The Finals don’t start for another three days and the offseason coaching carousel has almost stopped spinning entirely. With the draft a few weeks away and free agency yet another one after that, the league has been forced to find something to discuss over the past 48 hours.
Old tweets, it is!
Draymond Green’s silly posts about LeBron James have ruled the day from that perspective. The two have enjoyed a contentious relationship since the Michigan State product’s rookie year in 2012-13, and stand to spend ample time guarding one another when the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers finally meet Thursday. Might the 25-year-old’s ancient tweets further stoke the fire of his individual rivalry with James? No, but it’s fun to act like they will.
After Green’s posts made waves throughout the blogosphere, someone as bored as they are industrious took the opportunity to capitalize on the relative social-media storm to dig up some tweets from prospective Chicago Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg.
And what did he or she find? The jackpot, of course.
Look away kids! pic.twitter.com/5TLECVJb7u
— Fred Hoiberg (@CoachHoiberg) May 11, 2013
This isn’t news.
Hoiberg had just finished his third season on the sidelines at Iowa State when he posted the above, completely unaware that he’d land the Bulls’ job and thus become Joakim Noah’s coach only two years later. It’s not like “The Mayor” personally attacked Chicago’s star big man, either. Noah understands the grotesque aesthetic of his shooting stroke better than anyone, and surely knows it offends the sensibilities of a marksman like Hoiberg – he shot 39.6 percent from 3-point range over 10 NBA seasons – even more than the viewing public.
Hoiberg’s tweet is harmless; nothing real will come of it. And despite Noah devolving into a complete non-scoring threat from outside five feet in 2014-15, Chicago’s new staff won’t drastically overhaul his hideous release, either.
It wasn’t the 30-year-old’s inability to make 12-to-15-foot jumpers that plagued him most this season. Noah’s biggest problem was a stark decrease in his effectiveness around the rim. He shot a dismal 49.7 percent in the restricted during the regular season, and an almost unfathomable 41.4 percent from that hallowed ground throughout the Bulls’ 12 playoff games.
And while Noah’s awkward shooting motion no doubt accounts for those awful struggles, the real means behind them were nagging lower-body injuries that sapped him of explosiveness and agility. He’ll spend the summer strengthening his left knee, not completely reworking a stroke nearly nine years into his NBA career.
Thank goodness someone parsed through so many tweets to learn something it was always safe to assume in the first place. We learned a lot!
Game 1 of the NBA Finals tips off Thursday at 9 p.m. EST.
(Via Fred Hoiberg and nba.com)
