Joakim Noah is in the prime of his career, as he’s coming off a season in which he was the NBA Defensive Player of the Year. Of course, he hasn’t been anywhere near as dominant as he was last year, and he’s missed significant time. This was to be expected as Noah had knee surgery in the off-season.
In the 82 game grind that is the NBA season, you would expect a veteran, coming off a major off-season procedure no less, like Joakim Noah to miss some time. That’s not news. What is interesting is the way the widely held perceptions of Bulls Coach Tom Thibodeau is being altered now, via the allocation of Noah’s minutes.
Thibs has a reputation for being the guy who pushes his stars and his starters the most during the regular season. How accurate it may or may not be that’s how he’s perceived. He’s often juxtaposed against San Antonio Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich, who has the reputation for doing it “correctly” when it comes to resting his starters, and preparing them for the postseason.
Supposedly, the narrative goes, Pop strikes the perfect balance between playing and resting his core guys. Whether that’s accurate or not is debatable but Popovich has the rings and the resume to back up his methods.
Take a look at the “minute restrictions” with Joakim Noah. Also, remember that next year is the final year of his contract, so his long term future with the club will be decided soon. That’s obviously not the primary factor at work here, but you know it does factor in some way.
Big hat tip to (@JohnnyNBA) on this. His tweets inspired the idea to explore this phenomenon.
His minutes before March 5th. Hmmm. pic.twitter.com/RdFl1qFkN1
— John Ledesma (@JohnnyNBA) March 18, 2015
.@JoakimNoah has been on a minutes restiction since March 5th. pic.twitter.com/ciqhRIoowk
— John Ledesma (@JohnnyNBA) March 18, 2015
Joakim Noah production slipping this year.
.@JoakimNoah 13-14 vs 14-15. Ouch. pic.twitter.com/wLXt7pDGkf
— John Ledesma (@JohnnyNBA) March 18, 2015
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with Fox Sports Digital. You can read Banks’ feature stories and op-eds in the Chicago Tribune RedEye newspaper and hear his regular guest spots on numerous sports talk radio stations all across the country.
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