Joakim Noah’s Game 6 postgame interview fired me up to go punch someone. Rajon Rondo would be preferable.

I happened to catch the end of the crazy Bulls/Celtics triple OT game on the Chicago radio broadcast. After the Bulls win, the radio sideline reporter grabbed Joakim Noah for a postgame interview.

It went something like this:

Reporter: So, Joakim, what do think about blah, blah, blah, question, question, question?
Jo Noah: AAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!
(brief pause)
Jo Noah: We goin’ back to Boston!!!

And that was it.

Or, well, that’s where I turned it off. It sounded like it was over. Also, I was back home and wanted to go inside to see some highlights.

In any case, I like to think that’s all that needed to be said.

The only red and yellow cards I’m familiar with are McDonald’s gift certificates

Y’know what I like about soccer?

Hold up a second. Lemme rewind…

Of the very few things I like about soccer, would you care to know about one of those things?

No?

I don’t blame you. I probably wouldn’t, either.

Anyway, y’know what I like about soccer?

When you get penalized and an official issues you one of those yellow or red cards, they don’t simply pull the card out of their pocket, blow the whistle, and leave it at that.

Incorrect.

No, what these dudes do is run up to the player who committed the infraction, get all up in their faces, and with the most serious, stonefaced expression they can deliver, they refuse to make eye contact with the player. And that’s despite being close enough to the player to smell the pregame meal he ate.

But wait.

They’re not done asserting their unquestioned authority yet.

They finish it off by raising the card as though it’s some sacred sword they’re about to use to summon The Power Of Greyskull.

It’s full of pagentry, symbolism, and outright bombast.

It’d only be better if the offending player, who’s already losing his mind at the call against him, of course, was allowed to sock the official in the face.

That’s what’d happen in the NBA.

Okay, sorry. That was a cheap shot based on stereotypes conjured up from a collection images from past violent outbursts in the NBA.

Ahem.

That’s what’d happen in the D-Le…

Oh, nevermind.

Celebrating Johnny “Red” Kerr

I grew up listening to Johnny “Red” Kerr call Chicago Bulls games. I was glad to see Red get some Hall Of Fame recognition through its lifetime achievement award, but he still needs to be fully inducted. It was also good to see the Bulls organization and so many others honor him as he received the award.

Here’s the ceremony:

Thank you Mario. But our Princess is in another castle.

In retrospect, I’m glad the Bulls took Thomas over Aldridge or Roy

Brandon Roy scored 52 points?

In a basketball game?

He’s a nice player and all, but I didn’t know he had a 50-point game in him.

I only saw the beginning of that game, before Roy apparently exploded. I was watching while LaMarcus Aldridge was the one setting the tone (he scored 10 of his 16 points in the first quarter).

What I saw was a series of offensive moves in the low post — hook shots and turnarounds — and a few mid-range jumpers from Aldridge that, as seeing Aldridge play well usually does, annoyed and/or angered me.

At this point, though, I’m more angry out of habit than out of principle.

I’ve never been annoyed or angered with Aldridge for his abilities, or, well, anything really.

I’ve been annoyed and angry because I’ve kept thinking back to the 2006 NBA Draft, when Bulls GM John Paxson selected Aldridge with the No. 2 pick and traded him to Portland for No. 4 pick Tyrus Thomas and Viktor Khryapa.

Thomas is on his way to being a bust (some already call him that… I’m almost, but not quite there), Khryapa never got a shot with the Bulls and ended up getting bought out so he could go back to Russia to play, and Aldridge is looking exactly like the player the Bulls needed when they drafted-and-traded him, needed the year after, and still need now: a 6′ 11″, 245-lb. PF/C who can score down low, out to mid-range, and can rebound a little.

And I’ve been saying that since the weeks leading up to the 2006 draft!

Ugh.

I’ve been trying to keep the past in the past and forget about the second-guessing. I keep hoping that the occasional flashes of awesomeness Tyrus Thomas displays will someday (soon!) translate into some consistent play.

