Was Andres Nocioni ever good?

It certainly seems like he was; I have a pretty vivid memory of the "Happy Birthday" game against the Wizards, a few improbable dunks, and a bearded madman who spooked the olympic field when Argentina won the gold in 2004.  Unfortunately, I have much more recent memories of last season, when Nocioni shot 346 3-pointers (his career high) and averaged 4.2 rebounds (his career low).  That's more three-point attempts than Ben Gordon, and fewer rebounds than Chris Paul has averaged over his career.  Granted, I've said before that if there's one player the Bulls would benefit from trading, it's Noce.  However, in light of his bad contract, I can't help wondering which Andres we'll be stuck with: the authentically-tough (and hirsute) Noce that came into the league and threw his body around, or the histrionically-tough (and clean-shaven) Noce we saw last year.

When Noce plays an ugly game, he's good; when Noce plays a pretty game, he's bad.  Time for Noce to get good and ugly again.

I believe Andres is well-suited for VDN's pseudo-Phoenix sprint - if he plays power forward.   The offense VDN is preaching, and that the Bulls have shown so far, is predicated on 3 things: running in transition, taking the ball to the rim, and a really fast point guard (ahem) using pick and rolls to free up outside shooters.   For a 4, Andres both shoots and runs the floor exceptionally, and he can also take the ball to the rim when he sets his mind to it.  Paired with Luol Deng and Ben Gordon, that's three players that shoot open set-shots at a very high clip.  (Shooting and creating off the dribble is a different matter - but that's why we've got Derrick Rose.) 

There's another issue at stake here.  Andres succeeded at the onset of his career because his aggressive style of play was in sync the Bulls' identity.  The Bulls were Team Grit.  While Skiles didn't make us the league's best team, he certainly made us the most annoying - and Noce was the most annoying of the annoying. 

That's changed.  Last year, we weren't Team Grit anymore, and it doesn't seem like we're trying to be.  Skiles' scowl has been replaced with VDN's pompadour.   It's the difference between Kirk and Rose, Antonio Davis and Tyrus Thomas, and while I'll admit (happily) that the latter are exponentially more talented than the former, I'll also note that they haven't won a thing on the NBA level.

Upshot being: don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.  I sincerely hope that both VDN and Paxson recognize what was good about the Skiles-Bulls, and that this new effort is to synchronize elite talent with elite effort.  As such, Nocioni can be an integral part of this new team.  He can back up Luol at the 3 and Tyrus at the 4, hitting open threes when Rose kicks it out, and outrunning slower 4s on the break.  He can grunt, flop, draw charges, get dirty rebounds, and make other teams annoyed, out of control, and eager to go home.   He can only do this, of course, if he gets ugly again. 

I think he's more than capable of that.