Throughout most of Joakim Noah's plantar fasciitis saga, the Bulls have tried to portray a positive vibe while warning that the injury is unpredictable.
The unpredictable aspect remained Monday morning. But a new level of pessimism underscored Vinny Del Negro's words following shootaround, which isn't surprising other than they were finally expressed publicly.
"He could be out a while," Del Negro admitted. "He could be out a week, two weeks, a month. I don't know yet. It's going to be how he reacts, how his foot reacts. It comes down to rest and getting treatments and see how he reacts.
"And then when he comes back it's his conditioning. It's not the perfect scenario obviously."
Del Negro admitted last Friday to "getting greedy" in playing Noah 27 minutes in the Bulls' overtime victory over Portland. Noah shot baskets in sweat clothes while wearing his protective boot at the shootaround.
"Joakim being out really hurts us just from length and activity and size up front," Del Negro said. "He was having such a good year. It's difficult to lose a player like that."
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They should have shut him down immediately as soon as it happened. It requires at least 6 weeks of rest. If they'd have done it off the bat he'd be in week 4 by now & only 2 weeks from a possible return. I mean what the hell is 7 minutes on the court going to give you. The Bulls are blowing it. Making the playoffs would be nice,but we all know what the real important thing is here. So shutting him down now is the only thing to do.
The Bulls need to sign another big guy now and waive one of their useless bench guards. Whether it's Chris Richard, Jake Voskuhl, Mark Blount or some NBDL player, they'll need another body to take up minutes if nothing else.
Well see how good a coach Vinnie is NOW.. I predict the BUlls will have a losing recored the rest of the year and will be lucky to make the playoffs without NOAH.. Hes th eglue and inspiration for this team him and rose.. DID you see Indiana Trap Rose witout Noah out there.. It will happen over and over again .. Especially if Flip Murrays plays. I say this because the other teams will be scoring over 100 points if Murray is out there for more than 10 min.. He cant/wont play defense .. Never shows emotions much like Salmons.