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Noah Cut Down To Size

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By MARTIN FENNELLY | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 17, 2008

Updated: 01/17/2008 12:16 am

ORLANDO - For a guy who never shut his mouth at Florida, to our everlasting delight, it was strange to see Joakim Noah's lips not moving Tuesday night.

It was homecoming for the former Gators star who, with his college teammates and roommates - an eternal bond - delivered consecutive national championships to Gainesville, with good man Jo as the life of the party.

The party's over. This was Orlando - no Horford or Green, no Brewer, Humphrey or Richard - and sure as heck no Billy Donovan. It was Joakim Noah, Chicago Bulls rookie. You know, the pariah.

Strange, new world.

Tuesday at Amway Arena, Noah returned from a two-game suspension for one not-so-shining moment - getting into it, loudly and profanely, with a Bulls coach during practice. Noah was first suspended for one game, but his new teammates, in an unprecedented move, unanimously voted to suspend him an extra game.

We are the brats from old Florida ...

A determined gaggle of Sunshine State media trailed Noah before Tuesday's game with the Orlando Magic. He said nothing. He stretched with an elastic band. Media waited. Noah did sit-ups, then push-ups. Media waited. He picked up a medicine ball.

What was next, sword swallowing?

In Over His Head

The fall has been swift. There are no nets to cut down, just a loud-mouthed rookie cut down to size. It has been filled with miserable losses and goes beyond Noah scraping for minutes, points and rebounds.

Just how hated do you have to be for NBA players to eat their own?

This is the millionaire frat house where anything goes between teammates. Players stood with Latrell Sprewell after he choked his coach. They were behind Ron Artest when he climbed into the stands. These guys stick together. Heck, these same Bulls players ran Coach Scott Skiles out of Chicago earlier this season.

Bulls center Ben Wallace helped get Noah's suspension extended. A reporter asked Wallace if he had ever talked back to a coach. Big Ben smiled.

"Have I ever talked back to a coach?" Wallace said. "Has there ever been a coach I didn't talk back to?"

Wallace thought of Noah.

"There's a line. He crossed the line."

"It was more just laying down the law as to how we'll conduct ourselves as a team," Bulls interim coach Jim Boylan said.

I don't know how much Noah has changed from Florida days. He was always loud and almost always smart and fun. Many were shocked at how disrespectful Noah was when dressed down for a Gators visit to the White House. I loved it. Since when do the guys in suits have all the answers? Hey, Dick Cheney could wear a tuxedo to bed and he'd still drink human blood.

Respect?

You go, Jo.

But now he's in over his head.

Former Magic coach Billy Donovan (well, he is) blames Noah's turbulence on the transition to losing.

"I know what Jo's biggest problem is," Donovan said this week. "Jo's biggest problem is that he just wants to win, and when he sees things that are getting in the way with winning he has a tendency to be somewhat demonstrative or loud."

Maybe if Donovan hadn't been traveling with his current team, Florida, he might have dropped into O-town to visit young Jo. I'm sure the Magic would love to see Billy. Why, you can just picture him at the will-call window.

"Could you check again? They said the tickets would be there. Could you try under William J. Donovan?"

Toughest Adjustment? Losing

There are worse places Noah could have landed for his first game back. There were no jeers. It was Gator country.

One fan wore a Florida jersey with the No. 13, Noah's college number. Chase Matheson is a freshman at Orlando Boone High School. He plays football and basketball. He likes to post up like Joakim Noah. Chase doesn't talk back.

"You can't talk back to the coach," he said.

The last time Joakim Noah played basketball in Florida was in March, when Florida beat Kentucky before another NCAA run.

Tuesday, he entered the game late in the first quarter. He played well, finishing with 12 points and an NBA career-high 11 rebounds - the first double-double of his professional career. Oh, and Noah and Wallace apparently had a heated exchange during the game. Oh, and the Bulls got slammed by the Magic.

After leaving the locker room and sitting with some friends in the empty Orlando arena, Noah headed for the bus. And then ... he spoke.

"I miss it," he said. "I miss Florida.

"I mean, the toughest adjustment is losing."

He stopped in a hall, confused. He looked around.

"Where am I going?" Joakim Noah asked.

Good question, kid.

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