Hakeem Olajuwon’s such a popular guy. NBA Hall of Famer. Iconic center. And apparently every NBA player wants to work with him. Kobe Bryant worked with The Dream two years ago. Dwight Howard the past two summers. LeBron James recently.
Well, add one more to the list of people who want to get in line to see how the Dream Shake works. Bulls center Joakim Noah, the most offensively limited of the bunch, told BasketSession.com that he also wants to work with Olajuwon. As transcribed by HoopsHype:Have you discussed things with Hakeem yet?
Joakim Noah: Not yet, but that’s something I would really like to do. Everybody knows that he has helped the guys who have come to work out with him tremendously. Just to be able to live this experience would be great. We’ll see later if it helps me or not, but at least I will have tried everything I could to get better.
via HoopsHype - NBA Rumors.
Noah’s offensive strength is mostly in putbacks and the occasional mid-range jumper. His hook shot is unreliable, but he’s got it. However, there is some gain to working with Olajuwon. Particularly, Olajuwon can teach Noah how to get a better feel for his opponent, and use footwork to get closer to the bucket. And as good as a defender as Noah is, Olajuwon can teach him quite a bit about defense as well.
It’s good to see Noah being proactive. The Bulls need another legitimate weapon, and Carlos Boozer’s only going to be ... you know, Boozer-ish. Noah gives them the best chance at a legitimate weapon with upside. Even a little bit of improvement could make a huge impact on the Bulls’ offense, which, despite Derrick Rose’s brilliance, wasn’t gangbusters last season.
We’ll see if Hakeem’s got time in his busy schedule for the abrasive Broakim.
