Joakim Noah – Why is he a Star?

Plays and looks more like Anderson Varejao then an All Star.




As the Florida Gators capture their 2nd straight national title, CBS focuses on Joakim Noah entering the crowd to see his father, former professional tennis player Yannick Noah. I begin to ask myself, how is this tall, awkward kid the star of this game?

CBS fell in love with Joakim Noah and he was force fed down our throats over the last two years. His hair and personality makes him a larger then life college star. His overall basketball skill has yet to be seen. First of all, he is not even the best player on his team. Corey Brewer and Al Horford are much more polished college players then Noah. After watching the national championship game, you can see that the Florida Gators do not win without Brewer or Horford, but Noah’s presence was not felt during that game. His line for the game was 8 points and 3 rebounds. If that’s what it takes to be a star then I will punch Sasha Vujacic’s ticket to the All Star Game every season. Second, he was outclassed by a much better center in Ohio State’s Greg Oden who scored 25 points and 12 rebounds. Greg Oden showed that he is leaps and bounds above Noah, physically and in basketball talent.

Every great college team has a star that fans can recognize. Florida is a damn good team. They were able to win two national championships in a row in an era of stars bolting for the NBA. Brewer and Horford were not interesting enough to be stars so the media anointed Joakim Noah to be the star of the Florida Gators. He has the makings of a star except the talent to back it up. He is no Carmelo Anthony or Grant Hill. Noah is a polarizing figure that emanates either hatred or love. The Florida fans love him and his intensity while critics make fun of his hair and the weird rotation of his jump shot. Noah incites crowds the same way as Triple H incites WWE crowds. An example of this is when Florida played Kentucky earlier this season. He drove toward the basket and hit the deck very hard. He ended up in the lap of a Kentucky cheerleader who waived her blue and white pompom in his face. Noah responded by swatting the pompom out of her right hand. Very good sportsmanship Joakim!

I like Noah’s hustle and his grit, but he is not a superstar. He is Anderson Varejao in hair and in skill. He will be a good role player in the NBA, but nothing like the stardom he gained in Florida.