Joakim Noah’s Injury, And Why The Bulls’ Curse Could Turn Into A Gift

On the surface, Joakim Noah’s recent thumb injury looks like a cruel blow to a young Bulls team that was finally getting the chance to play together as one, healthy, increasingly terrifying unit. After Carlos Boozer missed the first month of the season, this was supposed to be when Chicago would finally hit their stride. Now Noah’s out for eight to ten weeks.

Terrible, right? Some teams just can’t catch a break. Go on, nod your head wistfully.

And don’t get me wrong: it is too bad Noah won’t be around for the Bulls the next few months, but it’s also exactly the sort of news that could work in their favor for the long term. Losing Noah for six months would have killed the Bulls. Two months? Bad, but not fatal. And what do they say about stuff that doesn’t kill you?

It’ll make them stronger. Why wouldn’t it? Losing Boozer did.

In Boozer’s absence, Taj Gibson got the opportunity to flourish, giving the Chicago a lot more flexibility up front, not to mention a more valuable trade asset should they look to add someone later in the year. And even without Boozer, the Bulls were able to compete with some of the best teams in the league, with Derrick Rose having his best season yet. Boozer’s minor disaster gave Rose and Noah an opportunity to play leading roles for the Bulls, while someone like Gibson was able to emerge as a credible threat in the post. This is experience that’ll serve them well once the playoffs come around.

Now that Noah’s gone... Well, again, it’s an opportunity for the Bulls to become versatile. Noah is indispensable for Chicago on both ends; and while losing him on D won’t turn someone like Boozer into a better defender, his absence on offense will force the Bulls to get more creative. All year long, Noah has been deadly as a passer and a screener out of the high post. With him gone, it’s an opportunity for Derrick Rose and Carlos Boozer to develop chemistry of their own, and more generally, the entire offense will have to find more ways to score.

It’s not a guarantee that any of this will happen, of course. But for a young team that’s incorporating a new piece like Boozer and still learning how compete on both ends of the floor, sometimes, an injury is just the sort of thing that pushes them to another level.

If the Bulls are for real, they’ll respond. If not, they don’t have what it takes with or without Noah.

Oh, and one more thing: if Joakim Noah comes back to a Bulls team that’s flourished in his absence, they’ll still have six weeks to come together, and the dark horse in the Eastern Conference will head into the playoffs peaking at exactly the right time.

So come on. Stop nodding wistfully. Boozer dropped 34 last night, and you look ridiculous.