Maybe I’m just fooling myself with Thomas and I do have a right to be upset about the 2006 draft, regardless of how much I try to suppress that frustration.

Suppressing that frustration certainly isn’t made any easier when I read blogs and sports columns that still second-guess the move, or especially when I hear Mark Schanowski, of Comcast SportsNet Chicago, with his announcer-man voice and TV-man hair, slyly throw in comments whose tone borders on joy and sarcasm, like: “And just imagine if John Paxson had taken LaMarcus Aldridge or Brandon Roy…” during the Bulls postgame show.

Well, Mark, y’know what?

I’m starting to change my mind. The more I imagine it, the more I’m glad Paxson took Thomas.

I was never big on the Bulls taking Roy. They had guards. Still do, for that matter. But Aldridge was the frontcourt player the Bulls needed more than Thomas. Oddly, while Paxson usually played it safe, only to be chided for it, the first time he took a gamble (in the form of Thomas over Aldridge), it hasn’t panned out. And now he’s being chided for it.

But that’s okay. Let the people chide.

I say that because I have no doubt that the Bulls would’ve been a much better team during the past few years. Yes, I realize that’s typically what you want out of your team.

However, if the Bulls had made it deeper in the playoffs, or — more importantly — had played well enough to stay out of the 2008 NBA Draft Lottery, they wouldn’t have hit the jackpot and landed the chance to select Derrick Rose.

Sure, Rose is just a rookie and it’s tough to project what he may or may not do from here on out. But from everything I’ve seen out of him so far, I would rather have Derrick Rose and Tyrus Thomas’ still raw potential over LaMarcus Aldridge or Brandon Roy.

Even if Thomas never pans out, I’m comfortable with not having Aldridge if that means Derrick Rose gets to don the Bulls uniform.

I eat fruit in bed, but only after I’ve cut it in the kitchen first

Hopefully this serves as some sort of warning or something for the Chicago Bulls.

Hire someone to serve as Derrick Rose’s personal assistant/butler/errand boy. Basically, his shadow.

Look, D-Rose is the franchise now. Heck, by playing for his hometown Bulls in Chicago, he’s almost more than that. You can’t let him cut apples in bed. That’s how stitches end up being required — like the 10 in his left arm. Thank goodness is wasn’t worse. Geoffrey, Jeeves, or whomever needs to be on his beck-and-call 24/7.

You can’t take ANY chances.

If Rose is on the can and he runs out of toilet paper? Bam! Dude grabs him some TP.

If Rose wants to clip his toenails? Bam! Dude is right there clipping them for him.

If Rose sneezes? Bam! Dude gives him a Kleenex, orange juice, cough medicine, and a blanket. No chances, remember?

Seeing headlines that indicate anything bad has happened to Derrick Rose is unacceptable. He needs to be healthy and taken care of.

That’s because he needs to keep doing stuff like any of the following, of course:

If I were that Pregnant Man dude, or, well, any woman in Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana, I’d offer to have Derrick Rose’s children

This holiday season I’m thankful for the gift of Derrick Rose.

He’s the gift that keeps on giving.

Usually he gives you at least one highlight reel play every game. But yesterday vs. the Sixers, he turned in three, including two that required victimizing poor Andre Miller in various fashions.

Oh, Derrick Rose.

You’re my hero.

You’re making me yell with joy and disbelief at my TV again.

Somebody get David Lee a Superman cape

Finally, one of my favorite NBA players, Knicks forward David Lee, reaped the rewards of the Mike D’Antoni offense.

37 points

21 rebounds

David Lee could do this. Okay, probably not...

Those are Dwight Howard numbers, people!

Not to be outdone, Howard put up his own 30-20 on the same night. But then again, that’s just the kind of thing Howard does.

As for Lee, he’s just a hardworking scrapper. And I don’t mean that just cuz he’s some white dude with funky hair. He’s essentially a 10-10 guy who just gets his numbers in the flow of a game. He’s got touch, but most of his production comes from cleaning up around the basket.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I must go put up monster numbers."

