow big men.
I don't like him. This is 1 of the reasons why. I guess he was trying to be funny but I find it very hard to like the guy. I wish he would shut up after every small play, but that's just me.
Honestly, I'd rather have Horford on the Kings then Noah, but that's just me.
I'd also rather have Hibbert, and I don't like slow big men.
He's not one of the most liked players in college basketball. Maybe it's because he looks weird and acts weird but that's just me. I think he's a decent basketball player with a short upside. I think compared to Oden or Durant, he's a nobody. I think Horford and Wright are much better than him. He's actually regressed for the most part this season. He would have been the #1 pick last year.
I concur. I think if he goes to the Suns he will blossom, because he will immediately slide into his ideal role, 6th man. If he is expected to start, and produce like a starter, he'll disappoint. Also, if I were a GM, the interview process would be crucial. I would need to pretty confident that he'll keep his politics to himself and not cause distractions.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=2815441&sportCat=ncb
Second time around has been much harder for Noah
By Pat Forde
ESPN.com
To the shock of nearly everyone outside the University of Florida, Joakim Noah decided last April to come back for another year in college -- only to find that the curriculum had changed.
The basket weaving that was 2006 has been replaced by the biophysics of '07. The continuing education of Jo Noah has, at times, been an immersion in the school of hard knocks, cheap shots and crude taunts.
A year ago Noah had all the answers, having catapulted out of relative obscurity to establish himself as the best player and brashest personality in the NCAA Tournament. Now the junior forward returns to the Final Four wiser but wearier. He's learned a fresh set of life lessons -- about the steep price of high expectations, the heavy burden of a season-long bull's-eye and the thin line between fresh and overexposed.
This repeat bid has been a struggle at times for the Gators, and by the end it's clear who struggled most with it: their leading man and lightning rod.
Insults in every opposing arena. Clucks of dismay over every diminished stat. Draft gurus deconstructing his game. Cheerleaders in his grille. Thirty-three victories, plenty of moments to celebrate, and nobody's satisfied yet.
That has been Noah's emotionally draining season in a nutshell. Being the Christian Laettner of the new millennium hasn't been easy.
"I don't regret anything," he said. "There were a lot of hard times this year, but this is a part of me growing up, not just as a basketball player but as a person.
"Last year, people around me were just happy that I got an opportunity to play basketball, that I got a chance to play, because my freshman year I didn't play. This year, if I don't have this amount of points, this amount of rebounds, this amount of blocks, it's, 'What was I doing? What was wrong with me?'
"We were still winning basketball games, but it was 'What are you doing?' People didn't understand where I was coming from."
Actually, I'd argue that Noah didn't fully understand where he was coming from. Namely, the mountaintop. And there's usually only one way to go from there.
You average 16 points, 10 rebounds, five blocks, three assists and a steal over a six-game span with the whole world watching, you set an NCAA Tournament record for swatted shots and you lead a rampage to the national title? People come to expect that -- actually, more than that -- next time they see you.
The commonly held belief was that Noah was just scratching the surface of his prodigious potential -- just polishing up his raw game. When his shooting caught up with his other skills, when his strength caught up with his athleticism, when he had a full season imbued with the confidence of being The Man, he'd own this game.
It hasn't worked out that way. Ownership (and NBA draft status) was usurped by fresh-faced kids named Durant and Oden. The landslide preseason national player of the year choice was not a first-team All-American and has not been the best player on his own team.
There were times during this challenging season when Noah sought the counsel of his coach, Billy Donovan, whose guidance of this Gators team the past two seasons has approached art. Donovan offered a dose of perspective to his power forward.
"He would tell me, 'Would you give all of this up?'" Noah related. "And there's no way. There's no way. Sometimes this year I've taken things for granted. Sometimes you have to sit back and realize how many kids would love to be in this situation, winning an SEC championship for the third time, winning a national championship … getting to talk to all these people, press conferences, people asking for your autograph.
"We get so much love out there. It's overwhelming sometimes in Florida. But this is what it's all about. You've got to enjoy it. This stuff doesn't last forever."
But enjoyment and perspective can come and go. Human beings -- and Noah is one -- have their weaknesses. There can be stress among the good times -- especially when you're the guy in the spotlight before all your teammates.
