In case you missed it over the weekend, Chicago Bulls center/power forward Joakim Noah gave notice to his 
opponents that he is back from an extended stay on the bench due to injuries by serving up a facial dunk over Pistons forward, Jason Maxiell. This will also surely make coach Vinnie Del Negro and his Bulls teammates happy since the Bulls are in a dogfight with the Toronto Raptors for the 8th and final playoff spot in the eastern Conference.
Noah had missed 10 straight contests due to plantar fascitis in his foot where consequentially the Bulls lost every one of those games he missed. He had been providing a much needed low post presence for Chicago by having arguably his best pro season with averages of 10.3 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks, while shooting over 50% from the field. The former lottery pick out of the University of Florida has played limited minutes(10-15) in his return from injury off the bench and has yet to either score or rebound in double figures in the 5 games since his return on March 20th against the Sixers.
The posterizing dunk came in a game against the Detroit Pistons on Sunday in which the Bulls won 110-103, keeping them within 2 1/2 games of the 8th place Raptors for the last Eastern Conference play-off spot. Hopefully Noah continues to get back to his stellar rebounding and shot-blocking play that we saw during the first half of the season where he was at least in the conversation for an Eastern Conference All Star spot.
Noah’s ferocious dunk may have come as payback for Maxiell’s two rejections of James Johnson on the Bulls previous offensive possession. This is also one of those plays where the announcers make the play even more spectacular. Listen to these analysts hype up the play.
Does this mean Joakim Noah is back?
Check out Noah’s poster dunk vs the Pistons:
Allen Moll is an avid NBA and College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen is a regular columnist for thehoopdoctors.com, Bleacherreport.com, UpperDeckblog.com, and his own site, Hoops Haven.
