Edited: Noah argued with Ben Wallace in lockeroom

[Shinky]

Noah is on the Score right now. He said the media is making this "altercation" out to be bigger than it was.

Northy is saying that Kirk and Big Ben were both laughing on the bench while we were getting killed.

Not good.

[ptpablo]

Like I said before, we get blown out tonight, drastic changes will happen.

I Starting Noah. Totally benching Wallace. Giving Tyrus and Gray plenty of playing time and playing Thabo in Duhon's place.

That would be the best thing that happened to this team all season.

[theanimal23]

last time ben wallace fought all hell broke lose in detroit. I think its pretty disrespectful of noah to try to argue and fight with a 4 time defensive player of the year. He may be right but he is still a rookie and if he continues this he will have a bad reputation around the league.

[theanimal23]

Even thought I like what Noah did, I cant help but feel the incidents over the last few games has divided the team.

Pax said on radio yesterday that the Vets made the decision to bench Noah. I get the feeling that the young guys (Tyrus,Noah,Gray, maybe Thabo) all have each others back. Mainly because they know the BS that they have to deal with. Plus they didnt get a vote.

What does Wallace think of Noah now? Wallace basically suspended Noah and he gets called out by him. Maybe Wallace will try and vote for another suspension.

I never thought about this before, but I really do feel its vets vs the youngsters on this team. And its starting to show. The team is divided. This team is done.

I would not be surprised if their is a division amongst the team, especially if you are one of the young guys who is dying to play and know you are better than the guys ahead of you.

[Rerisen]

I find it odd how amid all these incidents and team drama, that the 'core' of the team - the key guys that actually matter the most if we win or lose (BG, Kirk, Deng, Noc) these guys voices and names are just out in limbo land somewhere never mentioned and never heard from.

We hear about the young guys like Tyrus or Noah struggling or having troubles, and we hear about the vets like Wallace, even Adrian Griffin, making decisions having meetings, but our key players just muddle along kind of out of the story.

It's weird. And I don't think it speaks positively to the mix Paxson has assembled here. What are these key guys, that are the whole reason that this team turned it around from a losing culture, thinking about this season and it spiraling away? Do they just care about getting their next contracts or getting the heck out of here? Because they certainly seem silent as mice as the team falls to pieces around them.

[madvillian]

Ben Wallace and Griffin are killing this team on and off the court. This is just sickening as a Bulls fan. This team built itself on selflessness, comraderie and hard work.

Now we have Wallace and Griffin apparently as the inmates in charge of the asylum.

I don't care what needs to be done. Blow this thing up. Cut or trade Wallace for a bag of balls. Get rid of Griffin and Duhon for the same. Trade one of kirk/ben/lu for a defensive big man or a draft pick.

This team sucks, and it's not even worth rooting for either.

[bullsareback]

i saw Kirk laughing but in the 2nd quarter & the game was fairly close. I saw Wallace & Smith joking around & Wqallace with a big big smile laughing when the bulls were starting to get blown away in the 3rd quarter. Made me sick. Joe Smith I'll let slide a little because he seems to smile all the time but Wallace should be sent packing.

[voice of reason]

Noah is on the Score right now. He said the media is making this "altercation" out to be bigger than it was.

Northy is saying that Kirk and Big Ben were both laughing on the bench while we were getting killed.

Not good.

sounded like noah was being reserved in his responses..laughed off the altercation..i don't believe him though. you can tell he didn't want to comment on it. noah said, he just wants to win. this team is going to start rivaling the knicks in humility if it hasn't already.

[TB#1]

You know what? Noah learned his lesson about speaking from the heart to reporters. I don't think you will be getting unguarded responses from him any time in the forseeable future.

[Shinky]

McGraw will be coming up on the Score. I guess Mike had a good portion of his article devoted to the so called "altercation" between Wallace and Noah.

[Benedict Miller]

Noah is a leader and a winner...put on a team full of hustle players, who are getting out hustled almost every **** game.

[Ben Wilson25]

I think this all goes back to our lack of leadership right now. You can't force leadership and its optimal if your best player is also your leader but right now it looks like a rookie is the one providing the leadership. My worst fear is what I wrote in another thread:

Does anyone else get bad feelings about Ben Wallace taking a main leadership role on this team? I know it was a knock on him last year that he wasn

[BigUps]

Shinky, can you recap the Noah interview for me. I'd be interested on his spin of the situation.

[Shinky]

Shinky, can you recap the Noah interview for me. I'd be interested on his spin of the situation.

From what I heard, you can tell that Noah does NOT trust the media. Not at all. He did not want to even talk on the air, but he was told that this story is all over the papers. And he sounded very shocked about it. He denied that any altercation took place. And he was amazed when North said it's being reported that Deng had to seperate Noah and Ben.

Noah said that he and "the body" are tight. And that the media was blowing this out of proportion. North gave him a good amount of praise and thanked him for coming on the air.

Now I just heard McGraw, and it sounded to me like Mike was reporting on this "altercation" with second or even third hand information.

At this point, I believe Noah, as McGraw had no "source" on the matter.

BTW? There is a Paxson interview with North up here;

http://www.670thescore.com/

I haven't heard it yet, but from what I'm told, it was a pretty good interview.

[Rerisen]

Eh, I'm sure something happened. McGraw didn't make it up. Whoever his source was, he of course would not say. But the same story made its way into Sam Smith's column. This team is enough of its own train wreck to not need to be inventing things out of the blue. Maybe it was only heated words exchanged and no more and Deng simply told them both to cool it. Who knows.

It's also of course in Noah's interest to downplay anything that might have happened. As a rookie, with already a somewhat troubled Bulls history, he is not going to want to look like there is something between him and Wallace. He has to live alongside the guy on the road, practice and play with him every day. He's not going to admit to anything.

[BigUps]

Thanks Shinky. This team is spiraling out of control. Now that there's nothing to report on with the Bears, the media is having a field day with the Bulls.

[Susan]

Noah is the man in the locker room.

[Shinky]

Eh, I'm sure something happened. McGraw didn't make it up. Whoever his source was, he of course would not say. But the same story made its way into Sam Smith's column. .

From what it sounded like to me, McGraw's "source" was Sam Smith!

[DuckIII]

The infraction was, apparently Noah cursing out Coach Adams by telling him "Don't **** talk to me about knowing about winning" or some such -- implying that Joakim knows what a winner is

I've been traveling a lot the last 2 days and haven't been reading the papers. Where did you here that, TB? I'd like to read the article (if it was an article as opposed to a radio or TV report).

As for Noah, I'm firmly on record as being disgusted with his recent martyrdom earned, evidently, for being a petulant assclown to one of his coaches. And I am also firmly on record as being disgusted by what the media did with the story of the team-voted suspension.

That said, this I like. I have absolutely no problem with a rookie getting in a veteran's face when it comes to something like this. If you are right, you are right. Experience has nothing to do with it. And JoJo Dancer is right.

[will]

Well, if this happened, good for Noah.

I'm glad he's standing up for what he believes in - hard work and hustle and team play.

Ben Wallace mailed it in as soon as he got his big contract. Can't really blame him though.

It's painfully obvious Paxson and Skiles screwed this season by leaving Gordon and Deng unsigned.

OH well, there's always next season.