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Former NBA DPOY (Defensive Player of the Year) Joakim Noah and the Chicago Bulls remained one of the biggest threats in the NBA during the early 2010s. The team, coached by current New York Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau, achieved success largely thanks to the stellar play of Chicago's own Derrick Rose. During the 2010-11 season, many thought the Bulls could go all the way.
Of course, the rise of Rose as the youngest MVP in league history coincided with LeBron James' infamous move to Miami. The 2010-11 season marked James' first in South Beach alongside Dwyane Wade & Chris Bosh, and saw the group notably struggle in their first year together.
The Heat were swept by former NBA DPOY Joakim Noah and the Bulls during the regular season, losing all three meetings. Despite that, and the Bulls having the best record in the league, in the playoffs, Rose, Noah, and the Bulls fell to the Heat in the conference finals.
During an appearance on The OGs, 2014 NBA DPOY Joakim Noah spoke to former Miami Heat standouts Udonis Haslem & Mike Miller about the series.
"I think about you know losing I mean we win game one by damn near 30 points in the Eastern Conference Finals and Keith Bogans goes, 'We gonna sweep those motherf*****s' and I was like 'Oh s**t that was not a good move Keith Bogans that was not good.'"
Quote begins after the 23-minute mark of video.
Former NBA DPOY Joakim Noah credits Udonis Haslem with being the difference-maker for the Miami Heat in 2011 ECF
As Former NBA DPOY Joakim Noah indicated in the video above, he and the Chicago Bulls picked up a 103-82 win over the Miami Heat in Game 1 of the ECF. With the Bulls in possession of the best record in the league, the team secured home-court advantage for the first two games of the series.
Derrick Rose led the way for the Bulls with 28 points, while Joakim Noah, who won a DPOY award in 2014, led the game in rebounding with 14. In game 2, however, the Heat answered back in a big way on the road, stealing an 85-75 win.
Once the series went back to Miami, the Heat won back-to-back games, before closing things out at home in Game 5. The fall-off left many fans wondering what happened between games one and two for the Bulls to lose the next four games straight.
As Joakim Noah indicated on the previously mentioned episode of The OGs, it all came down to Miami coach Erik Spoelstra's utilizing Udonis Haslem.
"The adjustment that you guys made was ... we was f*****g you guys up on the glass and the adjustment was ... Udonis Udonis Haslam came in in game two you hadn't played in like four months and it changed the series."
As Haslem indicated, he had undergone surgery earlier in the season to fix a torn ligament in his foot, an injury sustained in November. As a result, Haslem had only played in 13 games all season. Despite that, when the team needed him most, he delivered, helping secure a big win over Chicago.
The Heat, of course, went on to lose in the finals to the Dallas Mavericks, while Joakim Noah went on to win the NBA DPOY award several years later.
Guess the Lakers players!
