Joakim Noah’s status unknown for Chicago Bulls preseason opener against Memphis Grizzlies – NBA News
With the Chicago Bulls already reeling from the absence of their All Star point guard and team leader Derrick Rose, who is recovering from an ACL injury, the team received some more bad news when Joakim Noah’s participation in
their preseason opener against the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday was put in doubt. Noah has not been making it to the Bulls practice for the past three days and Head Coach Tom Thibodeau has not yet mentioned the reason for his absence. However, Noah has acknowledged
that his grandmother passed away on October 1st.
The Bulls have added some depth to their front court during the offseason and in case Noah does not play the game against the Grizzlies, Thibodeau will have the option of either playing veteran center Nazr Mohammed at the five,
or giving Taj Gibson a shot at the five and playing newly acquired Vladimir Radmanovic at the four.
“I feel good about that. We have a lot of flexibility. Naz will start if Jo doesn't go. Of course Taj (Gibson) could play the five. (Kyrylo) Fesenko, so we feel good about that. But we could also play Vladimir (Radmanovic) more
at the four and Taj at five” said Thibodeau while explaining his options.
The Bulls had Omer Asik to back up Noah over the past two seasons, but he left for the Houston Rockets this past summer. With the way Asik held down his position, his replacement will have big shoes to fill as the Bulls aim at
remaining the best defensive team in the league next season. However, he is also confident that Mohammed will be able to back Noah up and deliver the desired results.
"They're different. Different strengths, different weaknesses. Of course Nazr's been 15 years in the league. A good solid shot blocker. Very good on the offensive boards. And he helps you execute. All he has to do is do his job.
We're not asking him to be anything other than who he is,” added the Head Coach.
The Chicago Bulls need to get off to a good start in the preseason games so that they gain some confidence in their abilities as a team and start believing that they can prove everyone wrong and still hold the fort down till their
leader, Derrick Rose, returns to the basketball court.
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