New York Knicks center Joakim Noah will be looking for a bounce-back season. After winning the Defensive Player of the Year award and making First Team All-NBA in 2014, Noah heavily struggled in 2014-15 and 2015-16. Last season, Noah averaged a career-low 4.3 points to go along with 88 rebounds (his lowest mark since 2008-09) in just 29 games. He also shot a career-low 38.3% from the field. It was a disastrous season. Injuries played a large part, and now Noah will look for a fresh start with the Knicks. However, he isn’t feeling like his old self. From Al Iannazzone of Newsday:
“Right now, I feel a step slow defensively,” Joakim Noah said after Sunday’s practice. “I have to do better. I have to do better for this ballclub. We all do.”
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“I feel like I haven’t played in a long time,” Noah said. “I just have to get my steps, get my first step back, and it will come. It will come.”
Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek doesn’t seem overly concerned.
“Jo just kind of got back to practicing here again about a week ago,” he said. “So he’s continuing to get in better shape. But his enthusiasm, his energy level kind of inspires all of our guys when he’s out there.
“Since he got hurt a little, I think he maybe took a little step back, but he’s getting it back. But we want him to kind of be the guy patrolling back there. [If] somebody gets beat, that he’s there protecting us. I’m sure he’ll get there.”
The Knicks will need Noah to be the elite defender that he once was if they want to be a #SuperTeam (or at least make the playoffs). Instead, Noah has already had to deal with hamstring and ankle injuries in preseason. Both the Noah and Derrick Rose acquisitions were obviously big risks for the Knicks, and only time will tell if those risks will pay off.
