Story. Surprising, and refreshing, really. Given the stereotype of today's pro basketball player it's good to see players put the team above the individual, even if one of the personal-responsibility advocates is Ben Wallace. :wink:
I heard about this yesterday. It's kind of interesting. Everybody is saying the right things right now so I hope it all works out well. It is interesting that Wallace was one of the leaders after the run ins he has had in his career. I just hope Noah learns from this and goes on to have the type career he is capable of having.
I found the irony of the story interesting. There have been may incidents of pro players not listening to coaches, refusing their instructions and even assaulting them, but a common thread among the Bulls players' remarks was that Noah needs to realize he's not in college anymore.
I think that remark about Noah not being in college any more probably relates to how they view his maturity. When he was at Florida he did not have any trouble with Billy Donovan. In fact Donovan commented on this incident, I'll see if I can find it and post.
Rick here's the bit about Billy Donovan commenting about Noah. I'm not going to defend Noah, but I do believe that he's still adapting to the pro game and will do fine in the long run.
Rick, here's another article by a Chicago sports writer. Bulls: More dissension, more disarray Bulls: More dissension, more disarray January 16, 2008 BY JAY MARIOTTI Sun-Times Columnist So there was Ben Wallace, $60 million waste, laughing on the bench Tuesday night in Orlando. The Bulls were on their way to another hapless, character-less loss, and Big Bum was having such a good time that you wanted to stuff him in a Goofy suit and point him to Disney World. He wasn't the only quitter and slacker in a 102-88 defeat, the latest stinker in a pathetic season of quitting and slacking. The laughter apparently led Joakim Noah, coming off a teammates-approved suspension for screaming maniacally at assistant coach Ron Adams, to confront Wallace in an episode that required Luol Deng to separate them. All of which only underscores the thievery taking place. The Bulls are stealing money. They are embarrassing the city and a franchise that 10 years ago, willed by the most cut-throat competitor of all time, won its sixth NBA championship. They admittedly quit on Scott Skiles and got him fired. Now they aren't playing for interim coach/sucker Jim Boylan, which comes after Wallace -- in a pathetic bit of hypocrisy -- led the in-house charge against Noah when he blew up at assistant coach Ron Adams last Friday. At least Noah, who returned to produce 12 points and a career-high 11 rebounds, cares about winning. Seems Noah was as irked as I was about the apathy of some veterans -- the same mopes who had gone to Boylan and urged him to extend the rookie's one-game suspension to two games for the Adams incident. Shame on Boylan and general manager John Paxson for allowing those veterans any latitude to make disciplinary decisions when some are guilty of far worse sins than Noah. If the rookie was punished two games, Wallace should be suspended five for laughing. But that won't happen. Know why? His agent, Arn Tellem, is close with Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf. It was Reinsdorf, according to ESPN's Ric Bucher, who fueled the regrettable Wallace signing two summers ago because of his relationship with Tellem. There even was a report, denied by the Bulls, that Reinsdorf met last month with Wallace and Tellem to gauge the players' feelings about Skiles. So maybe we shouldn't be blaming only Paxson for the Bulls demise. Maybe it's a classic Reinsdorf screwup. Boylan, who tried to place trust in the players during the Noah episode, was more disgusted than anyone. Nice attempt to rally the troops, Mr. Interim. ``Our lack of effort in the third quarter was unacceptable and probably the worst third quarter I've seen since I've been with the Chicago Bulls, as a head coach or an assistant,'' he said. ``It was a lack of effort all the way across the board, a lack of concentration and focus. ``In the NBA, there's always ebb and flow, but we're letting teams have their way with us. Our defense is soft; our offense is anemic at times. We seem to be casual with the ball. We have to do something about that if we want to get ourselves right. We have to change the way we're playing. I don't have any magic dust to sprinkle over anyone. I have seen these guys compete at a high level. For some reason we are not doing that.'' They're already fired a well-regarded coach. They're already turned a rookie into a peer-pressure scapegoat. Any other solutions? ``It's just embarrassing,'' said Chris Duhon, who said last month that the Bulls stopped playing for Skiles. The team is a disgrace, a daily subject on national TV shows. Somewhere in Indiana, Skiles must be laughing himself, though surely not as hard as Big Bum.
Bulls have been a team in disarray since Jordan left, they have drafted a ton of top 5 type of players and have sort of become like the old Clippers. A lot of high draft choices, none of which have been able to mesh into a winner.
I don't like Mariotti, but the premise of his article makes sense when supported by Duhon's comment. I also tend to side with Noah simply because like millions of others I watched him lead his team to two consecutive NCAA championships. A guy who was an integral part of that kind of accomplishment logically is not the kind of guy to lie down on the job or to accept losing silently. On the other hand, Wallace's reputation precedes him. Plus, they fired an Indiana boy, so screw 'em.
Yes. Indeed. Did I mention that I found the story ironic? Ironic that pro players, in disciplining a teammate, felt it necessary to point out that he's not in college anymore. Ironic that one of the leaders was Ben Wallace, a current player largely responsible for the stereotype of today's pro player being selfish and disrepectful to authority. Yep. Ironic. Gimme an I...
It won't be Rick, I had to look that word up and am still not sure if I know how to use it! :cry: :cry: :cry: But thanks for the R, so I guess O is next?