"If that was me in that situation, I don't know if I could handle that," said teammate and roommate Al Horford. "There's so much expectations on him, so much on his shoulders. I think he did [struggle with those expectations] earlier in the year. I think that's why he wasn't as effective. … Sometimes you can't please everyone."
Noah has, at least, pleased his coach and teammates for the most part. He's had another fine season as an integral part of a relentless winner, but there has been more statistical regression than progression -- especially in this tournament.
Through four NCAA games, Noah's per-game numbers are down from last year's tournament in scoring (13.3), blocks (2.0), assists (1.8) and steals (0.8). They're up only in rebounds (11). His field-goal percentage has risen (from 55 percent to 64) but his free-throw percentage has dipped (from 84 percent to 75).
The junior Noah has the same limitations as the sophomore Noah -- same sidewinder shooting form, same lack of a jumper, same lack of upper-body strength. He undoubtedly worked on his game during the offseason, but did not show the same improvement as Horford, whose draft stock is probably higher than Noah's now.
And that Be The Man thing backfired in a lot of ways on a kid who always has been a blender on the court. As much as Noah plays the part of a melodramatic diva -- the hair, the chest-pounding, the gesticulations, the screaming -- he doesn't play the game like a diva.
He's only fourth on the team in scoring and has attempted the fewest shots of anyone on the starting five. That works wonderfully in the locker room with this selfless bunch, but it doesn't often put Noah in the J.J. Redick role of being able to shut up an opposing crowd with basket after basket.
And Noah has heard it from opposing crowds this year. More than any other player in college basketball, guaranteed.
"The amount of hate that is out there by opposing teams and fans, and Facebook pages that are created about him, it's amazing," Horford said. "I've never seen anything like that.
"At first, we thought it was funny. When it gets to the point where it's that bad, it's overwhelming. He gets a lot of hate, man."
There was the sign at LSU ripping off the Geico line -- "So easy, even a caveman can do it" -- with a picture of Noah. There were endless taunts and signs at Georgia, at Tennessee, at Vanderbilt. And there was the cheerleader at Kentucky who violated Noah's airspace, shoving her pompoms in his face after he fell to the floor in front of her.
I was seated about five feet away, saw the whole thing, and there's no doubt who instigated the situation. But when Noah angrily swiped at the cheer pixie's pompoms, it became an Internet firestorm and the victim was barbecued.
"Last year was all fun and games," Noah said. "It was, 'Oh, he's just so funny, look at him.' This year, it's under a microscope.
"This year, the cheerleader in Kentucky, she goes like this with the pompoms in my face [motioning to the NCAA representative next to him in a St. Louis news conference]. I was pissed off. It was my second foul, so I was mad. People look at this, and they say, 'Oh, Noah is such a bad guy.'
"You know what I realized? I don't care what people think anymore. I used to. I'm not going to lie. I used to play for everybody. You can't do that."
This is the hard lesson learned by progressing through to the downside of the fame cycle.
Last year Noah's story was fresh and fascinating: multicultural son of a tennis star and a Swedish model, oozing personality, fabulously candid, massively improved game. This year, we already know all that -- and his game stopped improving.
Time for a new story angle -- and the kid who morphed from confident to cocky to almost arrogant last spring gave his critics some ammo.
He won too much and emoted too much. Mostly, he won too much. Every team in America would love to have Noah wear its uniform -- but since he doesn't, he's the player to boo.
And as Florida has continued to win, the haters Noah so often refers to have had to suck it up and take it. The payoff for a grueling season is almost at hand, for a team much wiser now than it was at this stage last spring.
"We've learned so much," Noah said. "I know personally I've learned so much more about people this year than last year."
The valedictory moment in the continuing education of Joakim Noah is now at hand. Walking out of the Georgia Dome with one more piece of championship net would be all the diploma he needs to graduate.
Pat Forde is a senior writer for ESPN.com. He can be reached at ESPN4D@aol.com.
Second time around has been much harder for Noah
By Pat Forde
ESPN.com
To the shock of nearly everyone outside the University of Florida, Joakim Noah decided last April to come back for another year in college -- only to find that the curriculum had changed.
The basket weaving that was 2006 has been replaced by the biophysics of '07. The continuing education of Jo Noah has, at times, been an immersion in the school of hard knocks, cheap shots and crude taunts.
