Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Anderson Varejao vs. Joakim Noah
This head-to-head between Anderson Varejao and Joakim Noah is somewhat humorous because, not only do Varejao and Noah play alike, they also look alike.
A year ago, Joakim Noah would have won this easily. However, after becoming the defensive player of the year, Noah turned around and had a sub-par season last year. Varejao didn’t have a very good season either, but that was mostly due to a season-ending injury.
Varejao- PPG (9.8) RPG (6.5) BPG (0.6)
Noah- PPG (7.2) RPG (9.6) BPG (1.1)
Joakim Noah looked lost chasing around power forwards last year as he and Gasol were trying to find a way to play together. Varejao started off the year looking like a solid piece for Cleveland, but then ended up missing the majority of the season. Both players could be coming off the bench next season. Noah’s numbers got even worse against the Cavs in the playoffs and Varejao did not play.
The conclusion is that Noah has a better chance of contributing to his team this year. Varejao might not see a lot of time due to his injury, as well as the emergence of Timofey Mozgov and Tristan Thompson. Noah and Varejao are both high-energy players that will need to have better seasons this year in order to stay on their current teams (despite being crowd favorites). Noah wins this match due to his past accolades.
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