Rose to Thomas, yes, Noah, noooooooo!

I am still not sold on Joakim Noah. He looks real good driving to the lane for a one handed tomahawk dunk. But he looks awful when a young stud like Dwight Howard or Al Jefferson muscle their way in and easily put the ball in from two feet away and then get a shot for a three point play at the line as Noah flails and cries to the refs.

There enthusiasm and then there is crying when you don’t have a prayer. I cannot blame Noah. He is tall and skinny. The NBA has finally produced some real young post players after the ‘’90s found the league with a bunch of 6 foot 9 posers or hall of fame playing well beyond their respectable careers should have ever allowed. These players are going to dominate him without question.

He did not learn from Ben Wallace, at least not the stuff that would be useful on the basketball court. It worries me that the Chicago Bulls picked him in the first place. Looking back at the draft two years ago no obvious post player stands out as a better pick than Noah, but then why draft a post player who cannot score when you need a post player who can.

I am supposed to be enthused about the new season and Derrick Rose’s rookie season, but I cannot help but look at the direction management is continually taking the team in. They sign Vinny Del Negro as the head coach after major screwing up with Mike D’Antoni. I though John Paxson would realize that Chicago is no longer the basketball force, in reputation or talent that it was when he was winning NBA Championships. You need to act fast when the Mecca of basketball is trying to give the chance to earn New York’s undying love by saving a floundering franchise.

I do not know yet, but I suspect that Vinny Del Negro is simply going to be a puppet for a front office that thinks it can make a playoff run with more team work and less NBA talent.

I pick on Noah because I see him as the best example of taking a relatively high pick and taking a hustle player over a talent player. It seemed like they gave on Tyrus Thomas far too soon. He can jump out of the gym, as they say. Unfortunately Skiles never really gave him a shot. He was always looking for an excuse to bench him and put in somebody like Adrian Griffin.

The team is at a turning point. They can embrace the move to a faster basketball game where the point guard is once again the most important player on the floor, or they can follow the rest of the Eastern Conference and enforce a brutally dull half court game.

Despite my misgivings, I am truly exciting for the regular season to begin. I will enjoy watching Rose and hope to see plenty of lobs to Thomas on fast breaks or simply because they both truly grasp the offense and the idea of movement off the ball.