Joakim Noah Will See This in His Sleep
In 2007, Noah’s Florida Gators beat Oden’s Ohio State Buckeyes in the NCAA championship game. But Oden had 25 points and 12 rebounds, while Noah was in foul trouble much of the night.
Florida elected to single-cover Oden with Noah or Al Horford, while keeping a close watch on the Buckeyes’ outside shooters. Not a bad strategy, considering Ohio State went 4 of 23 from 3-point range and Florida won the game, but Oden was unstoppable.
Last year, in their first meeting as professionals, Oden had 11 points and 10 rebounds in 17 minutes, while Noah fouled out in 17 minutes and the Blazers won by 42. In their second meeting, Oden had 17 points and 13 rebounds, while Noah had three fouls in eight minutes and the Blazers won by 14.
Monday was their third meeting, and Noah still had no answer for Oden. I mean, it was painful to watch — if you’re a Joakim Noah fan for some reason. Oden had 24 points and 12 rebounds in 27 minutes; Noah had seven points, eight rebounds, five fouls, an one frustration-caused technical foul in 32 minutes — and a whole new set of nightmares.
