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Nocioni is one of those FEW guys in the NBA i think would fit in the Spurs rotation very well....Good 3 pt shooter, Hustler, Good defender....flooper? haha
Nocioni sent off for snapping at interim coach
CHICAGO – Andres Nocioni could not contain the frustration of the Bulls’ bad season and a rough stretch of games individually.
After being pulled from Saturday night’s game early in the second quarter, Nocioni barked at coach Jim Boylan on the bench. He did not play again.
The moment symbolized a team that simply cannot get on the same page long enough to do anything worthwhile, a trend that continued with a 108-101 loss to the Indiana Pacers at the United Center.
The Bulls’ playoff hopes are growing ever more remote with 13 games remaining. They trail Atlanta by three games and New Jersey and Indiana by 11⁄2 games.
That’s a lot of teams to leapfrog, even if the deficit is small.
“It’s a big setback for us,” Boylan said.
The Bulls’ fourth-quarter woes continued. They took an 86-75 lead on Kirk Hinrich’s drive with 11:23 remaining. Indiana rallied to within 91-90, but Ben Gordon and Luol Deng scored to restore the margin to five.
And then the Bulls started missing – Deng twice and Gordon once. Indiana forward Shawne Williams hit a long jumper and a three-pointer for a 99-97 lead.
Hinrich and Gordon missed, and the Pacers kept scoring to run away with the victory. They finished the fourth quarter 9-of-16 shooting, while the Bulls missed 17 of 24 attempts.
For a team that lost an 18-point fourth-quarter lead to Philadelphia and a nine-point advantage at New Orleans in the previous nine nights, the storyline has grown tiresome.
“We seem to just get into the fourth quarter and just get stuck,” Boylan said. “We were pressing a little bit. Shots that are coming easy for us become more difficult.”
Players were equally mystified.
“That’s our Achilles’ heel right now,” forward Drew Gooden said.
“I can’t explain it,” Hinrich said.
For three quarters, the Bulls exploited one of the NBA’s more porous defensive teams. They shot 55.7 percent (34 of 61) through three quarters.
Deng was a force inside and outside, scoring 28 points. Gordon added 21, and Joakim Noah took advantage of Indiana’s paltry interior defense with 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting.
The Pacers stayed within striking distance behind their typically prolific three-point shooting, finishing with 13 treys on 26 attempts. Mike Dunleavy and Troy Murphy combined for 49 points and eight three-pointers.
It should not have been enough, but the Bulls again struggled to put together four good quarters.
It remains to be seen whether the team further disciplines Nocioni, who apologized profusely to teammates and coaches through the media afterward. He joins Noah, Tyrus Thomas and Chris Duhon on the list of players who have had run-ins with coaches this season.
“I did a really bad thing tonight,” Nocioni said. “My at ude was terrible. My actions tonight were really bad.”
Boylan declined to comment.
“That’s a matter that will be handled internally,” he said.
The Bulls have a lot of other matters to figure out, as well.
http://www.kcchronicle.com/articles/...6266325640.txt
Nocioni is one of those FEW guys in the NBA i think would fit in the Spurs rotation very well....Good 3 pt shooter, Hustler, Good defender....flooper? haha
ask to get traded Noce!
Er... Finley + Bonner + MM for Andres!
It's not really Spurs related.
Bulls really need a good coach for next year. With a good coach, they will make the playoffs next year.
Nocioni is a player I really like but he is playing the wrong way this year. He is a black hole on the offensive end, is shooting too many 3's and he played less and less defense.
Plus cash and draft picks.
This is good.
Spurs will sign him
hopefully, I like Nocioni! He's a sober guy (reminds me little bit of Barry) He Would fit with the Spurs
He's got a 5 year deal worth 8.5 mil/*per* in Chi.
Last edited by DynastyBuilder; 03-23-2008 at 12:12 PM.
not too bad....imagine if we wouldve kept scola...
Ginobili
Scola
Oberto
Nocioni
haha that woudlve been great...stupid FO
I don't want him.
With such an at ude, he wouldn't last 1 game with Pop
Andres is nice but now he's frustrated. I wish he was in a different team
Anyway, they need a good coach for start.
