It's not that Joakim Noah doesn't consider himself a starter anymore. It's that he considers himself a team player more.
New Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said that the nine-year Chicago veteran, who has started for most of his career, asked to come off the bench this season, according to Grantland.com.
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It's all about working tandems, in which Noah thought he worked well with Taj Gibson coming off Chicago's bench while Nikola Mirotic and Pau Gasol have a better chemistry together as starters.
"(Joakim) actually came to me and talked to me about that," Hoiberg told Grantland.com. "He said, basically, 'I've always played well with Taj.' He said he thought Niko and Pau played very well together, so let's go that route. It was actually Jo that started the whole conversation. He came to me. That says a lot about him."
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The move has been detrimental so far to Noah, who has averaged 9.5 points and 9.4 rebounds during his career, but it has been a boon to the Bulls.
From a micro perspective, this move has not paid off a great deal for Noah through two games," Vincent Frank reported for Yardbarker.com. "He's averaging about 17 minutes of action and has failed to score a single point. Though, the two-time All-Star has put up 15 rebounds, six assists and three steals in those two games.
"As it relates to how the switch has worked for Chicago, it seems to have gone swimmingly.
"At 2-0 on the year, the Bulls have looked sharp early on. Taking over for Noah in the lineup, second-year big man Nikola Mirotic is averaging 18.5 points and 9.0 rebounds in those two games. This comes on the heels of a rookie campaign that saw the former Euroleague star struggle a great deal."
After firing Tom Thibodeau to bring in Hoiberg in the offseason, the Bulls are looking for something to serve as a springboard to vault them past the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference.
If nothing else, Noah has given his teammates a lesson in sacrifice, which can only help the Bulls' cause.
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