Only the Bulls Could Run Into a Problem With Joakim Noah’s Minute Limits

The Chicago Bulls know they have a very good young post player in Joakim Noah. The Bulls also know that they have a decent chance of making the playoffs this year. The Bulls apparently do not know that the best way to screw both of those things up in one fell swoop was by playing Noah for 12 seconds in a double-overtime loss to the lowly Nets on Friday that hampers their playoff chances.

⇥Coach Vinny Del Negro spent the first four minutes of his post-practice media session answering questions about what happened Friday night in New Jersey, when Noah played just 12 seconds in the final two overtimes.⇥⇥⇥Del Negro had claimed in the direct aftermath of the Bulls’ brutal double-overtime loss to the Nets that Noah didn’t play because he had reached his mandated limit of 35 minutes. General manager Gar Forman claimed that management, in a spur-of-the-moment decision, had approved playing Noah beyond that limit because of the game’s importance.⇥⇥

⇥⇥“Jo’s minutes have been limited to 35 the last couple of games,” Del Negro said. “There’s been a lot of discussion about it. He was under a 35-minute mandate (Friday) night. I couldn’t get him out of the game at the end so we played him a little more. (35 minutes, 39 seconds in regulation).⇥⇥

Curiously, though, Forman said on Saturday that management cleared Noah to play as much as needed on Friday. It’s almost like there’s a lot of revisionist history going on and no one wants to accept the blame for squandering a valuable win and frustrating a talented player in the process!

⇥“I think you guys know how I feel,” Noah said. “Obviously, it’s frustrating. But there are three games left. There’s no time to say anything that puts anybody in a bad position. For me it’s frustrating because I want to be on the court. I really don’t know what to say about yesterday. But as a player, I’m trying to focus on the huge game against Toronto. The goal is to make the playoffs. I’m trying to focus on that and be as positive as I can.“But herein lies the kookiness: If Noah’s stated goal is to make the playoffs, and the Bulls’ assumed goal is to make the playoffs, why is there even a minute restriction? I understand the logic behind preserving Noah, hampered by plantar fasciitis, for future seasons with higher ceilings, and I get the unstated indifference to being in the playoffs for a cup of coffee against the Fighting LeBrons when there’s a lottery pick waiting if the Bulls fail to beat out the Raptors for that eighth spot. But would playing Noah for ten minutes in overtime actually destroy his career? Is not getting the revenue from home playoff games and getting a marginally better draft pick really going to make the Bulls better in the long term?

If I were a Bulls fan, and my team was restricting one of its best players to mere seconds in the overtime periods of games that will help decide if the team makes the playoffs, I would be beyond livid. Selling tickets to a show that removes one of its principal actors for nearly inscrutable reasons is not a good idea on this planet.

And if I were Chris Bosh, and saw this sort of dysfunction in Chicago, I might consider staying in Toronto a better prospect for my mental heath.(HT: Can’t Stop the Bleeding.)

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