We had to pay extra cash to some HMO to keep whottt in order, if that happen
---> Ahahaha , whoot kills himself instantly, and then he resurrects to keep hating Scola on the forums.We had to pay extra cash to some HMO to keep whottt in order, if that happen
his frustrated, cause his the only one on that team with noah who only gives a damn about winning
bulls are heading to the lottery unfortunately
I'd rather get Antawn Jamison
He should take a lesson from Ginobili about channeling his anger and frustration into positives on the court.
----> They have different personalities , Chapu is more aggressive, Manu is the real iceman :P
CHICAGO (AP) -- A contrite Andres Nocioni said Monday he has no excuse for his outburst at interim head coach Jim Boylan during Saturday night's loss, the latest episode in a season turned sour for the Chicago Bulls.
After playing about three minutes in the second quarter of Saturday night's game against the Pacers before being lifted, Nocioni yelled at Boylan, who then sent him to the locker room.
"What I said and what I did the other day was absolutely wrong. I have no excuse for what I did. I talked with the coach and I gave him my apology because I lost my control for the first time in a long, long time," Nocioni said Monday after practice in suburban Deerfield. He'd also apologized publicly after Saturday's game.
"I don't know why. I think it's because it's been tough and I think everybody's a little frustrated with what's going on with the team. It's no excuse, but it happened. I couldn't control myself and I was absolutely wrong," Nocioni said.
The firing of coach Scott Skiles on Christmas Eve and a three-team trade that sent away Ben Wallace and brought in Drew Gooden and Larry Hughes has been just part of the trying season for a team that had high expectations.
Earlier, the Bulls didn't get contract extensions done with Ben Gordon and Luol Deng, and the team was distracted by rumors of a Kobe Bryant trade.
But worse than blowing fourth-quarter leads to lose -- as they did three times in a recent nine-day span to fall 15 games under .500 -- the Bulls' comportment has been on the decline.
And Boylan, who'd been an assistant before being Skiles' replacement, has been forced to deal with more than just coaching.
"When these other things pop up, which no one's immune to ... They happen to everyone to some degree," Boylan said Monday.
"In our case, this year, it's more. I think a lot has to do with the expectations that were in place early, and we haven't met those, and the pressure that comes with it."
Rookie Joakim Noah, who has moved into a starter's role after the trade, was suspended for two games in January after a verbal outburst at assistant coach Ron Adams in practice. It was initially a one-game suspension, but his Bulls teammates voted to extend it for an extra game. And a short time later, after a blowout loss to Orlando, Noah and Wallace exchanged words.
Tyrus Thomas, apparently unhappy with his playing time, was suspended by the team for two games after skipping practice earlier this month.
Chris Duhon missed a March 9 shootaround after being spotted the night before in Durham, N.C., at the North Carolina-Duke game. Duhon was benched for one game and inactive for another and fined. His playing time had been reduced since Hughes' arrival and he angered Bulls officials with a comment that "I haven't been playing a lot anyway" after missing the shootaround. Duhon, who also fought an illness recently, hasn't played since March 7.
Being an interim head coach puts Boylan in a tough situation. These incidents would not seem to help his cause of getting the job full time.
"People are writing about that, that I have no chance. I don't agree with that," Boylan said, adding that his conversations with GM John Paxson have been positive.
"He said it's about how the team is developing, how the young guys are getting better. I think a fair evaluation would be someone has a chance to have a training camp, get these guys organized and have some authority. It's not the easiest job in the world when you're the interim coach and things start to go in the opposite direction to reel guys back in."
Asked if the players might tune him out because of the interim tag, Boylan said he wasn't sure.
"I'm not a mind reader. I just try to do what I can do with the situation that I'm in," he said.
"I try and keep my communication open with the players and I have a good relationship with the guys. But I do know that in an interim situation it's a little more difficult to handle than it is for guys who have a long-term contract.
"And players understand that that guy's going to be around and he's going to be your coach for a while, because players want to play. They want to please the coach so they can play."
Despite the turmoil, the Bulls are still in the running for the playoffs in the weak Eastern Conference.
Boylan said he understands why Nocioni, among others, is frustrated.
"He's sorry what happened. It's an unfortunate situation, but it did happen and we'll move on from it," Boylan said.
"In truth everything was fine right after it happened. I'd never hold any kind of grudge against a player for showing some emotion out there. Maybe it's not the right time to do it, but it is an emotional game. You play with spirit and you ask your guys to play with some passion. Sometimes it's hard to control it in the right way."
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