Joakim Noah was born to say these words: "It's really important that we take all the little things and not take them for granted. Just, y'know, set every screen as hard as you can. GO to the offensive glass every time. Because you never know, it might be the game changer." These playoffs have been marked by silent leaders and loquacious, personable game changers. See: Billups and Birdman in Denver. See: JJ and Josh in Atlanta. See: Yao and the Artest formerly known as intelligible. See: Ferocious Lebron and Kodak-moment Bron-bron in Cleveland. Even see: Rondo with Garnett screaming silently in the Boston sunset. The Bulls, however, boast the epitome of silent and vibrant. While Derrick Rose mumbles platitudes towards his effervescent future, Noah screams (here's another untenable KG comparison) his need for a workman's comp share of the glory. And while Rose made the game winning coast-to-coast play, Noah turned the game changer. Besides, everyone loves a big man running the floor, even if he's a hairy, wiry French-Swedish-American son of a tennis pro and a model. You also gotta love Noah's bouncing high-fives to the fans at the end.
In a game that did not go to triple overtime Thursday night, the Magic went into Philly without their Superman and Marcin Gortat did his best Lex Luthor impersonation. Okay, he did a bit better than that. But they don't call him the Polish Hammer for nothing. Here you find anecdotal evidence that Gortat did indeed dunk from the free throw twice consecutively after a Magic practice, as well as video of him, as a Cologne 99er, not making it over a grinning gaggle of German mascots. Everything else is incidental. Cf. John Henry, Thor, and my cousin's essay on Poland being the pulsing (geographic) center of Europe.
