Last night's game against the Cavaliers wasn't as bad as the records might indicate. Cleveland is a decent team with lots of offensive firepower. Kyrie Irving, though mostly contained, still poured in 19 points and 6 assists. Emerging power forward Tristan Thompson had 14/14, and Dion Waiters did his best Nate Robinson impression, coming in off the bench and taking every shot that came his way en route to 20 points and 0 assists.
However, the big difference maker last night was one Andrew Bynum. The much heavier Bynum dropped in 20 points, grabbed 10 boards, and blocked 5 shots in 30 minutes of action. Bynum absolutely dominated Joakim Noah, which leads me to this question...
Are we experiencing the demise of Joakim Noah?
After posting career highs in scoring, rebounds, and blocked shots last season, Noah has yet to show anything offensively, scoring only 8.8 points per game on 45% shooting from the field. On the defensive end, Noah has not shown his trademark energy to quite the same extent, grabbing only 8 boards per game and not even averaging 1 block per contest.
It goes without saying that, offensively, Noah has zero confidence. His trademark 18 footer isn't there, but even worse, he's scared to death of pulling the trigger. Noah's only shooting 62% from the freet throw line, down 10 percentage points from his career average of 72%. While his hi-low passing remains fantastic, Noah no longer needs to be guarded on the perimeter, allowing teams to clog the paint against slashes from Luol Deng and easily double down on Carlos Boozer or Taj Gibson in the post. This allows a poor defensive team like the Cavaliers to look competent (at times).
On the defensive end, I suspect Noah isn't suffering from a lack of confidence. Rebounds are often as much effort as skill, particularly for Noah. This season, guys like Anderson Varejao and Bynum have pushed him around with little resistance. Because Noah usually plays well at the beginning of games, I'm questioning whether his issue may be conditioning or even the lingering impact of the injuries Noah sustained during the preseason.
A Gibson/Boozer combination is too small to remain on the floor for a sustained period of time, particularly against a dominant post scorer like Andrew Bynum. Noah either needs to sit until he's healthy or figure out what's going on in his head.
If the Bulls want to make it to a second round exit this year, Noah must step up his game. I have a hard time believing his career has peaked, and I am confident that he'll resemble the Joakim Noah of 2012-13 at some point this season. However, this offseason may be the perfect time to start grooming his successor.
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