Thibodeau tries to explain Garnett's trash talking
BOSTON -- A popular topic before Friday's game was asking the coaches to compare and contrast Joakim Noah and Kevin Garnett under the misguided theory they are similar players.
The pair drew double technical fouls for a variety of pushing and elbows in the first half of Boston's win.
This much seems obvious: Garnett talks more on the court, while Noah is probably more outgoing in everyday life. Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau, a former Celtics assistant, stated a belief that Garnett's trash talk is more to get himself fired up than anything else.
“I recall the first year I was here, when we first got Kevin, Doc (Rivers) asked him to tone it down and it was awful in the first half,” Thibodeau said. “We went in at halftime and Doc told him, ‘Hey, forget it.' Just go back to being who you are, and he was great in the second half. So he never asked him to change after that. That's who Kevin is. He's been that way for a long time.”
South Side silencers:
Before Kevin Garnett's reputation as a talker grew when he arrived in Boston, some Bulls players used to complain about trash talk from the Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker-era Celtics.
Derrick Rose didn't think the current Celtics are any worse than what he hears around the league.
“I don't pay them no mind,” Rose said. “You can say whatever to me; I'm not going to pay attention to it.”
Asked if he got used to ignoring trash talk on the playgrounds of Chicago, Rose reported that without the threat of fines or suspensions, trash talk on the South Side usually didn't last long.
“People would just start fighting,” Rose said with a laugh. “(Trash talk) wouldn't go the whole game. You don't have to worry about getting fined, so it would end very quickly.”
What the Doc says:
Boston coach Doc Rivers, a Maywood native, is always good for some interesting observations. Here are a few from Friday:
On the Bulls adding Carlos Boozer to the lineup: “They're deeper. The fact that you have Taj Gibson coming off the bench makes you one heck of a basketball team. Gibson is a starter on most teams in the league.”
On Kevin Garnett and Joakim Noah: “Every ounce of them is about winning and that's pretty good. I wish the whole league was like that every night.”
On Noah's draft workout for the Celtics, who traded the No. 5 pick in the 2007 draft: “I loved him. He got into it with a guy in the workout, which is good. I thought he had the intangibles rebound, run the floor.”
Bull horns
Kurt Thomas was the Bulls' second inactive on Friday, along with John Lucas III. Brian Scalabrine was inactive against Orlando on Wednesday. … Celtics fans chanted loudly for Scalabrine in the fourth quarter of Friday's game. He checked in during the final two minutes.