Rick Morrissey drives the Joakim Noah bandwagon after eating his words the other day.

Before I start in on this post (which is mostly going to be about how Noah should be an all-star this season), I just want to throw out a huge “I told you so”.  I have loved Noah since day 1 (yes Ethan, I’m happy we took him over Spencer Hawes), and now that everyone else has joined in, I feel vindicated.

Anyways on to Noah’s amazing 2009-2010 campaign.  He has improved in all three aspects of the game: Offense, Defense, and Rebounding.  Clearly the kid has hit the gym hard, putting on some added muscle and bulk.  The great thing about that muscle is that whether he appears that much stronger or not, he actually is playing stronger.  He is being more aggressive on the offensive end and seems to be able to tear balls out of other big men’s hands way more this season.  His rebounding numbers reflect that difference, as he is averaging about 12 rebounds a game.

On the offensive end, its not like he became Amare Stoudemire all of a sudden.  In fact he is still a very shaky player on that end.  The difference this season is he has gone from totally unreliable and clogging up the offense, to serviceable with a bit of a hook shot around the rim and an inexplicably decent 10-12 foot jump shot (where the hell did that come from?)  He’s never going to average 20 points a game, but if he can finish strong around the rim and make a shot from more than 5 feet out a few times a game, he will be very effective.  As it stands, he is averaging 11.5 points per game so far this year.

Defense has been huge.  This relates back to his conditioning, as he seems to be bullied around significantly less this season than in years past.  As great as that has been, he has also seemed to learn what it means to rotate on defense.  As simple as that sounds, he seemed a little lost the last couple years knowing when to slide over to help cut off penetration or rotate out on a shooter.  The ferocious play by him on the boards and at the defensive end is giving the Bulls the identity of a great rebounding and defensive team.  This is especially important with the team’s shooting in the crapper so far.

So should he be an all-star?  Well look at the other candidates.  Although Noah is not on the ballot, that is almost irrelevant.  The ballot is only to select the starters and Dwight Howard is a lock to get that spot in the East.  Most all-star coaches carry 3 centers though, and the only possible competition in the East (outside of Shaq, but he has no shot), is Brook Lopez.  As good as Lopez has been (18.5 points, 8.5 rebounds), his team is 0 for the season.

I’ve been on the bandwagon all along, but I welcome the rest of you to join in.  Noah All-Star Campaign at NQTC starts today!