A year ago Noah had all the answers, having catapulted out of relative obscurity to establish himself as the best player and brashest personality in the NCAA Tournament. Now the junior forward returns to the Final Four wiser but wearier. He's learned a fresh set of life lessons -- about the steep price of high expectations, the heavy burden of a season-long bull's-eye and the thin line between fresh and overexposed.
This repeat bid has been a struggle at times for the Gators, and by the end it's clear who struggled most with it: their leading man and lightning rod.
Insults in every opposing arena. Clucks of dismay over every diminished stat. Draft gurus deconstructing his game. Cheerleaders in his grille. Thirty-three victories, plenty of moments to celebrate, and nobody's satisfied yet.
That has been Noah's emotionally draining season in a nutshell. Being the Christian Laettner of the new millennium hasn't been easy.
"I don't regret anything," he said. "There were a lot of hard times this year, but this is a part of me growing up, not just as a basketball player but as a person.
"Last year, people around me were just happy that I got an opportunity to play basketball, that I got a chance to play, because my freshman year I didn't play. This year, if I don't have this amount of points, this amount of rebounds, this amount of blocks, it's, 'What was I doing? What was wrong with me?'
"We were still winning basketball games, but it was 'What are you doing?' People didn't understand where I was coming from."
Actually, I'd argue that Noah didn't fully understand where he was coming from. Namely, the mountaintop. And there's usually only one way to go from there.
You average 16 points, 10 rebounds, five blocks, three assists and a steal over a six-game span with the whole world watching, you set an NCAA Tournament record for swatted shots and you lead a rampage to the national title? People come to expect that -- actually, more than that -- next time they see you.
The commonly held belief was that Noah was just scratching the surface of his prodigious potential -- just polishing up his raw game. When his shooting caught up with his other skills, when his strength caught up with his athleticism, when he had a full season imbued with the confidence of being The Man, he'd own this game.
It hasn't worked out that way. Ownership (and NBA draft status) was usurped by fresh-faced kids named Durant and Oden. The landslide preseason national player of the year choice was not a first-team All-American and has not been the best player on his own team.
There were times during this challenging season when Noah sought the counsel of his coach, Billy Donovan, whose guidance of this Gators team the past two seasons has approached art. Donovan offered a dose of perspective to his power forward.
"He would tell me, 'Would you give all of this up?'" Noah related. "And there's no way. There's no way. Sometimes this year I've taken things for granted. Sometimes you have to sit back and realize how many kids would love to be in this situation, winning an SEC championship for the third time, winning a national championship … getting to talk to all these people, press conferences, people asking for your autograph.
"We get so much love out there. It's overwhelming sometimes in Florida. But this is what it's all about. You've got to enjoy it. This stuff doesn't last forever."
But enjoyment and perspective can come and go. Human beings -- and Noah is one -- have their weaknesses. There can be stress among the good times -- especially when you're the guy in the spotlight before all your teammates.
"If that was me in that situation, I don't know if I could handle that," said teammate and roommate Al Horford. "There's so much expectations on him, so much on his shoulders. I think he did [struggle with those expectations] earlier in the year. I think that's why he wasn't as effective. … Sometimes you can't please everyone."
Noah has, at least, pleased his coach and teammates for the most part. He's had another fine season as an integral part of a relentless winner, but there has been more statistical regression than progression -- especially in this tournament.
Through four NCAA games, Noah's per-game numbers are down from last year's tournament in scoring (13.3), blocks (2.0), assists (1.8) and steals (0.8). They're up only in rebounds (11). His field-goal percentage has risen (from 55 percent to 64) but his free-throw percentage has dipped (from 84 percent to 75).
The junior Noah has the same limitations as the sophomore Noah -- same sidewinder shooting form, same lack of a jumper, same lack of upper-body strength. He undoubtedly worked on his game during the offseason, but did not show the same improvement as Horford, whose draft stock is probably higher than Noah's now.
And that Be The Man thing backfired in a lot of ways on a kid who always has been a blender on the court. As much as Noah plays the part of a melodramatic diva -- the hair, the chest-pounding, the gesticulations, the screaming -- he doesn't play the game like a diva.
