Noah Running With Bulls' Starting Five

And now, the first unit for the first drill in the first practice of the Bulls' 2007-08 season: Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, Ben Wallace and—drum roll please—Joakim Noah.

For Joe Smith and Tyrus Thomas fans, coach Scott Skiles used one word to summarize the significance: "Zero."

Skiles then elaborated.

"It's only because those guys know all the stuff so they can direct Joakim around for a few days," Skiles said after practice Tuesday morning.

Call Noah the super sponge.

"I feel real fortunate," he said after his first NBA practice. "This is all a learning process for me. It's really different. You're used to being that guy to tell the rookies how to do it. And now you're just thrown into a situation where you have no idea what's going on, and it's a whole different speed. But I accept it, and I'm real excited to be in this position.

"Work habits and basketball IQ don't even make the list of management's concerns for Noah. Keeping his right shoulder healthy and making his jumper look less sickly do rank high.

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source : chicagosports.chicagotribune.com