So give him something uptempo with a lot of missed shots and chances for easy baskets, either on putbacks or in transition — like last night’s Knicks game vs. the Warriors, another uptempo team — and David Lee’s gonna look like Superman.

Remember when Lee won the 2007 Rookie-Sophomore Game MVP?

Okay, probably not.

I barely did. But I recalled he had an awesome game.

And his MVP effort there came because those games are nothing more than glorified pickup games:

High-octane…

All-offense… 

The exact same type of game D’Antoni tries to force his opponents into playing.

That D’Antoni offense also led to a career-high and Knicks franchise record 22 assists for Chris Duhon.

I never liked Duhon when he was with the Bulls, so I was glad to see him leave. Despite that, I’m not totally surprised by his 22 dimes. He’s a pass-first PG and going to the D’Antoni offense was bound to enhance his numbers.

In recognizing that, I can’t say I’m frustrated by him putting up that kind of total with the Knicks, while never having done so with the Bulls.

The only thing that frustrates me about that is how the Mike D’Antoni sweepstakes played out this past offseason.

The Bulls had a shot at him, but blew it.

If the Bulls had landed D’Antoni, Derrick Rose might be averaging 20 assists right now.

Okay, maybe not.

But close.

And then who knows which Bull would be having nights like David Lee?

Blake Griffin is this year’s NCAA beast

Even when he has a crappy game, it’s still an awesome game.

Purdue held Blake Griffin to 5-for-14 shooting in the Preseason NIT, but it wasn’t enough. Griffin’s 21 boards — as well as the season-low 18 points he mustered — helped lead Oklahoma to an 87-82 win.

Griffin had been shooting 75.4 percent coming into the game, but his poor percentage game vs. the Boilermakers doesn’t change the fact that he’s following in the footsteps of Kevin Durant and Michael Beasley from the past two years as big men putting up ridiculous numbers.

Griffin’s averages so far this year are just about double what he did last year as a freshman.

He’s this year’s beast.

But a beast nonetheless.

Oh: plus he’s 6-10 and a jacked 250 lbs.

Someone’s gonna make him the No. 1 pick in next summer’s NBA Draft.

Well, that is, if they don’t take Ricky Rubio first.

Dear Bulls: stash some cash, make a Bosh push

The NBA’s 2010 free agent class is amazing.

We know this.

But while everyone’s clearing space under the salary cap to make a run at LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, I’d be more than satisfied — ecstatic, even — if the Bulls did whatever they could to sign Chris Bosh, who also hits the market in 2010.

For a skinny guy, he’s an awesomely skilled young big who’s only getting better. He can score in the post, he can face up, and he can run the floor.

I challenge you to tell me he wouldn’t be an awesome complement to Derrick Rose.

Or at least way better than the slew of interior flunkies the Bulls have assembled in recent years.

And for all the people repeating that stuff about how there’s no way LeBron could want to stay in Cleveland when he can go to somewhere so awesome as New York, I’d argue the same about being in Toronto vs. being in Chicago.

I mean, NBA players don’t like Canada, do they?

Maybe, like, one or two of them of them do — Steve Nash and Samuel Dalembert, that is — and maybe the Raptors do have a nice young core group of players, but, dude, Bosh could totally boost his status in Chicago.

Look, LeBron is LeBron anywhere and everywhere he goes. But Chris Bosh will never attain the kind of name for himself he could by moving somewhere of higher exposure if he stays tucked away in Toronto.

Come to Chicago, CB4.

Sure, you won’t be able to wear No. 4, since it’s retired — so you might have to change your nickname — but I’ll do what I can to get a group of people to walk around outside the United Center wearing “Bosh 2010″ t-shirts whenever Toronto comes to town, and get “We want Bosh” chants started at games.

If that doesn’t cut it, I can always take a page out of your book and pose as a used car salesman attempting to sell you on the Windy City and post it on youtube.