Joakim Noah and Marc Gasol really want to play alongside Pau Gasol

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Pau Gasol and Joakim Noah failed to get a grasp on things last year. (Getty Images)

Ball Don't Lie: Joakim Noah and Marc Gasol really want to play alongside Pau Gasol
By Kelly Dwyer
October 2, 2015 9:25 AM
Ball Don't Lie

In a move that should have basketball purists clapping their aging, callous-ridden hands and Chicago Bulls fans wincing, Bulls forward/center Joakim Noah pointed out Wednesday that he’d like one more shot at playing big, starter-level minutes with center/forward Pau Gasol.

Blaming a knee injury that clearly kept him playing far from his best ball for all of 2014-15, Gasol told Chicago media that a fresh start would do his team well. From K.C. Johnson at the Chicago Tribune:

"I'm so happy I'm able to be able to move the way I want to move. That's something I've kind of taken for granted in the past," Noah said. "I'm just excited to show what I can do.

"I don't want to talk about the past. I worked really hard this summer to get to where I am right now. I'm just really excited about right now."

Noah said he feels "bouncier," "lighter on his feet" and is performing yoga each morning before practice. He participated in both sessions Wednesday.

And when asked about playing alongside Pau once more?

"I think we should give it an honest evaluation while I'm healthy," Noah said Wednesday. "Last year, I wasn't healthy."

Gasol, ever the mensch, returned the compliment:

"He looks fresh," Gasol said. "He looks like he's in really good shape, worked hard during the summer. It's great to see him that way."

You’ll notice, unless K.C. is omitting something (and he wouldn’t), that Gasol stopped short of the same sort of, “Yeah, let me get back to playing with Noah again” sentiment. Which is ironic, because if anyone would have the room to squirm about starting next to the other, it would be Noah.

Though the injury played a major role in what eventually became a relatively disastrous year for Noah, his shift down to power forward (in order to accommodate Gasol, a celebrated free agency signee) at times crippled both Chicago’s defense and offense. It was Noah’s team, and though he was at 80 percent (maybe), Gasol, while a great locker-room guy and wildly productive, came in and took over.

Gasol had a remarkable year, returning to the All-Star fold and averaging nearly two blocks per game, but beyond those two blocks and the fantastic defensive rebounding work, he was a terrible interior and pick-and-roll defender. Gasol remains a terrific passer, but his predictable low-post game often brought sterling stats for himself and little team payoff for what was a pathetic Bulls offense toward the end of the season.

Meanwhile, it’s hard to even imagine the Defensive Player of the Year-version of Noah chasing down the smaller power forwards that are cropping up more and more often (as evidenced by Draymond Green’s breakout game as a starter last year). Despite his defensive hardware, Noah never was a top-end rebounder even while healthy, and the combination of his lingering knee injury and quicker opponents made his failings in that realm all the more apparent.

As always, though, there remain the easy go-to caveats created by the presence of the Bulls organization’s go-to excuse: former head coach Tom Thibodeau.

Gasol’s assist percentage dipped considerably in his first year with Chicago, in ways that can’t be blamed on poor Bulls perimeter shooting. Thibodeau’s offense was completely predictable; even with Gasol’s All-Star season ranking as a highlight, Thibs failed to fully utilize Gasol's wide-ranging talents, in what could have been the 35-year-old’s last great year. Thibodeau’s offense seemed to regard player movement off the ball as anathema, making Chicago easy to collapse in a seven-game series.

Noah’s assist percentage dropped, too, from "legendary for a big man" down to “pretty good.” His injured knee, lack of confidence in his jump shot, and dwindling movement inspired the Milwaukee Bucks and Cleveland Cavaliers to just about ignore him on the perimeter during last year's playoffs, as he searched for cutters that had just about given up on both Thibodeau and the Bulls season.

Now, with Noah hopefully healthy, Gasol a year older, and Nikola Mirotic (whom Thibodeau also failed, routinely, for long stretches of 2014-15) entering his second year, it seems fitting to slide the youngster into the starting lineup, right? To let Gasol be a one-man show off of a suddenly thin (with Taj Gibson recovering from major ankle surgery, and one bench swingman needed to start to cover for the injured Mike Dunleavy) Chicago bench?

Not really. There’s room to play around here.

Bulls fans who recoiled at new coach Fred Hoiberg’s recent quote about wanting to “play through Pau a lot” don’t have to just assume that he’ll once again turn him into the focal point of a staid (even “staid” is too flashy a word) Brian Hill-type offense. The Bulls can “play through Pau a lot” even if he touches the ball for just a few quick seconds in an offensive possession. Even if he doesn’t take a shot or register an assist. Even with Noah out there.

There just has to be mindful movement, something Pau helped encourage during his championship years with the Los Angeles Lakers, at times playing alongside a throwback low-post scorer in Andrew Bynum. Working in scrimmages against a depleted bench or against lacking exhibition competition this month won’t provide the answer, but the regular season will.

The team’s coaching staff just has to have it all sussed out by spring, with everyone rested and happy, while not obsessing too much about clunky months in autumn and winter. In short, a marked change from the previous administration’s approach.

Whether Pau stays for the duration of the Fred Hoiberg Administration, however, is entirely up to him. If it were up to his brother, he’d be joining Marc Gasol in a return to the Memphis Grizzlies team that traded for him on the night of the 2001 NBA draft.

Marc's remarks, translated from Europa Press, via Hoopshype:

“It’s not impossible that one day we could play together. I think he has two more years in Chicago and I think it’s difficult that he would leave the team, I wouldn’t like it. But for us, and for Memphis to add someone like Pau, it would be unbelievable. We will try. Why not?”

Pau Gasol could actually have just one more year on his contract. He could decide to opt out of just under $7.8 million next summer, in an offseason where the free-agent class is slim and just about every team will have a chance to give Gasol a significant upgrade in salary. If he doesn’t enjoy the way his 2015-16 turns out under Hoiberg (see above), then it is more than possible that he could seek out what could be a fitting end to his career, playing alongside his brother in Tennessee.

Pau did not leave Memphis on good terms. He was all but accused of malingering by the former Grizzlies owner — the late Michael Heisley – after breaking his foot late in the 2006 FIBA World Championship, and his final calendar year with the team was not a fun one. The move to send Pau to Los Angeles in 2008, much-maligned at the time, brought Marc Gasol back to the town in which he’d gone to high school. Marc’s presence on the Grizz has led to repeated postseason berths, something that figures to sustain into either the 2016 or 2017 free agency season.

Zach Randolph is currently ensconced as Memphis’ starting power forward. His contract won’t be up until 2017. And even with Marc’s defensive presence on hand, a 36- or 37-year-old Pau Gasol (who has played international tournaments in nine summers, dating back to 2001) wouldn’t figure to a spry enough replacement.

It’d be a nice, fitting end, however, to one of the better basketball lifetimes of our era.

credit: sports.yahoo.com