He's only fourth on the team in scoring and has attempted the fewest shots of anyone on the starting five. That works wonderfully in the locker room with this selfless bunch, but it doesn't often put Noah in the J.J. Redick role of being able to shut up an opposing crowd with basket after basket.
And Noah has heard it from opposing crowds this year. More than any other player in college basketball, guaranteed.
"The amount of hate that is out there by opposing teams and fans, and Facebook pages that are created about him, it's amazing," Horford said. "I've never seen anything like that.
"At first, we thought it was funny. When it gets to the point where it's that bad, it's overwhelming. He gets a lot of hate, man."
There was the sign at LSU ripping off the Geico line -- "So easy, even a caveman can do it" -- with a picture of Noah. There were endless taunts and signs at Georgia, at Tennessee, at Vanderbilt. And there was the cheerleader at Kentucky who violated Noah's airspace, shoving her pompoms in his face after he fell to the floor in front of her.
I was seated about five feet away, saw the whole thing, and there's no doubt who instigated the situation. But when Noah angrily swiped at the cheer pixie's pompoms, it became an Internet firestorm and the victim was barbecued.
"Last year was all fun and games," Noah said. "It was, 'Oh, he's just so funny, look at him.' This year, it's under a microscope.
"This year, the cheerleader in Kentucky, she goes like this with the pompoms in my face [motioning to the NCAA representative next to him in a St. Louis news conference]. I was pissed off. It was my second foul, so I was mad. People look at this, and they say, 'Oh, Noah is such a bad guy.'
"You know what I realized? I don't care what people think anymore. I used to. I'm not going to lie. I used to play for everybody. You can't do that."
This is the hard lesson learned by progressing through to the downside of the fame cycle.
Last year Noah's story was fresh and fascinating: multicultural son of a tennis star and a Swedish model, oozing personality, fabulously candid, massively improved game. This year, we already know all that -- and his game stopped improving.
Time for a new story angle -- and the kid who morphed from confident to cocky to almost arrogant last spring gave his critics some ammo.
He won too much and emoted too much. Mostly, he won too much. Every team in America would love to have Noah wear its uniform -- but since he doesn't, he's the player to boo.
And as Florida has continued to win, the haters Noah so often refers to have had to suck it up and take it. The payoff for a grueling season is almost at hand, for a team much wiser now than it was at this stage last spring.
"We've learned so much," Noah said. "I know personally I've learned so much more about people this year than last year."
The valedictory moment in the continuing education of Joakim Noah is now at hand. Walking out of the Georgia Dome with one more piece of championship net would be all the diploma he needs to graduate.
Pat Forde is a senior writer for ESPN.com. He can be reached at ESPN4D@aol.com.
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the kings could do worse than joakim noah in this year's draft. it really depends on how the balls bounce, i guess. i'd be very pleased with a mid-to-late-lottery pick of noah. at 6'11", 230 lbs, he'd give the kings some much needed height. once he hits the weights a bit more to add the upper body strength he needs, he could really bang inside against nba bigs. he's got the aggressive nature you want in a big, he just lacks the muscle. but the kid's got fire, and that's a major plus. his energy level might make him look like a much taller francisco garcia out there for a bit, but you know he won't quit on you, and while it might take some time for him to get under control, i think he's pretty ready to contribute on the "nba ready" scale.
here's the thing, unless you've got the number 1 or 2 pick, you probably won't be getting a stud in this draft. outside of that, the second-tier players are all over the place. if the kings can grab someone like brandon wright, then i suspect they will. if not, noah's not a bad choice. one of the main objectives in a rebuild is to compile assets in the hopes of piecing together a competitive team. if the kings slide further back in the lottery than we'd like, they might have to take a role player. nothing wrong with that since rebuilding the team will take a few years anyway. they gotta go one piece at a time, and noah's a sure-fire contributor, even if it only gets him 6th man capacity in the nba.
If Hawes, Hibbert, Jianlian, and Horford are off the board I'd be fine with picking him, but if not I don't think it's a good move. I don't see him even being a double digit scorer in this league and as far as his shot blocking and rebounding it has a lot more to do with his length and jumping ability than any keen awareness or positioning. An energy pogo stick who can pass is how I'd describe him. Why did Julian Wright have to stay in school?