There is a backstory behind the perceived Twitter war going on between the Bulls’ Joakim Noah and Milwaukee’s Drew Gooden.
With Noah, there always seems to be a backstory.
It started on Sunday, when Gooden tweeted out “Just made it to Chicago. Bulls tomorrow payback’s a b—-.”
Noah then fired back: “Quit clownin and eat your food goodybagz.”
Then it was Gooden’s turn, as he tweeted to Noah, “Heard you eating @PGChangs tonight. Don’t get the chopsticks tangled in your wig.”
All the makings for a serious showdown tonight, when the Bucks and Bulls meet for a second time in three days, right?
Wrong.
“What’s the story behind that? He wants a Twitter war so I gave him a Twitter war,” Noah explained after afternoon shoot-around on Monday.
Then he let the cat out of the bag.
“Nah, I love that guy, man. That’s my guy,” Noah said of Gooden, who has been inactive anyway. “That’s my best friend, man. Yeah, my best friend.”
That doesn’t mean there’s nothing to watch as far as Bulls-Bucks tonight:
1. Rippin’ it – Because Milwaukee’s backcourt is so small, head coach Tom Thibodeau took advantage of that by posting up Rip Hamilton in the Saturday win. Expect the same look early on to see how Milwaukee reacts.
“Yeah, but the thing is they’re such a great team defensive team,” Thibodeau said. “They guard every situation with five guys, so the responsibility is to make the right play. If you’re one-on-one and you have a good shot we want you to take it. If the second defender comes and there’s help, we want you to hit the open man. The pressure is to execute and make the right play.”
2. Love for the Boozer – Carlos Boozer is coming off a 22-point, 19-rebound performance against Milwaukee, and had four double-doubles on the five-game road trip. Still, he can’t seem to win with Bulls fans, and Noah wasn’t sure why.
“Yeah, because it’s hard, you win as a team and lose as a team, so as players you don’t ever want to point fingers. It’s just part of it,” Noah admitted, when asked if the criticism of Boozer the past few seasons bothered him. “He’s played at a very high level, especially that last game. He’s a big part of what we do here. He’s just got to keep going, keep fighting. When he’s playing at that level we’re hard to beat.”
3. Back home – The last time the Bulls played a home game was on Nov. 12, and they lost to Boston, 101-95. They are just 3-3 at the United Center so far this year, and it’s time to get back to defending the house a bit better.
