



Though he’s not ready to start tossing up majestic hook shots after spending time training with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Joakim Noah has gained more confidence in his offensive repertoire. Noah realizes that he’s going to have to score more for the Chicago Bulls with Derrick Rose sidelined. Per the Sun-Times: “Moving on for Noah meant not watching a game of the NBA playoffs once the Philadelphia 76ers eliminated the Bulls. It also meant realizing that with Rose and his repaired anterior cruciate ligament on the shelf, the Bulls collectively have to make up for the loss. So when legendary NBA center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar reached out to Noah this offseason to work out with him, the 6-11 Noah jumped at the opportunity. ‘I feel a lot more polished offensively,’ Noah said. ‘I worked with Kareem for a couple of weeks, but just because I worked with Kareem doesn’t mean I’m going to be throwing skyhooks from everywhere. I feel like I learned a lot from him, someone who has an unbelievable knowledge for the game and very interesting guy. But you know how it is — you work with him and people think, ‘Oh, he’s going to come back with a skyhook.’ Unfortunately, it doesn’t work like that. But I’ll tell you what: At 65 years old, though, his skyhook is still nice.’ It might be. But even with Noah improving his offense, there are still 21 points a game to make up with Rose out. That’s why Noah put in extra work, Carlos Boozer came into camp in better shape and veteran Rip Hamilton hired a physical therapist to get him in a better place. It’s about holding down the fort until Rose gets back, and then maybe the rash of injuries that spoiled last season can be forgotten.”

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